Anderton Jim: Biosecurity and Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Legislation Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Anderton Jim: Biosecurity and Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Legislation Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:646;Page:15208] 
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Minister for Biosecurity) 
: 
 I always like to think that members of this House by the time they get here would be inclined to let the facts get in the way of their prejudices. The facts are that New Zealand’s biosecurity system already on a daily basis allows animals—horses dogs cats; animals of a whole variety— 
Shane Ardern 
: Human beings. 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: —human beings actually—to be vaccinated. If the tests show after quarantine periods that the vaccine is no longer alive then those animals are allowed into New Zealand. If we did not do that we would be erecting a non-tariff non-scientific barrier to trade and immediately we—this country of 4 million in the South Pacific—would be standing against the 6000 million to 7000 million people everywhere else that we want to trade with. And guess who would erect non-tariff barriers against us? They all would immediately. Why? Because 65 percent of our entire exchange earnings are earned from the primary sector of New Zealand and every country in the world fears us because we are so efficient and so productive in those areas. If any members in this Chamber want to know what would happen if that occurred they just have to look at the situation in some Second and Third World countries because that is what would happen to us at a rate of knots. 
One cannot have the most important base of one’s whole economy put at risk by the mumbo-jumbo jingoistic slogans we have heard today—that is what they are. The science of the situation tells us there is a problem here that we need to solve by law. We are solving it in a proper way and what we get is conspiracy theories about the Court of Appeal and the officials in Biosecurity New Zealand. According to the conspiracy theories members from both major parties in the House aided and abetted by me—I have actually been in Opposition with most of them all my life as a matter of fact—have somehow got together to conspire. Well it is nonsense. 
Let me say this. We have a situation right now where our biosecurity system which is at the core of our agricultural base is actually paralysed. We cannot move anything in here; we cannot even guarantee that the import health standards that allow people to bring stuff in now could not be challenged in court today tomorrow or the next day and eliminated. If that started to happen our international reputation as a science-based biosecurity economy would go right out the window. 
That may not be of any moment to people who have never yet been in Government but I can tell members that it is different once the responsibility of being in Government is on a member and when that member has to make the calls that will strike at the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders overnight. That might not worry the Green Party but it worries the heck out of me and I know it worries the heck out of a lot of other members in this Chamber. 
I am pleased to see that members of the Primary Production Committee—led by the Hon David Carter—who have spoken in the Chamber today and the overwhelming majority of members of this Committee are seized with that urgency. I applaud those members for that and I look forward to this bill having the most urgent passage that is possible.