Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill

Madam Speaker, I present to the House a legislative statement on the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill.

DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

Hon TODD McCLAY: I move, That the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

The bill proposes changes to the export quota system that include shifting quota allocation from the proportion of milk solids a company collects from farmers to a system based on their export history. The new system will better reflect the diversity of the dairy industry. It will support businesses of all sizes, stimulating innovation and encouraging value-add to New Zealand dairy products and our exports. The bill will also help to maximise the value of dairy export quota administered by New Zealand for the following countries: the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, the United States, and the Dominican Republic. This directly supports the Government’s ambitious trade agenda.

I’m pleased to bring this bill back to the House today. Passing this bill is an important step forward towards ensuring the continued success of the New Zealand dairy industry, which is a key driver of New Zealand’s economic growth and prosperity. The bill was introduced in October 2024 and considered by the Primary Production Committee, which reported back recently. I’d like to emphasise that during the public consultation in the select committee processes, we listened to dairy processors, dairy exporters, and other stakeholders across the sector to ensure that their concerns and feedback were considered. This has led to a bill that strikes the right balance between widening quota access to a more diverse group of exporters and maintaining quota access for our more established players. In addition, the changes in the bill following the select committee process will ensure that the new dairy quota allocation system is fair and provides the certainty that businesses need.

I’d like to acknowledge the support we have had from all sides of the House and all parties from across the aisle for the bill through the legislative process. The bill is a clear example of the Government’s commitment to supporting the dairy sector to succeed. Importantly, it supports the Government’s goal of doubling the value of exports within 10 years and delivering economic growth for New Zealand.

I’d also like to thank the hard-working farmers of New Zealand and the dairy farmers who get up every day and work hard on our behalf. They are, without doubt, the best farmers in the world. They produce the highest-quality, safest dairy products that the world wants and consumers are willing to pay more for. We’re very proud of them. We’re very grateful for what they do. As the economy improves and fixes itself, it is, of course, dairy and meat and fruit and others in the primary sector that are leading that charge.

Finally, can I thank all members of the House and all parties for their support through this legislation—a clear demonstration that every single one of them supports our dairy farmers.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to take a call on this, the third reading of the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. I, too, would also like to acknowledge all the hard-working dairy farmers across the country in New Zealand, one of whom is my son, who gets up also very early in the morning to milk the cows, and who had a very special day and got married just this past weekend. It was a lovely occasion, and he was very lucky that he had wonderful, understanding staff who took over and milked the cows for him in the weekend so that he didn’t have to, because he had more important things to do, such as getting married.

I also want to acknowledge not just the dairy farmers out there, but all those farmers out there at the moment who are experiencing the hardships that drought across the country is causing them all. It is a really stressful time for our farmers who are experiencing those conditions. I hope that they are talking to each other, talking to their friends, getting the support that they need and realising that we are here in the House passing a piece of legislation that shows them that, right across this House, we back them and we support them by passing this in the third reading tonight.

I also again want to acknowledge my colleagues on the Primary Production Committee. The process that we went through for the bill to reach the state that it is in tonight was a really collegial one, a really hard-working one. Lots of questions were asked of the officials, and they were really good questions, and we had some really great conversations throughout the process. I want to acknowledge my colleague the Hon Damien O’Connor, who began the process of bringing this piece of legislation to the House, and also to the current Minister of Agriculture, who has now shepherded it to this, the third reading.

As the Minister mentioned, this bill strikes the right balance, and we also agree that it does on this side of the House, and we show that by getting in and supporting this piece of legislation by making just the couple of changes that we’ve talked about. I want to acknowledge and thank the Minister for his interactions during the committee stage this evening. It was great to get really fulsome answers and explanations from him throughout that process.

I think this piece of legislation is going to allow new players and different business types into the industry. It’s going to mean with new players that come into the industry—those like Spring Sheep Milk Company, Dairy Goat Co-operative, Lewis Road Creamery, all of those from the sector who haven’t perhaps been able to participate or be allocated quota before. It’s going to give them the opportunity to participate now, therefore also leading to doubling export value as is the goal of not only this current Government but also us here on this side of the House. We also want to see our primary sector absolutely thrive and do well, because we do acknowledge, on this side of the House, too, that our agricultural sector is also the backbone of the New Zealand economy. And without them, things would be very, very grim indeed.

I think it’s really important that we continue to be able to evolve pieces of legislation that do allow us to be a bit nimble and recognise when things change within sectors and businesses, and that we can recognise those that haven’t had opportunities before. And, as I said in my speech earlier this evening, this piece of legislation doesn’t just simply make changes to the quota allocations; it gives certainty to the sector. It gives certainty to the smaller players within the agricultural sector to look to invest. It creates jobs. And on this side of the House, we are very supportive of anything that does anything to increase job opportunities and job prospects for people right across the country.

It’s particularly good to see some of our younger people—those that are in school currently—move into the ag sector, the primary sector, because it’s such a great career opportunity. And anything that we can do to provide opportunities, access, and reduce barriers to getting our young people into these sectors has got to be worthwhile.

This is also about providing fairness and providing fairness to those who haven’t been able to participate prior to this piece of legislation coming in. I think it’s really important that the legislation has been able to, as I said before, be a bit nimble and change as things change in different business models with regard to including non-bovine dairy. And we know, in this day and age, there’s lots and lots of people out there who’ve got different allergies to this, that, and the other thing, and this means that people can grow their businesses with regard to goat milk, sheep milk, as we heard one of our colleagues earlier this evening has experienced, I think was it goat milking or sheep milking—one or the other, something like that, something that hasn’t been that common in years gone by. And I think this piece of legislation is going to really encourage that different innovative thinking.

As I said in my speech earlier this evening, New Zealand is a country of innovators. It’s a country of entrepreneurs. It’s that number eight wire thinking. And this piece of legislation is only going to enhance and encourage that type of thinking, that type of behaviour. It’s going to mean great things for our sector, our dairy export sector, our non-bovine dairy export sector, and it’s going to ensure that the value of our primary sector exports increases and doubles just as we would like to see. So thank you, Madam Speaker. I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Minister of Agriculture made a point towards the end of his speech just now where he said that New Zealand farmers produce the highest-quality, safest product in the world, and the world is willing to pay more for that product.

Now, what I think we are finding ourselves in agreement on across the House tonight is the value of that reputation, which allows our exporters to sell product around the world. I really want us to acknowledge that this legislation affects that reputation and upholds that vision and that value proposition—which is also to do, I would say, with a principle of sustainability and the reputation for producing not only a safe and a high-quality product but a natural product.

This draws into starker relief, in the context of this bill, the Government’s programme of legislation that affects the primary production sector. A couple of other things that have been raised this evening, one from our colleague in the New Zealand First Party, Associate Minister Mark Patterson, who pointed out his concerns about the sale of those iconic New Zealand brands. Now, where we acknowledge the value-add that we are trying to facilitate by this amendment that allows new players into the marketplace, that allows new kinds of non-bovine dairy milk into the marketplace—deer milk or sheep milk—the core underpinning that idea is that there are new, valuable brands to be created and products to be created and innovations to be achieved in this space, and this legislation facilitates it.

But is there not a contradiction—as the honourable member opposite highlights—with us allowing those hard-fought, long, many years’ built-up brands like the Anchor brand to be sold off by Fonterra? I am one who also believes that is something that we, as a Parliament, should be more intently scrutinising. What is the logic of us saying that we believe in value-added product and yet we are selling those valuable brands? There are not that many very globally reputable New Zealand products in the world, but one of those classics is surely the Anchor brand. How readily are we as a nation going to be able to create an equivalent of that? And should we not be giving more scrutiny to it being sold off by Fonterra? I agree with the member opposite, the Associate Minister, that that is something that should be of concern to this House. It’s certainly of concern to the Green Party.

The other thing that seems inconsistent with that well-articulated principle of the value proposition that we are trying to achieve, and facilitating greater diversity in the dairy quota allocation, is the Gene Technology Bill. It was very clearly, and has been very clearly, communicated to us in the hearings on that bill that the primary production sector is very concerned about the trade and market access risk impacts of that legislation. They’re concerned about the practical impacts of it on how we are perceived overseas.

Given our dependence on a multitude of markets for 95 percent of our dairy product—and 95 percent of other sectors as well—what is the risk of reputational harm in any degree to which we feed into overseas customers’ or consumers’ concerns about GMOs? It seems to me a legitimate question for us to be considering in this House as to the consistency of the suite of legislative strategies coming from the Government that affect the primary production sector. This is one today that we agree with, but those others are ones that we should be calling into question. I hope that we, as a House, are able to call those into question. Because surely what it is that we are doing today is agreeing that our reputation is hugely valuable, and agreeing that access to export markets is hugely valuable, and indeed why the ability to allocate quota more widely is a thing that is a great prize for smaller businesses that currently don’t have access to that.

Given we accept that value of that reputation, we should be sincerely cautious about harming that reputation with a piece of legislation that is coming up to this House that may risk it through somewhat “as fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, risking our reputation on products that we know consumers in multiple markets are not comfortable with consuming: genetically modified organisms.

This legislation before us, though—I’ll bring us back to it—is an example of what is possible when we do our darndest to find agreement across the diverse political persuasions that are present in the House. It was an enjoyable experience to sit in the Primary Production Committee and work through the different contexts of this bill, to ask a number of questions about the structuring of it. I really want to acknowledge the officials who assisted us in that process, and the thoroughness with which they considered the context of the bill.

The decision to not accept the petition of Fonterra that would have gone to maintain the dominance that they currently have—in fact, it would contradict the intention of this bill, which is to spread the opportunity across more businesses. So we as a committee unanimously agreed that we would not accept that petition of Fonterra, that submission of Fonterra.

That is a good example of what is possible, where we come from a starting point of sharing a principle of values that are unanimous—I would say—in the House that we do want to see New Zealand do well, and we want to see New Zealand do well in a context that upholds the integrity of our diversity, the integrity of our environment, the integrity of our reputation, and that is a thing that we can agree on across the House. The devil may be in the detail, indeed, but I do think that this particular bill is an example of what we should be trying to achieve on a number of pieces of legislation because, frankly, industry does not need the flip-flop of change of Governments—and we know this Government’s going to be gone in 18 months. But the industry wants—

Andy Foster: You were going so well!

STEVE ABEL: I couldn’t resist. You were getting so quiet.

But industry wants certainty, and this is to the point: across Governments, industry wants certainty. This is an instance where the industry can be sure this piece of legislation is going to stay in place. We should be trying to achieve that across other pieces of legislation for the good of the trajectory of the country; for the good of the trajectory of industry.

I would urge the Government to consider what is possible when the Government members and the Ministers are willing to open their hearts—for want of a better word—to the possibility of finding agreement and consensus across the House, because that will put in place legislation that’s good for everybody. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise in support of the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. It’s been really pleasant, actually, to be sitting here listening to a whole range of people across the House talking about how important and great the dairy industry is. Probably the only downside is that myself and Grant McCallum are the only dairy farmers awake to hear it, so thank you very much for all your kind words.

I would just say to the previous speaker, Steve Abel, that if he wishes to have a say in the Fonterra brands sales, there are plenty of dairy farms on the market right now. Buy one, then you get a say and you can tell us how to do it.

Look, I spoke on the first reading of this bill, so I’ll try not to repeat myself, but basically this is a good bill that introduces a new range of innovative ways of ensuring that our export allocation, our quota, is distributed fairly. That will encourage better export returns and more innovation in the sector. I’ve been part of the dairy industry for the life of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act, and it’s been a continual evolution and it’s been an important evolution that’s shown the maturity of the dairy sector over that time as we’ve moved forward currently.

This is a good bill. It means we’ll be picking up on export opportunities where we may have previously missed out. It will widen the quota access to a lot more diverse group of exporters while also maintaining that quota access for our more established players. I’ll offer some support for the Minister of Agriculture and the changes he’s made to the bill. I think this will improve it.

In closing, the Government’s got a goal to double the value of our exports. We’re committed to growing the industry. I believe this bill will help us achieve that and I look forward to the passage of this bill. Thank you.

It’s a pleasure to rise on behalf of New Zealand First for this Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. In short, this is a good bill, and that’s fundamentally why New Zealand First will be supporting it and why it has received wide acclaim across the House. It does open access and ability for smaller, niche companies to get into export markets and to build brands in a more value-added capacity.

It strikes a very good balance. I think the Minister of Agriculture explained in the committee of the whole House how they landed at that 10 percent allocation in terms of quota that was coming into this pool, that it struck the balance between encouraging new entrants but also protecting existing rights somewhat to exporters that were already utilising this quota and doing it well.

I do want to pick up on the debate that has sort of emerged a little bit in this reading, because we are missing the wood for the trees. The bigger issue is what Fonterra do with these already established brands. We’re talking, within this bill, of creating maybe new value-added companies or the next Tatua Dairy Company.

Fonterra was created as an Act of Parliament. They were allowed to go around the Commerce Commission, and the decision does sit with the farmers, but it would not have hurt this Parliament and the select committees that I wrote to to examine this decision by their board, hold them to account, and to actually help those farmers, in an independent forum, to make an informed decision. This is a very big decision, selling off brands that are generational at a time where precision fermentation’s coming along that could disrupt the ingredients part of the business. It breaks the direct line to the consumer that they now have with those brands and with the natural milk products that their farmers are so good at producing. So I think that’s a missed opportunity, and I’ve got that on the record, and it seems like Mr Abel and the Green Party support that.

The dairy industry is hugely important to this country and it’s important we get pieces of legislation like this right. Jo Luxton, I think, in her presentation, did talk about the droughts around large parts of the country. Northland, Manawatū, Taranaki, and the top of the South Island are officially in medium-scale adverse events at the moment. I know those farmers are doing it pretty tough.

I was actually up in Taranaki last week visiting some of those farmers. It was a fantastic do at the Warea Heifer Park. Actually, it was really heartwarming—rural community at its best. I’m sure the member for New Plymouth here, David MacLeod, knows it well, but it was a great story of why it was called the heifer park, because it’s actually a bowling green, but the young fella that mowed the green left the gate open and the heifers got in and destroyed the bowling green, so it’s now called the heifer park. But it was great and uplifting and it just showed the community, heavily dairy-dependent, coming together to support each other through hard times.

Essentially, this bill, though, is a small part of a bigger strategic play to double our exports. These are the sorts of things that Governments can do to help foster innovation and brand development. It’s a small piece of a much bigger piece of work—things like enabling more water storage and irrigation, Resource Management Act reform, science, innovation, and genetics.

Steve Abel touched on, when talking about genetics, the debate that we’re having now about genetically modified organisms. That is an important piece of legislation coming before this House, and this House had better be taking notice of that select committee report, because there’s been some very important points made in that report that we need to take very seriously. This is a Rubicon that we’re talking about jumping, and we should not take that lightly, but that will be a debate for another day.

At this stage, we are here to support this Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. I would like to commend the Minister, the Hon Todd McClay, who has brought it through, and the Hon Damien O’Connor, who started this under the previous Government. As I recall from my days, it sounds like the Primary Production Committee continues to be a committee that works collegially for the good of agriculture, the primary sector, and rural New Zealand. So with that, we support the bill to the House. Thank you.

Tēnā rā koe e te Pīka, otirā tēnā rā tātou e te Whare. E tū ana ahau ki te waha i ngā kōrero mō te wā tuarua i te pō nei, ki te wāhanga tuatoru o tēnei o ngā pire. Tautoko katoatia ana mātou Te Pāti Māori i tēnei o ngā pire, o te Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. Engari tētahi o ngā kōrero i rangonatia e au i te pō nei, me tōna hirahiratanga, me tōna motuhaketanga anō hoki ki tēnei o ngā kōrero, ko te ōhanga o ngā pakihi Māori. Nā Cushla i kōrerotia i ngā ōhāki, i ngā waiata, i ngā pūkōrero, i ngā hītori o ngā kaipāmu ki Ngati Porou, arā ko ngā hua nui i roto i ērā momo kōrero.

[I stand to deliver the speech for the second time this evening, regarding the third part of this bill. The Māori Party absolutely supports this bill, the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. However, one point I heard this evening, which is important, and unique to this discussion, is the economy of Māori business. Cushla spoke about the final wishes, the songs, the orators, the history of the farmers in Ngati Porou. There was so much worth in those types of stories.]

I think I reflect on the impact that the Māori economy has had in this industry as well. It’s doubled in size at an extremely fast rate. I think the stories that me and Cushla have brought into the Whare tonight from our respective electorates—we have many different waiata, kōrero, pūrākau, stories that go with that, right?—are a prime example as to probably why the Māori economy has taken over, not overnight, but has boomed so much is because we know how to tell a story and we also know how to sell the product.

So, yeah, I think it’s beautiful to have those contributions in the House tonight, and the whakapapa that comes with that to this dairy industry, but the whakapapa that tūpuna have and that rohe have and that pepeha have in that sector. So I do really want to highlight that that’s such a significant area into why, personally, I think that the Māori economy has just taken off, because we have international industries that fall in love with these stories and the way that we have Māori tourism, Māori industries, like Miraka, for example, and Tatua Dairy that have been able to secure those really big contracts, with which we went from 0 percent of the dairy industry to 12 percent with those big overseas contracts that Miraka had installed. Ahakoa tō mātou wā iti ki roto i tēnei o ngā ōhanga o ngā pakihi Māori, kua tino kite i ngā hua, and kua kōrerotia e mātou ngā mema Māori me a mātou rohe, me ā mātou kōrero tuku iho ki tēnei o ngā wāhanga. Nō reira e tautokotia ana mātou Te Pāti Māori i tēnei pire. E mihi ana ki te komiti whakahaere, e mihi hoki ana ki te Minita i kawe mai i tēnei o ngā pīre. Tēnā rā tātou.

[Despite our short time within this economy of Māori business, we have clearly seen the benefits, which the Māori members and our constituencies have spoken about, as well as our history in this part. As such, the Māori Party supports this bill. We acknowledge the select committee, and the Minister who brought this bill to the House. Greetings to all.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. First up, I think I’d like to tautoko Minister Mark Patterson’s caution around the gene tech bill, which is the other big thing that is coming up. However, we are here to talk about the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill, which of course is related to the gene tech bill. [Interruption] Oh they rise, they rise, don’t they? I was pleased to hear that they are awake next door, because for a moment earlier I thought there was dead silence and possibly—but no, they weren’t. They came alive when my colleague Steve Abel made it clear that they’ve got 18 months to get stuff done. And boy, I was pleased to see that they were—

Steve Abel: Animated.

SCOTT WILLIS: They were getting animated.

But I would like to reassure the Government opposite that tonight we are doing something good and it will endure. Eighteen months might be only what’s left, but this, tonight, is something that will endure. And that’s a good thing—that’s a good thing.

So we are talking about the dairy export quota, but the other thing that I think is really interesting with that is what this can do here in Aotearoa. Earlier I talked about my love of cheese and particularly the Pélardon. [Interruption] What are you shaking your head—what are they shaking their heads at?

Hon Chris Penk: We just don’t know what you’re talking about.

SCOTT WILLIS: Does the Government not love cheese as well? Come on. Cheese is a wonderful thing.

Hon Member: Like a merino’s backside.

SCOTT WILLIS: Ha, ha! I do think we have a fantastic opportunity to enhance the value of our dairy produce and to make sure that we as a country also are able to enjoy the fruits of rural Aotearoa.

If we think about some of those cheeses, in my neck of the woods there’s the Whitestone range of cheeses, there’s Evansdale, but I’m particularly keen on Cranky Goat Cheese—they do a very good cheese locally. And I think what this bill does is it gives us an opportunity to think not only about export markets, but it gives us an opportunity to think about place-based production that will help build our brand in those export markets and here in Aotearoa. Rather than just selling volumes of milk and dried milk powder, we can add that value—

Grant McCallum: You’ve got a lot to learn.

SCOTT WILLIS: —we can create the—and it’s true: I do have a lot to learn, but I also have made a lot of different produce and cheeses in my time, and I think we have an opportunity to enhance our own rural economy through appreciation of what we can offer the world.

I think when we look at what other countries do, if we look at the range of Brie, of Roquefort, of Bleu d’Auvergnes, Pélardons, why do we not have the same range that we’re as proud of here that we want to export as dairy produce that we’ve enhanced its value? We’re not just selling milk; we’re not just selling dried milk; we’re doing something else and making it valuable.

I think this point is really, really important because while some of us can go and get good cheese here, we also need to think about what we do with tourism as tourism changes and how we can enhance Aotearoa’s brand both externally and internally—

Andy Foster: New Zealand would be good. It’s a good brand.

SCOTT WILLIS: —and making it unique rather than calling it a province of a small European nation, it would probably be even better.

So just to finish, we are, of course, supporting this bill, as you know, but we also see fantastic opportunity to really build a thriving rural economy based around value, not volume.

The member’s time has expired.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, what an interesting, ahem, speech from Scott Willis in the world of cheese. Look, I just want to speak very briefly just to say that it’s, as we’ve all said before, wonderful to see the cross-party support for this bill. In my electorate in Tairāwhiti, we only have one or two dairy farms. But, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, there are very many, and there are many, many, many opportunities to expand the offering in terms of trade and export from dairy and non-bovine dairy products going out into the world. New Zealand farmers are the best in the world. We’ve heard it all evening. Everyone has mentioned that. We’ve had some great work from the select committee, and I think—

Tim van de Molen: The backbone of dairy.

DANA KIRKPATRICK: Ha, ha! The backbone of dairy. I just want to make sure that we all remember this is critical to the mission of getting New Zealand’s economic growth agenda at the forefront of the thinking. And it’s a simple equation: more growth means more opportunities for New Zealanders, which is a great thing. So, for the love of all that’s cheesy in Scott Willis’ world, I commend the bill to the House.

Tēnā anō koe, Madam Speaker—

Grant McCallum: Song!

CUSHLA TANGAERE-MANUEL: —otirā tēnā koutou katoa. I heard a request for a song from across the floor. Have you got the backing track, have you? Now, in my earlier contribution to this bill, I did recount a waiata written by Tā Āpirana Turupa Ngata in relation to his aspirations and vision around the dairy industry, a lot of which did come to fruition, so I think he’d be pleased here.

But I’m thinking of a song for this contribution. The only one that came to mind was “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard”. It might sound funny, but it is actually very relevant to this kaupapa. I’m not going to sing it. You can sing it in your head. You can sing—come on, give me a drum roll then.

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard

Damn right, it’s better than yours

They’re like, it’s better than yours

I can teach you, but I’d have to charge.

Now, everyone here has talked about how we have the most top-quality dairy in the world. We do. We’re not necessarily going to teach people how to produce it, because that would be stupid, but we are going to have to charge. But, in order to charge for our top-quality milk that makes these milkshakes that bring all the boys and girls to the yard, we have to protect our industry, because whether we like it or not, and we know we make the best milk that brings all the boys to the yard, it’s not the only option available these days.

When you go to Coppers or wherever you go to get your caffeine fix, you will often hear people say, “I’ll have an oat milk latte, please.”, “I’ll have almond milk please.” All power to people who are on plant-based diets, but the reality is, here tonight, we are talking about growing, preserving, and ensuring our Aotearoa New Zealand dairy industry thrives. So that’s what we’re all here for, and that’s why we’re all getting along delirious on all the lactose we’ve been drinking and having a good old laugh tonight.

We do need to protect it so that it’ll grow. Everyone’s talked about growth, and with that in mind, I want to remind us all that in order to grow this industry and our amazing products, we need to grow our people. I think what we need to also be thinking about is the education and training opportunities that we must provide to make sure that not only have we got the best cheese makers, the best milk producers, but that it’s a career for people and we are providing the best quality research to not only make sure we’re putting out the best milk for your full-fat latte—full-fat milk latte—but also that we’re producing product that is sustainable and attractive to diversifying markets. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re doing the research and development phases as well to diversify, as I said, our product offerings.

I went to school, just a couple of years ago, when that song came out [laughter]. Ha, ha! I was gonna say, don’t say anything about milkshakes bringing boys to the yard when I was at school, the opposite side of the House. But the message I received, even though I was brought up on a farm in a rural community, was “When you grow up, you’re going to be a lawyer. When you grow up, you’re going to be a doctor.” Well, first of all, they should have said, “Make sure you can cook for 300 people at the marae.”, but that’s a whole other story. But there weren’t the messages about, “Hey, we really do need more farmers. Hey, we really do need more shearers. Hey, we really do need more dairy producers.” And so we need to put that message into our rangatahis’ minds—not just our rangatahi, but Aotearoa whānui—to remind our rangatahi that, number one, “It’s OK if you want to work the land. In fact, it’s fantastic.” It is fantastic, and we need to let them know not only the benefits of a career in our primary industries but the benefits that they contribute to Aotearoa whānui and our international reputation.

Educate our rangatahi not only about how to work in these industries, how to research to make sure we’re producing the best, how to work hard so that we’re exporting the best-quality products that reflect our clean, green image and our high-quality image. But educate them about how what they do on our land and what they do with our kararehe, our animals, impacts our reputation in the world and the value that they add.

Since cheese came up and we’re talking about how this bill will provide opportunities for everyone to have a have a slice of the cheese, I want to acknowledge Waimata Cheese from Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa Gisborne, a small family-owned company, locally based, internationally renowned. Initially they started, naturally, making beautiful dairy cheese. They have since diversified into sheep-dairy cheeses—a wonderful example of how small, niche, quality producers can have a massive impact on our global reputation, while, of course, doing the things that I value the most: living where you’re from, working your land, and promoting your rohe to the world. And that’s why I think we have to understand that in order to grow not only our dairy industry but the international reputation of Aotearoa and the quality and the value we provide, we have to grow our people.

On that note—it’s a little bit of a segue, but not too far removed; it’s still primary industries—I do want to talk about collegiality today, and, like I said, everyone seems to have had a lot of milk to drink because we’re all harikoa. But, in terms of collegiality, I just want to acknowledge Minister Patterson. Recently, he and I visited Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Mātangirau together to talk about growing Māori in the wool industry. So there are definitely opportunities for us to work across the floor in general, and I would, of course, given my latest portfolio and given my electorate also, like us to look at committing to promoting not only Māori careers in the wool industry and across the primary sectors but definitely looking at the opportunities for Māori in the dairy industry, especially when it comes to free-trade agreements, as per Tā Āpirana Ngata’s vision and desires. And I want to repeat what I believe his message was, which remains relevant today: we want to grow our people. They deserve to work hard for a good living. We want to grow our whenua, and we will look after that and vice versa. In order for our reputation to stay strong internationally, we cannot separate ourselves from those two values: looking after our lands and looking after our people.

I’ll reiterate one more time. We talk about growth all the time. And to grow this industry, we have to grow our people across the board, and we have to think about our messaging that this is not just about economics; it’s about the value that this can have for each individual who contributes to New Zealand’s grand reputation.

And don’t forget our milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard, and, damn right, it’s better than yours. I could teach you, but I’d have to charge. Hoi anō rā e te whānau whānui. Once again, I stand on behalf of the Labour Party and commend this bill to the House.

Look, this bill modernises our quota system to grow exports and increase farm-gate returns. It’s about market opportunities. It’s about economic growth, competition, and innovation. It’s great for dairy farmers and it’s great for New Zealand. I am proud to commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We’ve heard a lot tonight about the wonderful contribution of farmers across Aotearoa New Zealand. But as the member of Parliament for Taieri, which is in the Otago and Clutha region, I would remind members of this House that Otago was number one out of the 16 regions that were listed as, in terms of performing economically—we were number one, and Canterbury was number two. Explicitly, agriculture, red meat, dairy, and so on were listed as the reasons why Canterbury had performed so well. So I too want to join in the chorus of voices that are celebrating our farmers tonight, the contribution that they make, and certainly just remind members opposite in the Government, who have a habit of not putting the South Island on the maps that they show to their members at various hui, including at, apparently, the big investment hui last week—there was a map that didn’t even include the South Island—that we are here, we are number one and number two, respectively, in the most prosperous economies, and not to forget that. That is very much thank you to our farmers.

I would also like to add my support for the words of the Hon Mark Patterson, who lives in the Taieri electorate. I had the pleasure of campaigning against him in two election campaigns, and also of him hosting various members of our caucus through farmland across the Lawrence area and into Otago. Very generous of him to do that—always wanting to educate people about the rural sector. I think Mark Patterson has made some really good points around the caution that needs to be taken by Fonterra, given that it is a cooperative business model.

Turning to this bill, we have heard tonight that there is collegiality because, really, this is a bill that promotes fairness and innovation. I would like to commend both of the Ministers who’ve been involved: my colleague, the Hon Damien O’Connor, who started the process and, again, the Hon Todd McClay, who did indulge us with really fulsome answers in the committee of the whole House stage this evening. Given that this is urgency and a fairly rushed process, it was great to have that kind of engagement and to have a Minister on top of his portfolio. We haven’t seen that a lot lately, so really just saying that’s really valued, particularly when there isn’t a select committee stage.

What we did ask in the committee of the whole House were questions around whether the balance had been struck appropriately between the fairness of the allocation, assessing for risk and track record, encouraging innovation for new products such as goat and sheep milk—those who may not necessarily have a track record or who may have a strong track record in some areas and not necessarily in others. The Minister did answer our questions fulsomely and satisfy those, I think, very well.

I think we also agree with the things that the bill is trying to achieve, which are around making sure that small exporters can have market access while still ensuring that those who have a track record and who have got an existing supply line out of the country are not jeopardised. It has achieved that well. As I say, the scrutiny in the committee of the whole House stage showed that the balance, I think, has been well struck.

The final point is something that probably hasn’t come up, I think, in much of the discussion, which is just a change that has been made where the bill removes the term of imprisonment from penalties for false statutory declarations. This is a strict liability offence. It’s really unusual these days to have any kind of imprisonment term available for strict liability offences. That is where the burden of proof is changed. Most people in the public realise where there’s a criminal offence, there is a burden of proof which is beyond reasonable doubt and people are innocent until proven guilty. When we have strict liability offences, that changes, and the person or organisation is deemed to be at fault unless they can prove otherwise. That is antiquated, it’s unfair, and it doesn’t sit well in a modern system. So it’s really good to see that officials have made sure that they have removed that kind of antiquated provision from the bill.

So it’s nice to be in urgency on a collegiate evening with a good bill, and we commend it to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to stand and be part of the third reading of this bill; we’re just about there. We’ve heard a lot of comments and we’ve traversed a lot of the bills, so I probably don’t want to speak to that, apart from I’m very supportive of all the work that’s done. But what I do want to speak to are some of the challenges that we are currently exposed to in the dairy industry, in particular regions, namely one of those regions of my home patch of Taranaki and the drought conditions that they are exposed to.

Now, dairy farming obviously has its highs. You could look at the fact that the payout at the moment is at record highs at this time. But that’s only good if you’re producing milk. The drought conditions that are exposed or are present in the number of these regions is a very trying time. Mark Patterson mentioned that he was in Taranaki last week for a visit to Taranaki, and I can tell you that was very well received. A lot of people don’t understand the pressures that come on to dairy farmers in such times as this. It’s not just the caring for the animals and endeavouring to find the supplementary feed when there’s a lack of a grass, but also the mental toll that it plays on individuals in the dairy industry. We should always remember that communication—looking after one another, looking over the neighbours’ fence and talking to your neighbour—is an important part in such trying times. So it’s pleasing, for what I’ve experienced, of being at farmers’ barbecues and having that communication.

Back to this bill here, the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill. This here is a great bill. It is providing value to more than just the bovine dairy industry; it’s also talking about sheep, goat, and deer. It’s valuable to all of them, it provides diversity for the smaller players, and I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think I might be the last Labour speaker on this piece of legislation. It is good to be able to support a sensible piece of legislation—actually, just to remind the House that it’s once more a positive initiative from Labour to help the dairy industry. And I do have to remind the House and the industry that going back to the 1930s, guaranteed minimum price, the formation of the Dairy Board in the 1950s, you had in the 1980s the Labour Government taking away subsidies.

It was interesting to hear the ACT member trying to say that, you know, we should just listen to the farmers and leave it in the hands of the farmers. In fact, I went to one of those protest meetings and the President of Federated Farmers at the time, Sir Peter Elworthy, as it was, he got up and told the farmers what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. Mr Hoggard should perhaps take that on board. They needed to hear that you could no longer just carry on farming on the basis of subsidies. That intervention by Labour, an important one, actually reset the agricultural sector to be one of the more efficient, if not the most efficient, across the globe.

So once again, the formation of Fonterra by a Labour Government enabled the consolidation so that we truly were leading the world. We did the UK and the EU free-trade agreement (FTA), and I know the Government has with other good FTAs. The Labour Government got rid of Mycoplasma bovis at considerable cost. These have all been positive interventions for the dairy industry, our single biggest industry in this country. And once again, this piece of legislation is from an initiative carried through by the Government to actually open up export opportunities for new and innovative players. That’s a good positive step forward, but it can’t be just taken for granted.

The point that I make in this final speech is the one of leadership. To go back to what Minister Hoggard said—you know, “just leave it to the farmers.” Well, the farmers do a very good job of farming, but Parliament must take the responsibility to show some leadership and intervene from time to time when it is necessary.

We had from the New Zealand First Minister, Minister Patterson, making some very good points, praised in this House for his support for the dairy industry, even though he’s a sheep and beef farmer. Good on him. It doesn’t always happen across the board, but he’s done that. But he then raised some points about the sell off of the consumer brand business of Fonterra, and many of us share those concerns. It might be left to the hands of the farmers ultimately, but actually there is a broader responsibility for Parliament to intervene in the single biggest industry, the most important industry in our country. So you can’t just “leave it in the hands of the farmers”. It has to be in conjunction, in partnership with the farmers.

Todd Stephenson: That’s not what the bill is about.

Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR: But what had—oh, the Minister is saying “Refer to the bill.” Is that what he’s referring to—

Todd Stephenson: I’m not a Minister, but thank you!

Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR: Or the member is. Can I just say that when left to the farmers, we saw the doss of the wool levy, and Minister Patterson himself is now trying to address an issue.

Partnership between farming and business sectors and Parliament delivers the most success, and always has done, across our economy. This piece of legislation is once again a sign of a positive partnership between Parliament and the industry. But there will be times when leadership is required, and if Minister Patterson thinks that it’s important to retain that, he has to, as a Minister, step up and take that leadership role. That is really, really important. If others hadn’t done that in the past, we would still be languishing in the inefficient, low-value production systems that were a hallmark particularly through the 1970s and the 1980s.

I’d just like to say that this is a good piece of legislation. It’s not huge, but it opens the door to opportunities. It doesn’t guarantee success. And the implementation of this by officials, by Governments, by the Minister, and by the industry itself—hopefully, in a cooperative way—will deliver added value to each and every bit of milk that is produced in this country. That’s what we need if we’re to double exports in this country, and we want to see exports grow as well. But it’s an ambitious target. It will require the extraction of every bit of value from every drop of milk in our country, along with all the other industries that export, Minister. I think that Labour has clearly stated its support for this bill and support for the dairy industry. Kia ora.

Well, it’s great to be joined, as a dairy farmer in the House—a few dairy farmers left in the House—by yourself, Madam Speaker, as a dairy farmer. Welcome.

This is very important, and I’m very proud to stand here and be the last speaker on this bill. One of the reasons this sort of thing is so important is that the dairy industry has been around for over a hundred years, and it will be around for a hundred more. As someone whose family has been farming—and I’m a fourth-generation farmer, and my son recently decided he doesn’t want to be a valuer and would rather go and be a dairy farmer. He’s taken up dairy farming and is working on a dairy farm in Canterbury. I just think that’s why this sort of thing is so important—that we get this right so that future generations are able to participate in a great sector.

I look forward, actually, to going through and finding in the Hansard record all the great comments that have been made around the House about the dairy sector, because I’ve been very happy with that and I look forward to quoting them back to people when we move on to more contentious pieces of legislation! Anyway, I think I’ve said enough. The whip thinks I’ve said enough! I commend this bill to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a third time.