Minister says he can't force board to disclose piggery audit

Agriculture Minister David Carter told Parliament today he can't force the Pork Industry Board to disclose information about the state of piggeries.

The board carried out a nationwide audit of piggeries after reports that in some of them pigs were suffering in sow crates, but it doesn't want the results made public and is looking for ways to get around the Official Information Act.

It thinks that if the piggery reports are held by individual farmers, the information will be outside the scope of the Act and the industry can be saved from embarrassment.

Green Party MP Sue Kedgley asked Mr Carter in Parliament what he was going to do about the board "deliberately evading the Official Information Act".

Mr Carter said he wasn't going to do anything.

"Under the Pork Industry Board Act I have no statutory role in that particular board's adherence to the Official Information Act," he said.

He told Ms Kedgley she should complain to the Ombudsman, which didn't please the MP.

"Is he really claiming he has no power, or no influence, over the Pork Industry Board to force it to release these audits that it is seeking to suppress?" she asked.

"Yes, exactly," Mr Carter replied.

Ms Kedgley said it was a serious offence for a statutory board to try to evade the provisions of the Act and Mr Carter should sack the directors who had "conspired to circumvent it".

Mr Carter again said he had no powers relating to the board and the Act.

Ms Kedgley said the board was also trying to delay the introduction of a new animal welfare code for pigs and asked Mr Carter when he expected to implement it.

Mr Carter said there had been more than 20,000 submissions on the proposed code, and Ms Kedgley had "wound up" many of them.

He said he expected to receive it around October and would implement it as soon as possible.

- NZPA