7. COLIN KING (National—Kaikōura) Link to this
to the Minister of Agriculture
What reports has he recently received on the state of New Zealand’s primary sector?
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) Link to this
On Monday the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry launched its annual flagship publication, Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry, often known as SONZAF. This report looks at issues facing the primary sector, and both current performance and forecast performance over the coming 5 years. The report shows that our primary producers are at the forefront of New Zealand’s export-led recovery and, despite a number of challenges, can look forward to a mainly positive outlook over the next 5 years.
What are the key findings of the report and what significant trends does it pick for the sector in coming years?
The report identifies a robust economic outlook for our primary sector on the back of an increasingly strong demand from developing economies, most notably China. Higher prices are predicted across the sector from forestry to dairy, with general conditions for our food exporters expected to be far less turbulent than what we have endured over the last 12 months. This is great news not only for our rural producers and our rural communities but, in fact, for all New Zealanders.
David ShearerHas he seen the report issued this week from Statistics New Zealand that shows that innovation in the agricultural sector dropped in 2009 and is now 15 percent below that of other business sectors; if so, does he believe that this drop is a result of the long delays to Primary Growth Partnership funding?
I have not seen that report, but I was very pleased to see the member yesterday at the Mystery Creek Fieldays, which is the premier agricultural event of our calendar. In fact, innovation is the major theme of those Fieldays. It is a wonderful event.
Mr SPEAKERHow is the Government moving to address the key challenges raised in the Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry 2010 report?
The two key issues raised in the report this year are environmental performance and water storage. Those are two major areas of focus for the Government, and are certainly a priority of mine as Minister. That is why we have developed things like the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. We are funding a major carbon footprint programme, and we are totally committed to removing the regulatory roadblocks to water storage and getting more reliable irrigation to rural New Zealand.
John BoscawenDoes he agree with the Prime Minister’s statement made to primary producers at Fieldays yesterday when referring to the emissions trading scheme: “I don’t think that New Zealand should be doing more than the rest of the world.”; if so, does that mean agriculture will not have to incur any costs of the emissions trading scheme, including diesel, until farmers in other parts of the world are also included in an emission trading scheme?
I always agree with the Prime Minister. Yesterday I had the opportunity of spending at least 3 hours with him as he wandered around the Mystery Creek Fieldays. He had much opportunity to talk to the farmers of New Zealand. Not one farmer raised the issue of the emissions trading scheme with the Prime Minister during the time I spent with him.
Does he agree with the Prime Minister, who told protesting farmers at Fieldays yesterday that the emissions trading scheme would cost them 3c per kilogram of milksolids; if so, is that 3c cost from 1 July this year or from 1 January 2015?