5. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Agriculture
Will the Government adopt the OECD’s 2011 recommendation that New Zealand implement water charging for agricultural uses?
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) Link to this
The OECD report makes many recommendations, and some of the issues it has raised are already covered by current Government policy. This Government is committed to water reform, and to date we have been working very closely with the Land and Water Forum. The forum has also made a number of recommendations, and included in those is the recommendation that consideration be given to allocating as efficiently as possible water for industrial, agricultural, and domestic purposes. The Government has still to respond to the forum’s recommendations.
Was the OECD wrong when it said about New Zealand: “With little pricing of water resources, water scarcity is being felt increasingly acutely in some dairy-intensive regions prone to drought.”?
No, but it is important to note that the OECD report said upfront: “The country’s environment is of high quality”. It did, however, recommend continued development of better measurement of water abstraction, something which the Government has done, and on water quality via national guidelines, which again is something this Government has done.
Will a charge on irrigation water benefit the New Zealand economy by driving efficiency gains in the irrigation sector, and also decreasing the pressure on overallocated rivers and aquifers?
It is wrong to assume that farmers do not pay now for water. If they are involved in significant community or regional schemes, there is a charge. If they are involved in extracting water, they already also pay considerable costs for the benefit of the water that they use.
Mr SPEAKERBefore I call the honourable member for his further question, I say the question asked whether water charges could improve efficiency in terms of the allocation of water, as I understood the question. The answer said farmers already pay a charge, but made no comment whatsoever about whether charging for water could have any impact on the efficiency of water use. I believe the Minister should make some attempt to answer that, because the question was, I think, a reasonable question.
Some attempts to put additional charges on water could well lead to more efficient use of water. The very fact that we are now requiring irrigators, over time, to measure their water abstraction will also clearly lead to more efficient use of water.
Should we understand from that that the Government is leaving open the door to introducing a charge on irrigation water?
No. What the member should take from that is that we are working very closely with the Land and Water Forum, which has made a number of recommendations. As I said earlier, some of those recommendations include finding ways to more efficiently allocate water not only to agricultural uses but also to domestic and industrial uses, and the Government will respond to the forum’s recommendations when it is ready to do so.
Will the Minister therefore rule out the introduction of a charge on irrigation water in New Zealand?
The Government will respond to the Land and Water Forum when the Government is ready to respond to the Land and Water Forum recommendations.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It was an absolutely clear question. The Minister might say no, but he did not really address the question at all.
In fairness, on this occasion I think the member asked whether the Minister would rule out charges for irrigation water, and the Minister, in reply, said the Government was making no decision or announcements until it had finished its consideration of a report advising the Government on these matters. I think that it is a reasonable position not to rule anything out until the Government has reached a position on advice.
Does the Minister agree with the Speaker’s interpretation of his last answer: that he is not ruling out a charge on irrigation water?
In this matter it is important that the Government takes a position, not just I myself as the Minister of Agriculture. The Government will take a position, and when we do so we will respond to the Land and Water Forum recommendations. At that time the member will know what the Government has decided.
Can the Minister therefore confirm, in relation to his last answer, that the Government has not at this point ruled out introducing a charge on irrigation water?
The Government is considering very carefully the recommendations of the Land and Water Forum and will respond to those recommendations in the very near future.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. With regard to the answer in the last question, am I to take it from you that your previous ruling stands: that that answer, again, was that he is not ruling it out? Is that what you—
I cannot rule in that way at all. But I think it is a perfectly fair answer for a Minister, when asked whether or not they will rule matters in or out, and when the Minister, on behalf of the Government, is in the process of considering advice on a significant issue like that, not to pre-empt any decisions that the Government might make. I cannot ask a Minister to answer any more precisely than that when a matter is under consideration.