Carter David: Wine Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee Third Reading 
Carter David: Wine Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:612;Page:9500] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 I am very happy to take a call and speak to the Wine Bill. I want to thank the Minister for finally taking a call. We have been asking questions all night about why he could put such a messy bill before the Primary Production Committee. He finally stood up and took a call—but I do not think he talked about wine at all. He did a lot of whining but I did not hear him talk about the Wine Bill at all. I heard him at one stage talk about the “Back-down Bill”. I thought that was appropriate. He is the Minister who in only the last few days has backed down completely on the proposed bill coming before the House and—it was due any day—to enforce the flatulence tax. That is what the current Minister in the chair the Hon Jim Sutton will be remembered for. When he gives his valedictory speech it will not be much use because people will not remember him for the Wine Bill. I will remember tonight when we asked questions for a couple of hours and the Minister sat there reading his comic because he did not know much about the Wine Bill. People will remember that Minister as being the man who proposed the flatulence tax and then finally had to back down. 
I was also intrigued by the very interesting comments from the New Zealand First member when he reminded us of the night we battled until 4 a.m. or a quarter to 5 in the morning on the “Grandmas’ tax”. [ 
Interruption 
] It was 5 o’clock he reminds us. He also reminded us that the National Party battled through those many hours of debate as it fought to stop that tax—fought gallantly—and that the New Zealand First team suddenly appeared at voting time. Mr Dail Jones should look back at the records. There were minimal contributions from that member. There were minimal contributions from any New Zealand First members on that evening. But he has confirmed to the Committee that the vote being taken at a quarter to 5 was clearly after the closing time of the Green Parrot which must have been at half past four. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: They’d drunk the wine; they’d drunk it all. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I cannot confirm or deny that. I was not there. But along they came into the House and finally managed to vote against the “sherry tax”. I want to thank the members for doing so because the National Party gallantly fought that fight through the early hours of the morning taking call after call. I just hope that the New Zealand First members as they arrived at work appreciated the way we had kept that debate going for hours and hours. 
I want to finish by talking briefly about the bill and commenting on the superb job the select committee did in carving out so much of the bill with regard to compliance orders. I want to reinforce the point made earlier that there was a very good reason for taking out the part that the industry found absolutely objectionable— 
Hon Steve Maharey 
: A listening Government. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
 I say to Mr Maharey that if the Government had listened the select committee would not have had hours and hours and days and days of work to do tidying up that mess. There was a suggestion made in fact that the Government had listened and that there was a high degree of agreement amongst the industry for the bill as it was presented to the select committee—and then we were besieged by hundreds of submissions. They all said the same thing: the Government promised to listen we had a bit of a round of consultation and then the Government ignored what the industry was saying completely. So there is Mr Maharey’s idea of listening. He would go around the road shows such as they have on at the moment regarding public access— 
Simon Power 
: Oh they’re going well those public meetings. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I ask Mr Power whether they are a bit like the huis. Yes the Government has a great spin job going at the moment—but we are talking about the Wine Bill. 
I remind Mr Maharey that if Government members are going to consult then they should do some listening and not present a mess to a select committee as they did on this occasion. 
Hon Steve Maharey 
: Oh OK. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I am pleased to hear him saying that is OK. So we have won that battle and we have won on the flatulence tax. The next one we have to win is public access.