Whaitiri Meka: Food Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Food Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 27 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18351. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnātātou katoa. Food safety lies at the heart of the New Zealand primary export sector and thus the nation’s economic fortunes. The purpose of the Food Bill is to improve the interface of the regulatory processes across food sectors as well as maintain New Zealand’s reputation as a producer and exporter of safe and suitable food. I join with all members of this House in supporting the third reading of this important bill. It is both timely and needed and it does ensure that New Zealand’s food standards are brought into the 21st century.I was not a member of the Primary Production Committee—I have only just recently joined it—but my contribution on the passage of this bill at this third reading is to acknowledge the historical context of it. As others have mentioned the bill has been 10 years in the making. Labour supported the first reading 4 years ago. I heard mention of the Hon Annette King and the Hon Kate Wilkinson so obviously it has been an important issue not just for this House but for the nation to ensure that our food safety standards and our reputation internationally are protected and this bill definitely does those things. Therefore I do commend the Minister Nikki Kaye for bringing the bill through today and of course all members of the select committee.I am not too sure Mr Assistant Speaker whether you do the shopping for your household but when I go shopping for my household not only am I really interested in the nutritional value of the food that I shop for in terms of energy calories and protein but one thing I really look for is the origin of the product that I am purchasing or am about to purchase. That is one of the fundamental things that I believe as consumers in this country we should do. We should know where food comes from. More and more Kiwis are very discerning about what they are putting in their bodies particularly as mothers. Of particular importance to me is what I am feeding my two teenage sons although they are monsters so they will pretty much eat everything. But there are a lot of families out there who do have issues about ensuring that we know where our food comes from.I join with the Hon Damien O’Connor who has put up Supplementary Order Paper 440 and debated quite rigorously in the select committee for country-of-origin labelling. I too heard that one of the reasons why we did not address it in the select committee was the complexity of it. For me Kiwis are quite ingenious. We never give up we never concede and we never take a backward step. If we are thrown the challenge of something being complex or too hard that Kiwi spirit gets into us and we work doubly hard to get over it. For me the remark that a speaker supporting this bill made in the House made me think of the days when we always fought for things that were in our best interests.I join particularly with members on this side of the House by saying that we have lost an opportunity by not having country-of-origin labelling. But I too believe that when voters go to the polls in September we will have a Labour-led Government and this will definitely be one of the areas in the Food Bill that we address to ensure that all consumers in this country can assure themselves that they know where the products they are purchasing come from. Thank you.