Farmers' Mutual Group Bill

I move, That the Farmers’ Mutual Group Bill be now read a third time. This bill is a private bill promoted by the Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Association. The bill modernises the association’s business, entrenches its mutual status, and gives the association a new name: the Farmers’ Mutual Group. The bill has the support of the association’s members and the relevant officials.

I take this quick opportunity to thank the House for the debate in the second reading. It is interesting to see a bill of this nature attract the kind of interest that it has, and I think that it will warm the hearts of the people from the association that they have had so many comments today on their bill and so many compliments to people such as Peter Jensen, the retiring chairperson, whom we all wish well. We wish the association well for the annual general meeting, as well.

On a slightly light-hearted note, in response to the comments of the members opposite, I compliment them on their heroic efforts against the mean bureaucracy that came along to the Primary Production Committee. They courageously stood up to the bureaucracy and made sure that it did not have its way with this bill. They certainly must feel themselves to have been through a battle, so I commend them on that. Once again I take the opportunity to thank the members of the Primary Production Committee for their thoughtful consideration of the bill, and I have no hesitation in commending the bill to the House.

National certainly supports the third reading of the Farmers’ Mutual Group Bill. I also take the opportunity to thank parliamentary colleagues of all parties for their assistance in making sure that the bill was progressed through the House today.

It has been a very, very interesting debate. I was particularly interested in the speech from the Māori Party member Mr Harawira, and I say that Māori in New Zealand agriculture will be an increasing force to be reckoned with. I know some of the entrants who were involved in the Māori Farmer of the Year competition. Having visited some of their farms, I know that they are incredible enterprises. I am sure that when the history of the Farmers’ Mutual Group is written for the next hundred years, they as a group of New Zealanders will be shown in that history to have been very powerful.

The other thing that struck me as interesting was the speech from the Green Party member Nandor Tanczos on climate change. Again, when the Farmers’ Mutual Group bothers to write the history for the next hundred years, a lot of the truth of the predictions about the disastrous state of climate change and what it might do to New Zealand agriculture will be known by that stage. It will no longer be a guess.

I wish Mr Peter Jensen well. It is no mean feat to have been the chairman of the Farmers’ Mutual Group. I was just briefly looking through the history again, and I note that in 102 years Mr Jensen is only the ninth chairman of the board of the Farmers’ Mutual Group. I wish him well, and I wish the Farmers’ Mutual Group well, both for the AGM and for the future of the organisation.

Bill read a third time.