Hobbs Marian: General Debate 
Hobbs Marian: General Debate 
[Volume:625;Page:20479] 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 The question is whether this country should be led by somebody who takes our farming and our biosecurity seriously and I do not think the jury is even out on that. At the moment our country is being served by a Prime Minister who does take biosecurity seriously in contrast to the Leader of the Opposition who has displayed in the last 24 hours that he obviously does not realise the seriousness of the situation that is affecting our country at the moment. 
About 4 weeks ago we undertook— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. If you are going to be hard about the ruling that a member cannot deliberately say that someone has lied or led people in the wrong direction or other such points then you need to listen very carefully to what Marian Hobbs is saying. The question she should answer is whether there were five alleged outbreaks of foot-and-mouth in New Zealand last year that she and her Government did not go public on. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is not a point of order. Frivolous interjections or points of order designed to break up a speech are out of order. Such tactics lead to disorder and are unacceptable to the progress of business through the House. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: Just 4 weeks ago we took part in the second round of Exercise Taurus. Exercise Taurus was a simulation of either a hoax or a real outbreak of foot-and-mouth. We went through the whole business of how transparent New Zealand is to other markets out there how we communicate with the people in the affected area such as on Waiheke Island and how we talk about and set up all the situations. We take hoaxes or reality equally seriously because they have impacts on the exchange. The preparedness of transparency is important. If we cry wolf and say that something is not happening or we keep it secret then we begin to plant a doubt in the minds of people overseas. It was said so clearly by Annabel Young from Federated Farmers when she talked about Chernobyl. When people try to hide something people in the markets begin to doubt when the truth is actually being spoken. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Five times last year. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The Opposition member raises a point about situations that have arisen in previous years. I experienced one of those situations concerning an incident in Te Kuiti. A cow had eaten some parsnips. The parsnips produced lesions around its mouth. That is a sign of possible foot-and-mouth. At that stage the entire works were closed. We went straight into the process of letting our overseas posts know and other Governments know. Within an hour of those works being closed people were on the phone and on talkback telling those stories. That is why we take hoaxes threats or mistaken diagnoses seriously. That is why people are informed. It is to build trust. I find it absolutely amazing that we have a person who purports to want to lead this country—a country whose money is based on trust and trade—who does not understand that and says to quote the words used by the previous speaker for the Opposition: “Let’s show a bit of caution …”. 
Let us take this question of caution because that is what the British did. The British did not put into place straightaway a restriction on movements. The result was that in a country and on an island where people move stock between farms far more often than we do in New Zealand they managed to spread the disease before they began to place restrictions on movement so seriously. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: You’re missing the point. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I am not missing the point at all. The point is that we are out there and as soon as something like this is established we move extremely fast. If I am so missing the point I would like to quote Annabel Young from Federated Farmers: “This claimed threat is seen as a likely hoax but should nevertheless be taken very seriously by the Government. We are pleased that it has activated its disease management response system that it has stopped cattle coming off Waiheke Island. We are also very pleased that the Government has taken the decision to announce this probable hoax as soon as possible. Federated Farmers will be offering its support to the Government to handle this threat.” 
I am not playing games. I am absolutely dismayed at this situation. [ 
Interruption 
] The reason I am not playing this in a party political fashion is that in this situation a statement was made by the appropriate Minister—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I am sorry. Would the Minister be seated. Mr Brownlee has implied that a member lacked courage. That is totally out of order and against the conventions of the House. He will stand withdraw and apologise. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. What did I say? I missed that. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member said that the Minister lacks guts. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. No I did not. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The point was that an official statement was made at 4 o’clock yesterday as we went into consideration of this situation. It was not about politics. It was about the protection of the trading reputation and the scientific reputation of our country. It is particularly important that we follow the agreed procedures that we have set down in biosecurity processes all our lives.