While most operators were reputable and maintained high animal welfare standards, video evidence of the other kind of operator prompted New Zealand to ban live sea exports of sheep in 2003, and the export of livestock for slaughter was stopped in 2008.
Despite that, by 2020 the trade was still worth many millions, even though the previous year the government had announced that it was reviewing live exports, particularly of cattle.
That all changed, in tragic circumstances, on September 2, 2020, when the Gulf Livestock 1 was capsized by a typhoon in the East China Sea.
The ship had departed Napier the previous month, and had on board 43 crew and 6000 cattle.
Two New Zealanders, Scott Harris of Manawatu and Lochie Bellerby of Southland, were lost.
In response, the Government swiftly announced that it would ban all livestock exports by sea, although in politics "swiftly" has a different meaning to that used by most people: on Wednesday Parliament held the committee stages debate on the Bill.
Southland National MP Joseph Mooney has been an interested participant in all of this: not only was Mr Bellerby a constituent in the neighbouring seat of Invercargill, but the substantial number of farmers in his region also hold a deep interest in the future of the trade.
The Bill, which is poised to become law later this month, would not end the trade immediately: it allows for a transition period of up to two years to fulfil existing contracts and wind back the trade.
That does not satisfy National, or Act New Zealand for that matter, which have both argued consistently through this debate that the response to the Gulf Livestock 1 tragedy should have been to regulate for "gold standard" safety and welfare provisions and allow the trade to continue.
"Why ban when the Government has the option to make the industry better, weed out the cowboys, trade with the world and make sure we get that $475 million coming in?" Mr Mooney asked on Wednesday.
He was also concerned about the fate of bobby calves, which make up a proportion of the animals about to be stopped from finding their sea legs.
"We’re reducing the amount of trade, we’re increasing the number of bobby calves, what’s going to happen with the bobby calves?" Mr Mooney asked.
"We can’t send them to happy homes where they’re needed like, for example, Indonesia, which is going to need more livestock. We can’t send them to the Ukraine, which needs a whole lot more livestock."
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor assured Mr Mooney that those animals would probably end up being higher-value exports by way of meat products, a prospect which the animals themselves might not be thrilled at.
"We will continue with this because this is the best piece of legislation to protect the reputation of not just the farmers now but those into the future who want to commit to livestock farming and know that we are the best managers of animal welfare and animal protein in the world, and for the world," Mr O’Connor said.
The Animal Welfare Bill was but a small part of a busy and diverse week for Mr Mooney.
Then it was time for something completely different and a speech befitting a trained lawyer on the Coroners Amendment Bill (on which Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary also weighed in), before winding back the years with an illuminating contribution on the Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Bill.
The proposed law change, in the name of Tourism Minister Stuart Nash, would enable local authorities and the Department of Conservation to better manage freedom camping through local bylaws and notices.
It turned out that over 20 years ago Mr Mooney cycled and tramped his way around the South Island.
"Looking at this freedom camping Bill, I was like ‘Man, would I have been caught by this?’, and I probably would have been," he said.
"I can tell you: there were no toilets anywhere. There were no composting toilets. There were no toilets strapped to the bicycle. It just wasn’t happening."
However, he reassured the House, he had been a responsible camper and there were ways and means of ensuring that you did leave something behind that should not be left behind.
"We do need to make sure that responsible campers can continue to enjoy our country, and I certainly hope this does that."
More soberly, Mr Mooney bookended his Parliamentary week by once more talking about welfare, this time child welfare and the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill, citing some chilling statistics to bring this sitting block to a close.
Just like being there
Dunedin Labour list MP Rachel Brooking somehow, miraculously, managed to speak for 10 minutes on the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Amendment Act on Thursday morning, despite not having actually set foot in the aforementioned reserves.
"I can assure anybody who’s listening to this speech that I have had the privilege of visiting Palmerston North at least twice this term already — a wonderful place to visit," she said, desperately trying to establish her bona fides.
"I’m sure I’ll be there again, and when I was there I did drive past this site because it is an easy site to drive past in terms of it’s on one of the main roads ... that is true, I have not stopped at the site, but should I be back in Palmerston North I absolutely will make sure to do that."
The relevant select committee, on which Ms Brooking sits, did get to watch a video of the site filmed by drone.
Say what you mean
There was no ambiguity in Dunedin National list MP Michael Woodhouse’s second-reading contribution on the Plain Language Bill.
"It’s a waste of this House’s time, it was a waste of the select committee’s time, it was a waste of the submitters’ time, it was a waste of the officials’ time." he said, before calling for the Bill to be put in the dustbin.
Which it won’t be, having cleared its second reading with room to spare.
