Choudhary Ashraf: Animal Welfare (Treatment of Animals) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Choudhary Ashraf: Animal Welfare (Treatment of Animals) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
 I am delighted to speak on the Animal Welfare (Treatment of Animals) Amendment Bill. I feel quite disappointed tonight to see the chairman of our Primary Production Committee Shane Ardern who is a very conscientious person—I have a lot of respect for him as an MP and as the chair of the committee—vote against this bill which he will do for the sake of his party. I would have expected somebody like him who I know is against animal cruelty to be for this bill. Shane Ardern is a farmer and I have a lot of time for him. He raises animals like he would children and I know he has a lot of respect for them. I am really disappointed that tonight I suppose for the sake of his party he has to— 
Shane Ardern 
: Tell us what you know about it as a scientist Ashraf. 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY 
: Yes I know. There are two arguments here. One is that New Zealand is known for its ethical and sustainable primary production. The rest of the world likes our products because they know that the food is safe that it is produced ethically and that it is produced sustainably. That is the perception and perception is often reality. People out there love how good our agriculture is. They admire what we do. Part of that is related to the fact that we look after animals and feed them well. Often when we go to a developing country we see animals that are in a bad shape unhealthy sick and all of that and when visitors come here and see how the animals are treated on our farms they really appreciate it. 
This bill is about stopping animal cruelty. Animal production in New Zealand is very well known outside of our country. People like it because we are seen to be ethical and our food is produced on a sustainable basis. We want that perception to carry on. 
The second argument is about economics and I think that is probably where the Government is coming from—that this thing may not be economic. I say to Mr Shane Ardern that we have a brand and it is called “100% Pure New Zealand”. It is a good brand and people like it but that perception will change if people out there see that we do not treat our animals very well. It does not matter which animal it is. We do not export a lot of pork but the perception out there will be that something is not right if we do not treat our animals well. Whether it is cubicle farming or crate farming any confined farming affects the perception around the world of our ethical animal production. 
We have talked about animal cruelty in debating earlier legislation particularly in relation to the cats and dogs—to animals in the city. As I have said many times previously in these debates the world’s perception is changing and importers are becoming very aware that they are importing ethically produced stuff from New Zealand. As an exporting nation we do not want the perception to be that we do not treat our animals well. This bill deals with pigs in crates. The videos taken by Mr King are shown all over the world. Today it is a matter of just pushing a button and the pictures go around the world. It is very unfortunate but the perception will develop that somehow we are not treating our animals well. Generally speaking we treat our animals very well. Everybody knows that but this perception can change and I am worried about that. 
I hope that this bill will go to a select committee and that Mr Ardern will look into this. I hope that during the process of hearing submissions he will change his mind and maybe he will even cross the floor.