Connell Brian: Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Connell Brian: Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:624;Page:19141] 
BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
: 
 I was surprised that the Minister in the chair the Hon Annette King bridled so much when I attacked her sacred cow—I suppose I should not have done that—the New Zealand Food Safety Authority. Essentially it is just an extension of this Government. That is why she really bridled. This is the Government that says: “If it moves legislate it.” Here is another example of this taking place. Let me be clear: the New Zealand Food Safety Authority has a reputation of being an overkill organisation. It has a reputation of being almost impossible to deal with and a reputation of: “Do it our way or no way.” It has a reputation of not listening of being threatening and it has created a view that it is right at all times—of course it is not. 
That is what bothers members of the dairy industry when they ask me to address this concern on their behalf when it comes to this bill. They are concerned that having created one of the biggest and best industries in this country without the benefit of the Labour Government—without the benefit of any Government to be fair—is that they will be smacked with red tape and legislation and it will get out of control. I caution the Minister in the chair that it is something she needs to be cognisant of. This country can ill-afford to have its largest primary export earner damaged in any way. It is a real issue because in the minds of our dairy industry and producers this is the type of thing that concerns them. The perception whether or not it is real is what counts. 
One has only to look at the changes that have taken place across the landscape of New Zealand to realise just how significant the dairy industry now is to this country. I was brought up on a dairy farm and I recall my father milking 120 cows and having an economic unit. He was a significant player in the industry and that is not very long ago. Now unless people are milking something in the vicinity of 350 to 400 cows they are not significant players. But what is not in doubt is that the intellectual property that has now been captured in this huge organisation called Fonterra which is a culmination of huge industry players is something that should not be ignored and that is the concern that people have. 
I have touched on risk management programmes before and was coming to the defence of the industry in saying that what it has in place now is second to none. The industry already has first-class risk-management programmes. One only needs to go to a dairy farm to see what hurdles people need to jump through in order to be able to supply their local dairy company. If people do not do it to those exacting standards the milk is dumped. That can be a penalty of $2000 or $3000 to each of those suppliers on any given day. So they have some real self-interest in making sure that these things are in order. This bill simply brings those actions into a legislative form that protects their interests. 
I appreciate that it will maintain our ability to keep exporting into international markets and of course that is important to the industry. But we must not do it in such a way that brings us back to the pack. I have already touched on that in an earlier call. I think we are in dire trouble if we try to reach out to the standards that some of the European nations want to impose on us simply because we are more efficient and they are not. We do not subsidise our agricultural sector at all. With those European nations we are dealing with subsidies to the tune of £30 billion annually. I just hope that the Minister instead of getting on her high horse when I talked about the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the threat that it represents to a lot of dairy suppliers will take those concerns more seriously.