Choudhary Ashraf: Biosecurity Law Reform Bill — Second Reading 
Choudhary Ashraf: Biosecurity Law Reform Bill — Second Reading 
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Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker for this opportunity to speak on the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill. The Primary Production Committee had 41 submissions on the bill and we heard 27 of the submitters. As I saw this bill coming through the select committee I noted that we had a number of very passionate submissions on this issue. A number of submitters were not quite convinced that this bill would fix their biosecurity concerns but the bill is another step in the long fight against potential biosecurity issues for this nation. 
As I see it this is an ongoing struggle because when we are dealing with biomass the kind of work we are doing in New Zealand—we have plants animals meats wool and all that—involves potential risks to animals and plants. Over the years we have had a number of issues of concern.  
Pseudomonas syringae  
pv 
. Actinidiae 
 (Psa) has been mentioned as well as the varroa mite and didymo. Clover root weevils were a big problem in the north some years ago. These are the issues as we open up our markets to the rest of the world as we have more free-trade agreements and potential concerns that will be of a nature that we have to continuously safeguard our borders. 
Although the intention of this bill is very good I am really concerned. The Minister for Biosecurity said earlier that this bill will increase capacity in terms of biosecurity. Given that the ministry already lost 54 or 55 jobs a couple of years ago I am not sure whether we are ready for example for the Rugby World Cup. We will have potentially 80000 to 100000 people coming to New Zealand and as my colleague Damien O’Connor said we will have a whole lot of people coming from Australia. 
We have the so-called SmartGate system. Although I agree that we need something like SmartGate for people I am not convinced of its use when there are biosecurity concerns. When people can come here bag in hand and not go through the screening and all that I am really concerned. People might be in nice suits and all that but people do make mistakes. There could be an apple here or a banana there in a bag they have not declared. That is a potential concern. 
Last year we sought some figures about how many incidents there had been after SmartGate was implemented. We are still awaiting that information from the ministry and I hope that the next time we have the opportunity to hear from the ministry we will find out how successful SmartGate is in terms of biosecurity. I have concerns about people coming through our borders because although they may have good intentions there is no way of knowing what sort of biomaterial they may be bringing into the country for example from Australia. 
As our business improves the number of cars coming into the country has gone back up to 2008 numbers and there is a lot of ballast water in the ships that bring cars into this country. With the number of biosecurity staff coming down I am unsure whether we have been able to keep up with the volume of trade coming in. We really need to increase in my belief the number of staff because the number of people coming into our country has gone back to the old numbers and we have the Rugby World Cup coming. There will be a need for more biosecurity staff at our entry points. 
As my colleague said we will be supporting the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill at this stage but certainly we are in discussion with industry which has concerns particularly with the Government-industry partnership or agreement that the Minister talked about. Some industry representatives are saying it is not good enough and they are talking to the Opposition about their potential concerns and we are working on a possible Supplementary Order Paper for this bill when we come to the Committee stage. 
In terms of the current issue Psa I recently had the opportunity to talk to my former colleague and friend from Massey University Dr Bruce Campbell. He is the chief operating officer of Plant and Food Research. I happened to meet him last week at the airport—as I often do—and he told me that Psa in the Bay of Plenty area is still a serious concern and will be for years to come. I had a good discussion with him about what the status is now and how he foresees the future. Clearly they are still doing research on this because they still cannot figure out how the bacteria came to New Zealand or where it came from. Nobody is sure yet and they are looking into it and he tells me that it will be years before we will be able to overcome this issue in New Zealand. 
In Italy for example there was a big loss of vines. We have the concern of the total amount of rain in the Bay of Plenty area and the topography in the area so there are a number of issues that we will have to look at. Dr Campbell was certainly concerned that the issue will be a serious concern for the growers in that area in the years to come. 
It is a real concern for me that the Minister thinks this bill will increase the capacity of the Government. On the one hand he is saying that but on the other hand we have lost a number of front-line staff and we have an increasing volume of trade. We will potentially get a lot more problems in the coming months and years because— 
Colin King 
: OK Ashraf that’s enough. 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY 
: No no. This is something we have to address. My colleague on the other side is really saying that this is an issue we normally work very well on in the Primary Production Committee. The committee spent quite a bit of time on this particular bill trying to make it better as Damien O’Connor said earlier. When the bill came to the committee it was a very very weak bill. We have improved it quite a bit but still there are concerns and some of the representatives from the industry are not very happy with it. Certainly we will look at some Supplementary Order Papers and I am sure the chairman of the select committee as he said here will be discussing this bill and the details of it. 
Overall the intention is there and I can appreciate that. The intention is there to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of biosecurity but in reality is the Minister going to do it? That is my concern. With those words I commend this bill.