Flavell Te Ururoa: Dairy Industry Restructuring (Raw Milk Pricing Methods) Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Dairy Industry Restructuring (Raw Milk Pricing Methods) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7588] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora ano tatou katoa. Over the course of this urgency we have dealt with issues relating to DNA and identity the impact of gangs and organised crime and most recently the Whakarewarewa and Roto-a-Tamaheke Vesting Bill. I want to say that those are very important issues for the Maori Party. They are issues that obviously strike at our heart as a people. In the space of one brief morning we have traversed issues relating to our whenua to the exercise of kaitiakitanga the relationships experienced by mana whenua the protection of whakapapa and the pursuit of whanau ora. In the context of these hefty matters of State it is somewhat humbling to now rise to make a contribution to this debate about the price of raw milk! 
The bill sets in place as I understand it a process to make new regulations for the auctioning of raw milk at a regulated price to independent processors. The thinking behind the legislation is to ensure that excess demand for regulated raw milk is managed efficiently. There will be a fair and efficient price and industry uncertainty will be removed. 
So what relevance does that have to the Maori Party and even more so to the constituents of Waiariki? Well we know that Maori are the largest natural grouping of pastoral farmers in Aotearoa. We farm an area of some 720000 hectares worth an estimated $7.5 billion. If that is not compelling enough Maori dairy owners own an estimated 100 million shares in Fonterra so roughly one in 12 Fonterra shares is sourced to Maori. The level of complexity and sophistication of the Maori farming business sector is such that some 19 of the 23 corporations in the Waiariki Maori Land Court district—that is 83 percent—have engaged a consultant. Further research found that every member of the Te Arawa Dairy Group a collection of Maori dairy incorporations and trusts employed a farm management consultant or other technical adviser. So what are we doing here today? We hope we will make those farmers’ jobs easier by introducing some consistency to the regulations around raw milk prices. 
There is much more than just putting up the price of milk at stake here. Looking at the 2006 census we see there were some 1323 Maori— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Speak from the heart man. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: —I am trying—dairy cattle farmers and another 372 Maori dairy cattle farm workers. I pulled these statistics out particularly for Mr Darren Hughes. In essence the bill permits the current regulated wholesale milk price to be replaced with the Fonterra farm-gate milk price. On top of that a price adjustment of 10c per kilogram of milk solids will be introduced from the 2010-11 dairy season and I am sure that will rock the socks off Mr Hughes again. Up to this point the wholesale raw milk price has underpriced regulated raw milk I tell Mr Hughes by between 10 and 35 cents per kilogram of milk solids. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: That’s not right. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: OK. If that does not sound like much it adds up to a difference in price of between $5 million and $17 million per year. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Aue! 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: Ai taukiri e. Consultation was undertaken throughout the industry over the last 2 years and apparently there was widespread concern about Fonterra’s ability to manipulate the price of regulated milk. I am told that more consultation over the future of the regulated milk supply is planned by the end of next year. 
At this point the Maori Party is happy to let this bill go on to the select committee and mooove on— 
Hon Member 
: That was an ad lib. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: Just let it mooove on— 
Iain Lees-Galloway 
: Don’t milk it. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: —I never would—particularly so that people can have a say and not bleat on too much as it moves through the House and share their knowledge and wisdom about this particular bill which we hope will be able to progress rather rapidly. Kia ora tatou.