Estimates Debate — Vote Agriculture and Forestry

It is my pleasure to rise and speak with regard to agriculture and forestry. The Hon Shane Jones commented earlier about a need for leadership in this area, and I could not agree with him more. There is a strong need for leadership, but the need for leadership is not so much in the agricultural sector as it is in the Labour caucus. I hope that the honourable member’s probation and rehabilitation period is not too long, because the vacuum in leadership on that side of the Chamber is such that the House will not function unless something happens to improve that.

In agriculture, however, there has been some strong leadership, and there are a number of things that this Government is pleased to do. First of all, I will mention in passing—because I mentioned it in my previous speech—the Primary Growth Partnership, which will be a significant step forward for the agricultural sector. I am proud to be part of the agricultural team, ably led by the Hon David Carter, who has come forward with this major initiative.

Science investment in this sector is essential if New Zealand’s economy is to prosper. There is one way, and only one way, that we can have prosperity and be competitive with the world, and that is through the export of protein products—the low-hanging fruit. I acknowledge the Minister in the chair, the Minister of Trade. I acknowledge the fine work that the Minister, the Hon Tim Groser, and his team have done internationally in opening up markets, as we have never seen before, and giving us the opportunities that exist for us to export high-tech, smart products based on the scientific work that was part of the initiative in this year’s Budget round. That has been a wonderful step forward for the agricultural sector.

Changes to the Resource Management Act will inevitably lead to the opening up of opportunity. One of the opportunities that is glaringly obvious to anyone who spends more than 30 seconds studying the agricultural sector is the ability to irrigate some of our drier lands, particularly, but not entirely, the Canterbury Plains—in fact, the whole of the eastern belt right up into Hawke’s Bay, where my colleague, the senior whip, represents the Napier seat. The opportunity that that could unleash in terms of economic growth for New Zealand is enormous, so the changes that have already been announced and the ongoing work in the resource management field are essential to unlocking the potential for our primary sector.

Forestry has been on the back foot for a long, long time—for 9 long years at least under the previous Government. I am pleased to see that the leadership of the Hon Shane Jones has returned, because without leadership in this field—which we are now starting to see under a National Government—we are in danger of seeing our second-largest export industry disappearing over the horizon and our Australian counterparts benefiting from that.

It always beggared belief, in my view, that Australia, a country that took 5 years longer to grow a Pinus radiata tree and then export it to exactly the same markets that were available to us, was able to do that more competitively than we were. Given that our distance to the market was the same, and that it took the Australians 5 years longer to grow the same product, why was it that they were more competitive and better able to develop markets in that sector than we were? The answer simply lay in the amount of nonsensical silly regulation, tax, and various other policies that were put in place by the previous Labour Government, which brought that industry to its knees.

The ability to unleash potential, remove some of those shackles, put the right tax incentives in place, and create an opportunity for the forestry industry to grow is something we should truly be proud of. I see that the Chairperson is leaning forward, which probably means I do not have time to touch on the dairy industry, which is the biggest industry in the country.

It is always a pleasure to follow the chairman of the Primary Production Committee, who, I realise, has a wealth of knowledge. I start by making the statement that if there is one reason why Labour members are on the Opposition side of the House, it is their total failure to recognise the potential of agriculture in this country. When we look at the 9 years that they wasted in Government, we will find that they concentrated on such things as microchipping dogs, and that angered farmers. Then the Labour Government pushed the right to roam, and that angered farmers. It closed off trade access because it had leaders who said stupid things, and that also angered farmers. The Labour Government did nothing for 9 long years, and that angered all of New Zealand. The outcome was that the Labour Government was tossed out. It was so preoccupied with social engineering that it did not have time to do the main things such as stimulating the economy.

During the time that Labour members will now have to observe the Government build the country and make it prosper, they will realise that the Labour Government had agriculture on the back-burner. The Labour Government obstructed progress around water management, which, we know, is a key ingredient to growing this wonderful country’s economy. It stymied any initiative whatsoever. It did not go anywhere near the wool industry, but sat on its hands and watched the industry shrink and wither. It could not organise the meat industry, either, and it did not go near that. During the Labour Government’s time in office the greatest deforestation occurred that we have ever seen, and that is something that will hang around the necks of the Labour Opposition for many a long year.

When we look at the challenges in agriculture that are before this Government it is very fitting that we have a very able Minister of Agriculture in David Carter. He is grounded in the farming sector, has a great knowledge of the economics, is highly educated and out of Lincoln College, and sees tertiary education and the alignment of those aspects in the applied sciences as very important. The previous Labour Government, whose members are now in Opposition, failed to make it happen. There is a lot of work to do, and that is why I had to articulate some of the problems around agriculture. To rebuild the communities that contribute and help to grow agriculture and make it thrive will be a demanding job, but it is a job that is not beyond this Government and the Minister of Agriculture.

We have seen the rural schools communities decimated and we have seen maternity services wiped out. Policies of this Government that support agriculture, such as bonding doctors, nurses, and midwives, will actually do an enormous amount to attract and retain the quality people into agriculture that this Government sees as necessary. Unless we have the very best and brightest working in our primary industry sectors we will not survive; we will not move ourselves forward to where we want to be.

There is no doubt that agriculture, from the point of view of this National Government, led by John Key, along with the Māori Party and ACT, is the prime mover of this economy. We will engage with the wool industry—and we see the Minister of Agriculture doing that at the moment—to galvanise a relationship where the industry speaks with one voice. That is very important, because unless we can get harmony, trust, and such things, we will not rebuild the wool industry back to where it needs to be.

On the subject of water, one of the first activities undertaken by the Minister of Agriculture was to have a meeting of water management interests in Canterbury and to start to move towards enshrining the Canterbury Water Management Strategy in legislation so that we can get to a situation where we have a common view and a focus as a nation—a win-win situation. Again, I give full credit to the Minister of Agriculture.

In relation to trade, I pay tribute to Tim Groser for his wisdom and ability. He is able to work with the knowledge of what agriculture means to this country, because he saw how we lost so many of our markets. It is an absolute pleasure to be in a Government that recognises agriculture as important.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Biosecurity agreed to.

Vote Foreign Affairs and Trade