Guy Nathan: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGuy Nathan: General Debate[Sitting date: 24 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4711. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): I had a very interesting trip yesterday to the Manawatū Rangītikei and Whanganui areas to make sure that they were coping reasonably well with the big storm and flood event that occurred. I must say that the devastation in that area is very dramatic. A lot of roads—in particular in the rural communities—are suffering through slips and road closures and there is a lot of debris around and a lot of silting.I went on to one particular farm yesterday in the Whangaehu Valley and on his hayshed one particular farmer had a flood marking of the water level of the 2004 flood and one of the 2015 flood. There was not too much difference—probably about a 250 millimetre - odd difference between the two water levels.What is slightly different this time is that this event has occurred in the winter months and the last event in 2004 occurred in the summer months. So we all know what that means: soils are already waterlogged in the winter and once they have a significant rain event occurring upstream above Whanganui of course that water had to go somewhere. So that meant that my officials sought a lot of advice and said to me that this met a medium statutory declaration. As a result of that $100000 of extra funding has been made available to supporting the rural support trust.Also we are going to have a recovery facilitator on the ground working very closely with the likes of Fonterra Federated Farmers Beef and Lamb New Zealand and other industry groups and linking closely with the councils because the Government has already indicated that it will provide $250000 for an enhanced Taskforce Green. These are the people who are going to get out there and help farmers in those rural communities clean a lot of the debris that I saw yesterday off their fences and stand up some of those boundary fences that have been decimated by this significant flooding event.Also if needed there will be rural assistance payments. What I have often said to the many groups that I have spoken to is that farmers are not interested in a handout. They are actually more interested in knowing that the Government cares in the period of hardship that they find themselves in. This is not a new event for rural communities. They have been through events like this before and unfortunately they will go through them again whether it is droughts whether it is snowstorms that are occurring in the South Island or whether it is a very prolonged drought period like that which North Canterbury is having to deal with right now. Fortunately it had 25 or 30 millilitres of rain this week so there is some positivity there. The Government is doing what it can the Minister is on the ground and officials are helping the councils to get through what is a significant event there.Also it is very timely to mention that for our dairy farmers in particular this is a tough time. Not only has the flood impacted on this particular area but prices are very very volatile. That is why I reached out with Minister Coleman and announced $500000 where both of our ministries are going to be focused on mental health and wellness into rural communities. There are a lot of initiatives out there already and farmers just need to know who they should turn to. Whether it is Dairy New Zealand which is running an initiative called Tactics for Tight Times or whether it is Farmstrong which is all about “Live well farm well” it is about rural communities knowing who to turn to in times that are pretty tough for them.The outlook for the primary industries is extremely bright. The outlook for dairying is very good. Beef is having a record yearright now and the outlook for beef farmers for the next couple of years is strong. Horticulture products are going extremely well. Exports for viticulture—that is the wine industry—avocados kiwifruit and apples are also having a great year. Also seafood is going pretty well and there is the ability for it to grow going into the future as well. Forestry is looking at having some growth as well because of the US housing market recovering and of course there are also big demands on its products here in New Zealand in the Christchurch rebuild and for building more houses in Auckland.Tonight we are celebrating success in the primary industries and that is with the Ballance Farm Environment Awards. I salute all of the finalists who are coming to Parliament tonight. I congratulate the winner and we do not know who that is yet but I look forward to shaking hands with them and saying what a fantastic job they do of actually looking after the environment sustainably. More consumers around the world are demanding more from our farmers and tonight we are going to celebrate the success of farmers focused on sustainability and celebrate how they get a premium product into the market and do extremely well whether it is by planting riparian planting zones excluding cattle from waterways—and cattle are now excluded from about 96 percent of waterways under dairy farms. That needs to be acknowledged.Our farmers have come a long way and they have challenges in front of them but we should celebrate the success of our farmers tonight and say what a fantastic job they do. I invite everyone to get involved—