Bennett David; Rurawhe AdrianHon DAVID BENNETT (National): Today I want to speak about the crisis that is in the dairy industry in the workforce and the lack of any approach that this Government's taken to support a fundamental industry that has been the backbone of New Zealand during the last year—an industry that was needed by this Government to provide the foreign exchange for our country going forward. They simply ask to have a new generation of farmers that want to be members of the New Zealand dairy industry to come in and be part of that industry and the Government has said no. It has refused that request and that goes to an important role that this Government is undertaking in our primary sector workforces. They are deliberately wanting to unionise the workforces in our primary sector and I will follow that through as we go through this debate here today.Let's start with the New Zealand dairy industry. It sought to have at least 500 places—well it sought to have some places allocated out of the 500 places a fortnight that managed isolation and quarantine has just been allocated. That would have initiated the ability for dairy farmers to meet their new seasonal requirements that are coming up as we go to 1 June. We've got calving coming up. It's an important time of year and we need that workforce here.There has been some additional Recognised Seasonal Employer workers but that will only really cover those that will leave in the next year anyway but there has been no attempt to assist the dairy industry. And if we look at the briefing to the incoming Minister there's some very important directions given to the Minister of Agriculture. They are that the Ministry for Primary Industries' long-term goal is to reduce the industry's reliance on migrant labour by employing New Zealanders. If we look at the other part of the briefing to the Minister he has the specific request that there is less of a reliance on migrant labour. The Minister has been told to not let migrant labour into our primary sector especially into our dairy industry. And the result of this week's negotiation which didn't work is a reflection of the Minister following the goals he's been set and those are to stop migrant labour coming into our primary sector. That is to the detriment of the New Zealand primary sector and New Zealand as a whole. We should be welcoming migration we should be welcoming people that want to make their future in New Zealand and we should be welcoming people that want to become part of New Zealand's best industries—its dairy and primary sectors—and make their future and lives here for them and their families.Now farmers are disappointed in that decision deeply disappointed and they are rightfully requesting that the Government relook at that decision. If there isn't a renewal process for the existing farming sector that has migrant labour in there you can potentially see it going from 2000 to 4000 dairy farm workers this year that are in need of renewal of their applications to work in the sector. That would see a huge hole in the New Zealand workforce in the primary sector and a shortage there in the dairy sector.If we look at a sector that has about 40000 employees and if the borders remain closed that shortage could increase by 1300 employees. And if there's a non-renewal that peak would be about 5000. Those are the DairyNZ numbers and DairyNZ has done a great job in looking at what research can be done and putting that argument forward.However the Government has declined to act and they're doing so with a specific purpose in mind. They have brought in their fair play agreements in the last week. They've noted that 10 percent of a workforce or a thousand people or a public interest test would be enough to create a fair play agreement. In the dairy industry where there's 21000 employees that equates to only 5 percent of those employees—1000 people—needing to sign that document basically asking for a fair play agreement and then the New Zealand dairy industry workforce will be unionised. That is the true goal that we are seeing from this Labour Party. They are against migrants coming in. They want to unionise that workforce. That will be to the detriment of New Zealand's best industry and we will not as a National Party support that. We support there being the ability for migrants to come in. They are the future of the industry. The history of the industry's shown that migration has been so important to the success going forward.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired.