Woolerton R Doug: State-Owned Enterprises (AgriQuality Limited and Asure New Zealand Limited) Bill — Third Reading 
Woolerton R Doug: State-Owned Enterprises (AgriQuality Limited and Asure New Zealand Limited) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10132] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First supports the State-Owned Enterprises (AgriQuality Limited and Asure New Zealand Limited) Bill. We have taken a very close interest in this bill. In supporting it we believe that rather than supporting an illusory prospect of competition we are supporting a real move to bring down the cost of the delivery of a service by amalgamating two companies thus making them more efficient in what is proposed to be one unit shortly. If true competition does not exist then we must look at the costs of the monopoly provider if we want to call it that and make sure that those costs are as low as possible. That is what is being done here. 
Mr Carter and the National Party say because of some conspiracy theory they have about the Public Service Association that costs will increase and that the usual— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Oh the Brethren. 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: No it is not the Exclusive Brethren in this case actually. The Exclusive Brethren come along at election time to help out; they are not interested in this sort of stuff. This is the grunt end of the business. Mr Carter said that costs will rise. Well I think that he and everybody else know—I certainly know—that the cost of building will rise too as will the cost of registering a motorcar and a whole lot of other things. But that is not because of a secret deal that has been done with the Public Service Association. Unions have always been a big part of the meat industry just as they have been a big part of the shipping industry and of other major industries around New Zealand. There is nothing unique in that nothing new in it and nothing untoward in it at all. 
Mr Carter also said that at the election he will go around and talk to farmers about New Zealand First’s part in this legislation and I hope that he does that. I hope that he talks to farmers a lot about New Zealand First. I hope he talks about New Zealand First’s support for a tax reduction in the last Budget—a tax reduction that was voted against by the National Party. In fact I could not believe this myself at the time of the last election but I am told it is true that the last time the National Party actually had a tax reduction rather than just talking about it—and it ran the whole election campaign about this issue last time and was assisted by the Exclusive Brethren in doing so—was back in 1966. A young man like Minister Cosgrove would not even be able to remember 1966; he would have been interested in other things then. He would have had the hormones running hot in those days and the last thing on his mind would have been— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. This is a very good speech and I do not want to interrupt the member’s flow but I have to say that I was not born in 1966. The hormones were not flowing at that point. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Is the member taking exception? 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: No not at all. I just thought I would help the member out. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: That is not a point of order. 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: The Minister just wanted to point out a few things such as that a rush of blood to the head of a young man is accepted by most of us as being possible I am sure. 
The matters provided for in this bill are serious issues. We take them seriously in New Zealand First and we will not run around casting aspersions on other parties when it comes to these things. In this programme we are talking about farmers. New Zealand First is conscious of the costs that are placed on farming. We are conscious that farming is always a difficult business. It is at the sharp end of exporting. Farmers cannot pass their costs on to anybody else. They have to compete against subsidised products in our overseas markets. They do it and they do it well—we understand that. I can tell the House and anybody who cares to listen that I have farmed and my brothers have farmed all three of them under various regimes and under various Governments. Some of the hardest times in farming in New Zealand have been under a National Government. That is a fact; it is an absolute fact. So I think that the National Party speakers should get off that bandwagon and get on to something that I know they are capable of which is addressing the issue and talking about things in a non-partisan manner. 
What the National members do not tell us in their speeches is that the Governments of the countries that we export to insist on a sign-off for meat inspections by a Government or a Government agency. They do not want to know about a private operator doing the job. In fact Minister Mallard has said that if two-thirds of those countries are prepared to accept a private operator then that can be made to happen. But those countries do not accept it. The Chinese do not want it. There are a billion people right there. The Americans do not want it. How many is that? Is it 250 million or more? The Australians do not want it. [ 
Interruption 
] There are 300 million people in America. The Europeans do not want it. So who wants it? I will tell members who wants it. The National Party wants some sort of illusory competition. Do members know why that is? So that the National members can satisfy themselves—and never mind about the farmers. The National members like to talk big to farmers but they do not want to deliver to them. 
We are happy to support this bill and we are happy to see that at least an attempt is being made by the Government to lower the costs to the industry through this merger. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker.