Kedgley Sue: Biosecurity Law Reform Bill — Second Reading 
Kedgley Sue: Biosecurity Law Reform Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:675;Page:20642] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party will be opposing the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill. We do so because we are concerned that on the one hand we are reducing staff and funding in biosecurity—we got rid of 55 staff and chopped off a couple of million from the front-line budget for biosecurity—and on the other hand we are reducing biosecurity protections particularly to industries and I will illustrate that by focusing on the pig industry and the bee industry. So we are reducing budgets we are reducing staff we are reducing biosecurity protections and then we are turning around and telling industries they will have to pay 50 percent of the costs if there is an incursion. If an incursion occurs because of a policy that one of these industries has completely opposed it will nevertheless be required to pick up 50 percent of the costs. 
I will illustrate this with the pork industry and the bee industry because both of these industries are at war with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Government. It is ironic to say the least that we have a department namely the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry which is supposed to be protecting our primary producing industries yet two of these industries are at war with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry because of the ministry’s failure they believe to protect their industries from biosecurity risks. The Pork Industry Board has spent up to $1 million fighting the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. They are going into the High Court I think on 25 August because they are opposing the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as it is insisting on lowering biosecurity standards. It is now going to allow raw pork into New Zealand from countries that have this devastating pig disease referred to as pig AIDS. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will allow raw pig meat to come in from those countries whereas previously this meat was not allowed unless it was treated to inactivate the virus. 
I ask why the Government would be doing something as foolish as allowing raw pig meat in from countries that have a devastating virus if the industry and a whole lot of experts are saying this could bring a devastating pig disease into New Zealand or indeed why the Government would agree to bring in honey from Australia when Australian honey harbours diseases that could devastate our bee industry. Why would it do that? I have discovered the answer by looking at the import health standard that is being lowered in respect of pig meat. The reason we are doing this is free trade and because of our obligations to the World Trade Organization. It says that we are required under article 5 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures to not have any more trade restrictive measures than are required to achieve “an appropriate level of protection”. That phrase has become the new definition of biosecurity at our borders. 
When we look at the rest of the statement we see that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has done all of this. It is lowering the import standards because it believes that this will achieve an appropriate level of protection from the introduction of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome the devastating pig disease. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is saying it will lower standards to meet our World Trade Organization obligations never mind that some of the industry experts such as Professor Roger Morris say that if we do this it is inevitable that within 3 to 5 years we will have an incursion of this disease. 
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry thinks it will happen only once every 1200 years but our local experts say it will happen every 3 to 5 years. I could go into all the details as to why the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry analysis seems to be completely flawed but my point is if what the pig industry is warning happens—that this pig disease comes into New Zealand—then the pig industry will be expected to pay 50 percent of the costs of dealing with this devastating disease that it has vehemently opposed in the courts. For many years now it has opposed the lowering of these standards by the Government and the Government has pigheadedly gone ahead ignored all of its concerns and is doing it for the World Trade Organization because of its obsession with free-trade agreements. The disease will come in and under this bill the industry will be expected to share the costs. It is completely and utterly unacceptable. 
Similarly the bee industry believes there is a very serious risk of diseases coming in if we allow Australian honey to be imported into New Zealand. Once again it has been vehemently opposing the Government and begging the Government not to lower biosecurity standards to allow Australian honey to be imported. The Government is ignoring those concerns and going ahead with the legislation. What will happen if one of these diseases which would devastate our bee industry comes in? An effect of one of the diseases would be that we would have to treat our bees in New Zealand with antibiotics. We are one of the countries in the world that do not have to treat our bees with antibiotics. It is one of our points of difference and one of the reasons why we attract premium prices around the world but the Government is lowering the biosecurity standard putting our bee industry at risk. If the bee industry’s fears are realised it may require into infinity our bees to be treated with antibiotics—what a disaster—as well as being treated with miticides and pesticides. 
To us this measure is completely foolhardy. We lower the biosecurity risks because we now have this new definition of what a biosecurity risk is and against that we require simply anything that provides an “appropriate level of protection”. So we are no longer trying to keep these diseases out we are just trying to provide an appropriate level of protection. Then we lower the numbers of staff the budget for biosecurity and our standards and turn round and tell the industries that they will have to pick up the costs. It is the industries that will have to foot the bill not the importers. At the moment we already have anywhere from 45 to 50 percent of pork in New Zealand being imported but if we have an incursion of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome the devastating pig disease it will not be the importers who have to pay for the disease which will devastate—indeed wipe out—our pig industry it will be the New Zealand pork producers. The $700 million pork industry will be put at risk by this absurd decision to lower the biosecurity standards. 
Similarly the honey industry will be put at risk by the lowering of biosecurity standards. Yet against all of the advice if these pests and diseases come in the industries will have to pick up the bill. This is complete madness. I cannot understand why the Government would do this and the Green Party is completely opposed to it. Thank you.