Coates Barry; Borrows ChesterBARRY COATES (Green): I rise to talk in support of the New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority Amendment Bill in its third and final reading. The Green Party welcomes this bill. It is in line with Green Party policy on diversifying our agriculture supporting high-value primary production leveraging our clean green" reputation and supporting an initiative that is led by horticulturalists in the horticulture sector. We welcome the range of products that will be supported by this bill: avocados blackcurrants boysenberries buttercup squash chestnuts nashi pears tamarillos etc. We congratulate the Horticulture Export Authority on the excellent work it has been doing which has increased revenues from $50 million in 1998 to $300 million last year. This bill we think is an important new framework that helps growers pack-house operators and exporters increase market share and develop new markets. However we think it is about time this bill was introduced. We note that five annual reports in a row by the Horticulture Export Authority had called for this bill. As my colleague Eugenie Sage said there is an amusing diagram on the Horticulture Export Authority's website called Sid the Snail's Trail which is all about the passage of this bill. So why did it take so long? Well one of the things we think is that perhaps the Government may be obsessed with supporting the commodity sector rather than the high-value horticultural sector. The lack of focus on high-value production from the horticultural sector we believe may be partly responsible for the Government's missing its target for export revenues to achieve 40 percent of gross domestic product. In fact since the Government came in in 2008 the proportion of exports as a percentage of GDP has gone down rather than up towards that target.So although supporting this bill we think that it needs other measures that would constitute a more coherent strategy. So what might that strategy look like? It might look like this: a proper partnership between Governments and producers a marketing board that is responsive and supportive and support for food provenance—where food is grown and under what conditions; the quality of food and the sustainability of food is something that consumers around the world care deeply about. As my colleague Eugenie Sage said we have country-of-origin labelling in Australia but not in New Zealand. It would make all the sense in the world for us to join Australia in country-of-origin labelling. We have geographical indications now for wine and I think that is also a good bill that has gone through. However why not geographical indications for food? Why do we not have Bluff oysters? Why do we not have Central Otago beef? Why do we not have geographical indications for products across the country such as Waiheke olives and Pukekohe potatoes and Ōhākune carrots—and all sorts of food that is grown to high-quality standards in this country? Why do we not celebrate the provenance of our products? That would increase the value which would give that distinctive marketing edge.We have also heard from my colleague around rational land use which would make sectors like dairy pay their way and would enable more land to be leased for high-value uses like horticulture. We need proper support for sustainability and cleaning up our rivers we need investment in New Zealand's clean green reputation which has been allowed to degrade through neglect and through poor environmental performance and we need support for high-value marketing.So the Green Party looks forward to this bill being passed. We support it. We think it is a big step forward but we also look forward to an even bigger step forward of getting into Government and supporting the excellent work done by the horticultural sector and others to increase the value of our agricultural products. Thank you.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I call Clare Curran—a 5-minute call on behalf of the Labour Party."