10. Hon DAVID CARTER (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Agriculture
Does he still expect 550 paying attendees at the Primary Industries 2020 Summit, as he stated in September 2007; if not, why not?
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Minister of Agriculture) Link to this
No; I have never expected 550 paying attendees to attend the summit, nor have I ever said so. In answer to a written question from the member on 19 September, I advised that I anticipated attendance to be between 200 and 400 paying attendees, and I am confident that this will be achieved. I imagine the member is referring to a figure contained in a forecast summit budget supplied to him as chair of the Primary Production Committee in confidence on 24 September—a confidence that he appears to have breached. Actually, 550 is the maximum capacity of the venue.
How many paying attendees are registered to attend the conference, and is he satisfied with the effectiveness of his $1 million Budget bid, which is in excess of a $5,000 subsidy of taxpayer money per attendee, on top of the $850 registration fee?
This summit of primary industry leaders is long overdue and represents real value for money for the leaders of our most important industries. As we speak, around 200 paid registrations have been received. The primary industries, I remind the member—who should know this—contribute 17 percent of New Zealand’s GDP and 65 percent of our merchandise exports, so the sector is the engine room of the New Zealand economy and will drive growth into the future. I remind the House that this is the first opportunity since the Agricultural Development Conference in 1965 and the National Development Conference in 1968 for business leaders from all sectors of the primary sector value chain to look collectively to the future, overcome challenges, and maximise opportunities in the global market place. I would have thought the House would celebrate a get-together like this, particularly the National Party, which is supposed to represent these people and has done nothing about them for 30 years.
Dr Ashraf Choudhary Link to this
What reports has the Minister seen on the number of primary industry leaders who have attended previous gatherings of the most important industries?
I have seen reports quantifying the number of attendees, paid or otherwise, of primary sector business leaders who have previously attended events comparable to the Primary Industries 2020 Summit. Those reports confirm that the number of attendees under the National-led Government of 1990-99 was precisely zero. That was because National never did anything in its 9 years in Government to proactively support our most important industries, and as a result of that we lost a decade of opportunity.
Nathan GuyDoes the Minister stand by his answer to written question No. 16093 that negotiations are under way with major potential sponsors, and will he confirm that those negotiations have delivered only a pitiful $20,000 worth of sponsorship; what is this hopeless Minister doing?
The fact is that under a National Government one had to get sponsors, because that Government paid nothing for any of this. This Government has put up a million dollars to sponsor a conference for leaders who deliver $20,000 million to this economy, and that sounds to me like a pretty good investment—one that National never even got anywhere near to thinking about.
Does the Minister think it is acceptable that Dr Penn, a speaker at the summit, as well as having a return business class flight from Chicago, all meals, and 5 nights’ accommodation provided for the summit, will also receive a 4-day holiday in Queenstown paid for by the taxpayer; does he think that is an acceptable use of taxpayer money?
Of course, we could have got an eminent international speaker here and told him to pay for his own meals. If that is the way the National Party runs conferences like this, then God help us if it ever gets into Government. When we are getting an array of highly qualified international speakers to contribute to the future of New Zealand’s most important economic activity and we hear the drivel we are getting now about paying for meals or for a couple of days’ holiday for these sorts of people, well, I wonder whether the National Party may be reconsidering having David Carter as its spokesperson on agriculture.
Why did the Minister say in June this year that some hundreds of farmers will attend the summit, and is it not time to acknowledge that it is nothing more than a $1 million taxpayer-funded ministerial talkfest, subsidised by $5,000 for each attendee?
The key aim of this summit is to provide a forum that provides quality discussion among key business leaders on the primary sector’s economic, environmental, and social sustainability challenges and opportunities for the next 20 years. This is not a summit for every farmer in New Zealand; it is for the decisions makers of the primary sector industries, of which, of course, apart from farming others like forestry, fishing, and biosecurity are also involved. We have an impressive array of those who are attending, not only of those who have paid to attend but also of those who are addressing the conference internationally and from the domestic market place—something the National Party never ever even aspired to put together.