Sio William: Biosecurity Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sio William: Biosecurity Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 18 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3700. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 Talofa lava Mr Chair. You have a wonderful way of greeting MPs at this late stage of the night so thank you.  
This bill the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill is not a very sexy bill. I hate to think that it reflects the personality of any of the people here but I just want in the short time that I am taking this call to acknowledge the leadership of the Hon Damien O’Connor. I suspect that the Minister on the other side of the Chamber will accept that the Hon Damien O’Connor has provided a very considered mature and genuine desire to protect our biosecurity here in New Zealand.  
Throughout this bill in its first reading and its second reading we have always stated quite clearly led by the Hon Damien O’Connor that our priority was the protection of our industry and that it was of concern to us the way that this Government had reduced the number of staff at our border controls. But despite those concerns you have heard tonight from the Hon Damien O’Connor a very considered and mature response to try to work with this Government for the sake of protecting our most valuable industries. So whilst we support this bill because we think and we hope that the measures and the systems that this bill outlines and provides for will provide some preventive measures to control our pest and disease incursions we still have genuine concern around the Government-industry agreements.  
This bill is timely of course when you consider the recent finding of the Queensland fruit fly in Auckland a pest that could destroy our $3 billion a year horticultural industry and this is on top of the  
Pseudomonas syringae 
pv 
. Actinidiae 
outbreak in kiwifruit which is likely to incur costs in the region of $75 million. These incursions are a stark reminder that the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach to biosecurity is not cost-effective. 
 As I said at the beginning this is not necessarily a very sexy kind of legislation for us to be talking about. My grandfather was a pig farmer in the Islands. He taught us that the minute you stepped on pig droppings it did not matter how much you wiped them off you had to bathe yourself consistently for that day. It did not matter how much perfume; it was still going to smell.  
But the other day visiting farms up north with the Hon Damien O’Connor and Shane Jones I learnt that the smell of pig droppings and the smell of cow droppings was the smell of money. The point there is that it is an industry that is very very important for the future of our country. We are working together on the basis that it is our hope and desire led by the Hon Damien O’Connor that we do all that we can do to ensure that the industry is protected because whatever happens whatever incursions might occur if it affects the farming industry if it affects our kiwifruit industry or if it affects our wine industry it will have a rippling effect throughout. Thank you for that time.