11. COLIN KING (National—Kaikōura) Link to this
to the Minister of Agriculture
What steps has the Government recently taken to support innovation in the mānuka honey industry?
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) Link to this
Last week I was pleased to confirm a successful bid by a mānuka honey industry consortium for Primary Growth Partnership funding. The bid will see $1.7 million being invested in a research programme to increase the reliability of the supply and volume of medical-grade mānuka honey. This is a major step forward in the sector’s goal of becoming a $1 billion industry, and is yet another example of this Government’s commitment to boosting innovation.
What amount does this bid bring total Primary Growth Partnership funding for primary sector innovation to?
The success of this latest bid means that since its inception 20 months ago, the Primary Growth Partnership has delivered $477 million to primary sector innovation. Collectively, this represents the largest investment by the Government in primary sector innovation in decades, and it shows just how serious this Government is about boosting economic growth through increased research and innovation.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think you have been quite strict about the relevance of supplementary questions to primary questions. The primary question was about mānuka honey. The fact that an innovation fund was mentioned in the primary reply does not widen the question.
Mr SPEAKERIt does. If today a Minister included something in an answer, Opposition members are perfectly entitled to question the Minister on what was included in the answer. What Ministers include in answers can be questioned. Earlier on today my problem was that the member was seeking to link back to an answer given last week to a rather different question.