House to spined for the dinner break following the valedictory statement
of the Hon Steven Joyce this
afternoon.
of the Hon Steven Joyce this
none. The Hon Damien O'Connor. I want to make a ministerial
statement on the mycoplasma bovis
outbreak. I want to update the House on
significant steps
significant steps taken recently to control the spread of the
cattle disease mycoplasma bovis. The
year has an impact on the health of cat 8 including high mortality
among calves, mastitis, high rates of
abortions and reduced
milk production, a drag on the
incomes of farming
farming households, rural communities and
communities and the national economy. I've been working hard
with officials, industry leaders
and farmers on the ground to take
actions to limit the
outbreak's impact. Mr Speaker, yesterday I
announced the Ministry for
Primary Industries will cull 22,332
cattle on all properties infected
with the disease. This is the single biggest
cull of cattle in
New Zealand's history. Last Friday, Mr Speaker, I
announced the introduction of
a checkpoint at the top of the
South Island, for
Island, for trucks carrying cattle north which will prevent an Madams
moving from infected and
restricted properties.
properties. These necessary steps are aimed at
stopping the spread of
the disease, giving farming families certainty
about their
about their livelihoods and protecting our regional and national
economies. The reason we've decided
to cull cattle now is that milk
testing shows that
mycoplasma bovis is not endemic in the national herd.
All our finds to date
stem from two farmer hubs. I note that
the industry has backed the
Government's decision, decisive actions,
in recent days, saying that these steps
will allow farmers to
plan for the future. These latest actions
will be paid for by
future. These latest actions will be
and industry groups dedicated to the response this month. Tracing
the disease has been a
massive undertaking, owing to the poor use
and application of the National
Animal Identification
Animal Identification and Tracing system
Animal Identification and Tracing
of those farmers recording their animal movements do so within
the
farm animal movements are recorded. Unregarded stock movements are
a significant reason for
the spread of mycoplasma bovis and have slowed
our tracking of the disease. That,
Mr Speaker, is simply
not good enough. We will work with farmers to
fix NAIT's problems and to protect
our economy from
economy from future biosecurity threats. Mr Speaker, coming from a
proud farming family, I
understand how hard it can be for people on
the ground dealing
ground dealing with mycoplasma bovis on a daily basis. In my visits
to farms around the country in
recent months, I've been heartened by
the support farmers and their rural
communities have shown to each
other. I want to thank farming
industry groups and in particular
Rural Support Trust for their work
to help farming families
dealing with restrictions on their farms as
a result of the mycoplasma
bovis response efforts. To
those farmers who face the culling of their herds,
I understand that this is a
difficult time, but the Government
and in the actions it
is taking has shown it is
committed to working with with you as farmers and we are
prepared to make
the difficult decisions. Officials me
that farming family also be walked through the
process to cull animals in
a caring manner over the coming weeks. We are
boosting compensation teams to
help farmers claim for the
verifiable losses they suffer as part of the
biosecurity response efforts.
Officials continue to investigate
how the disease
entered New Zealand. It is a complex task and we
are working hard to find the source
of the outbreak. Mr Speaker, the
dairy sector is New Zealand's largest
export earner,
sector is New Zealand's largest
export revenue for the year end of June 2017, while the beef
sector earned an extra
government, Mr Speaker, is committed to ensuring these industries, which
are vital to New Zealand's
economy are resilient and
protected from biosecurity threats.
biosecurity threats. The mycoplasma
The mycoplasma bovis outbreak highlights the impact biosecurity
threats pose to our
agriculture systems. As a world becomes a
smaller place, these
threats are harder to keep from our borders. Mr
Speaker, I consider biosecurity
the biggest challenge I face as minister
and the biggest challenge we face
as a country. I've committed to
upgrading the Biosecurity Act
to ensure it is fit for purpose in a
world where pests and disease can
come on a boat and a plane's
cargo hold or carried by a tourist. Over
the coming weeks we
will continue our tracing of mycoplasma bovis
before making a
final decision, which I will take to
my Cabinet colleagues about
colleagues about whether eradication is possible and economically viable.
I expect the number of
infected properties will
properties will increase as that work continues. Eradication is
still our focus, but that will
come with a price tag, a lot of hard
work and cooperation between everyone
involved. Mr Speaker,
the Government's actions over the
last few days have shown the importance
we place on supporting
our farming sector.
Can
Can I
Can I remind ministers that I didn't interrupt the member when
his time was up, because it is a matter of
significant
significant importance to New Zealand, but it should be
possible to make a
to make a ministerial statement within five minutes and I would
like to remind ministers that when they
do it in future to
stay within that time. The Hon Nathan Guy.
Can I respond
to the ministerial statement this afternoon, the
National Party acknowledges
and supports the decision that the
Government has made, but I have
some very important questions
that are worthy of discussion this afternoon.
We think back to seven
herds being culled prior to December. That
was the support that this side of the
House wanted to