Browning Steffan: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 2) — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBrowning Steffan: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 2) — First Reading[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12428. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Third ReadingSTEFFAN BROWNING (Green):I stand to speak to the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 2). The reason I am taking a call is due to the Commodity Levies Act aspects of this bill. We support those commodity levies and it always concerns me when some productive sectors sometimes choose not to. These levies are absolutely critical both for those organisations to do advocacy for their producer members and also to help organise markets and to do research.There is one shortfall unfortunately through the Commodity Levies Act and a real gap and that is the organics sector which does not have any call on those levies. Organics producers who are often growing to a different management system pay their levies because everyone should if they are producing and marketing through the various forms of marketing from a farmers market if you are a vegetable grower right through to the big exporters. They pay their levies but getting research done and having control of some of the money even proportionate to their size does not happen. That is a real shame because there is a growing international market and even in New Zealand we have had good growth in organics. Even in recent years when there was a bit of a downturn internationally I think Britain was the only place with issues around the global financial crisis.We have seen great growth in organics. We think there should be a lot more. If we did have some of that money going back into research we might not have some of the problems we are having even with our principal co-op in this country at the moment. There are some real issues about some of our productive systems that end up biting us on the butt as such because of the sheer nature of how the production happens. Some of the information around some of the supplementary feeding to bovines to cattle suggests that some of the bacteria that are involved around botulism for example are enhanced through some of the material that is being fed to animals. That needs further investigation.But back to the productive sector—[Interruption ] Excuse me? [Interruption ] I go back to the productive sector in terms of the Commodity Levies Act. We want to see the organics sector grow. It is a safe sustainable direction for New Zealand. It supports the “clean green” New Zealand brand—“100% Pure New Zealand”. The organics sector and best-practice organics help that no end. I will give just a couple of figures. In 2007 the organics market in New Zealand was worth $205 million in 2009 it was $275 million but by 2012 that had boosted up to $350 million. That is the size of the New Zealand market. Internationally it is absolutely massive. We have got growth between 2009 and 2012 of course of 400 percent. Those people deserve to be getting their slice of the levies and it is something that hopefully a future Government will ensure. If we do it through a voting system it is unlikely to happen because people are sick of paying extra levies. We just need to find a device that will split up the levies and that ensures that the organics sector gets some.So that is the main point. The Greens will be supporting this bill but we want to see some changes in the future to the Commodity Levies Act. Thank you.