Carter David: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Carter David: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:938] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 We come to a part that is critical to the bill and first I take the opportunity of actually congratulating the Government. If we go through Part 4 we see that it is one of the few parts that did not have to be almost totally rewritten because of the incompetence of the previous Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton. We finally have a part that we can get through relatively unscathed. 
The clause I want to concentrate on in this contribution is of course clause 69 “Composition of Council”. Many people have taken the opportunity to talk about the vital role the council will have under this legislation. I take this opportunity to thank the current Veterinary Council for its role in helping us get this legislation right. It was invaluable and its advice was well received by the committee. It is a great pity that the previous Minister of Agriculture the Hon Jim Sutton totally ignored its advice prior to the drafting of the bill. 
Clause 69 states that the council must have seven members. The council must have: (a) 3 veterinarians elected in accordance with regulations”—and I will talk about that in my second contribution—“(b) 2 laypersons appointed by the Minister by notice in the  
Gazette 
;” and (c) 1 veterinarian appointed by the Minister by notice in the  
Gazette 
; and (d) the person for the time being responsible for the veterinary science academic programme at Massey University.” Under clause 69 the person from Massey University is very easy to appoint. It should not be much trouble for the Minister. Then we move to the vet whom the Minister must appoint. I have a candidate I would like to suggest. It is the Hon Pete Hodgson because he will be looking for a job in the very near future—within the next 12 or 18 months when the Government falls to bits. The Minister ought to keep Pete Hodgson in mind as a possible appointment because he will certainly be looking for a job. 
Clause 69(b) requires two laypersons to be appointed by the Minister by notice in the  
Gazette 
. Again we have a nomination tonight—Dame Ann Hercus. I believe that she is looking for a job. I believe that she has a little bit of additional time in her diary. She was a very valued member of the Television New Zealand board until a matter of hours ago. Surprisingly after the examination of TVNZ at the Finance and Expenditure Committee today she has created a bit of room in her diary. She has done the honourable thing and fallen on her sword—because of course there has been a large number of leaks but we will talk about the leaks later. She is an excellent candidate for consideration. So we have one candidate and she will do a good job for the Minister. She will certainly report any matters that might be of embarrassment to the Minister. After all she did a very good job reporting matters of embarrassment to the Minister of Broadcasting so she has a track record. 
Simon Power 
: What about Dianne Yates? She is retiring early. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: No I have to say to my learned colleague Simon Power I would not recommend Dianne Yates. She is famous for only one thing. She has a bill before Parliament at the moment about the docking of dogs’ tails. Vets earn a huge amount of money from the cosmetic docking of dogs’ tails. I think she would have a conflict of interest. 
Katherine Rich 
: She did a dog impression in the House. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: She did do a dog impression in the House so she has shown some expertise. 
We need to be considering advising the Minister on his ability to appoint two laypersons under clause 69(b). We have found one candidate and we will continue throughout the rest of tonight to come up with suitable recommendations from the National caucus. We are here to help. We want this legislation passed as quickly as possible. We want the composition of the council determined as quickly as possible. We know that the Hon Jim Anderton is new to this field and has no familiarity with the farming sector or the veterinary profession. Therefore we will make sure that over the next couple of hours we take every opportunity to assist him in making good nominations for the one further position he has to find on the Veterinary Council. It needs to be someone who can work closely and collegially with Dame Ann Hercus.