Choudhary Ashraf: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Choudhary Ashraf: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7390] 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to support what the Prime Minister said yesterday and in doing so I will concentrate on the topic of sustainability. This is a topic that is very close to my heart. For many many years I have been teaching about issues of sustainability particularly to do with agriculture and most particularly to do with land use: cropping soil and machinery if one likes—and I can see my ex-student Nathan Guy grinning about it. 
First of all let me say what we are talking about in relation to sustainability. Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environment both now and in the indefinite future. It relates to the continuity of economic social institutional and environmental aspects of human society as well as to the non-human environment. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilisation and human activity so that society and its members and economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present while at the same time preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in the very long term. Sustainability affects every level of organisation from the local neighbourhood to the entire planet. 
Sustainability is the ability to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for our people. It is not just about talking about production; the important thing is that there is prosperity while protecting the environment. Achieving sustainable solutions calls for stewardship with everyone taking responsibility for solving the problems of today and tomorrow. Individuals communities businesses and Governments are all stewards of the environment. The built environment where we live work shop and play affects human health and the national environment—directly and indirectly. It can impact on indoor and outdoor air quality animal habitats and unspoiled areas. 
Advancing toward long-term sustainability requires understanding of the complex interaction amongst the components of ecosystems including their capacity for resilience under conditions of environmental stress. In the long term achieving sustainability will require that energy be produced by cleaner and more efficient technologies be used more efficiently and with greater conservation and be developed from renewable resources. 
The potential impact of materials and chemicals on human health and the environment is at the heart of many sustainable programmes that seek to reduce waste and chemical contamination and to promote the use of safe chemicals and cleaning material. However when society economy and environment are viewed as separate unrelated parts of the community then communities’ problems are also viewed as isolated issues. Economic development councils for example try to create more jobs. Social needs are addressed by health care services and housing authorities. Environment agencies try to prevent and correct pollution problems. 
This piecemeal approach can have a number of bad side effects. For example solutions to one problem can make another problem worse. Creating affordable housing is a good thing but when that housing is built in areas far from workplaces the result is increased traffic and the pollution that comes with it. Piecemeal solutions tend to create opposing groups as well. How often have we heard the argument that when the environmentalists win the economy will suffer and its opposing view that if business has its way environments will be destroyed? Piecemeal solutions tend to focus on the short-term benefits without monitoring long-term results. For example the pesticides DDT and 245-T seemed like a good solution to insect pests at the time but the long-term results were devastating. Rather than a piecemeal approach what we need is a view of the community that takes into account the links between the economy the environment and the society. It will accelerate progress towards a just healthy and ecologically sustainable New Zealand and provide a model for the establishment of future sustainable measures. 
New Zealand’s economy is based on agriculture. Unfortunately almost half of our gas emissions are also from agriculture. In New Zealand of course although we want to export more animal products the issue is also about gas emissions from agriculture. That is where we are going to have some problems. I am all for the initiatives that were announced yesterday and that will be announced in the future but as an agricultural country we will have to do a lot more about problems in agriculture. I myself have been involved with measuring nitrous oxide emissions carbon dioxide emissions and methane emissions from farms over the years. We have found that there is no easy solution for New Zealand at the moment. We have to be very upfront about it. We can do a lot more in the transport sector for example. We can do a lot more in the housing sector in terms of energy conservation and in terms of environmental pollution control. But the difficulty is going to be in how we handle our agricultural issues. The road we have taken as a country—the road being taken by this Government—is the first step to a long-term solution. 
Eric Roy 
: First steps on the wrong route. 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY 
: No it is the right route. This Government can be proud of what it has done of what it is achieving of the goals it has set and of how it has taken leadership. Last week we were in Australia—I was with a number of my colleagues from the other side of the House—and we saw the drought in that country. We saw the problems the farmers are facing. Those are the issues that can affect us particularly on the East Coast where the rainfall patterns are not something that one would really like to see. There are a whole lot of issues coming up for us. 
 I want to end my speech by talking very briefly about interfaith dialogue and peace and harmony in New Zealand. I am very delighted that this Government is taking a lot of initiative in terms of promoting peace and harmony through dialogue. The Prime Minister mentioned the interfaith dialogue that is to take place in New Zealand at the end of May this year. This is an issue that I think is very important for this country and this region. We have had a couple of meetings in the Philippines and Indonesia in the last couple of years and the next one is to be in Waitangi. I am delighted that I am part of that and I am delighted that this Government is taking a new initiative in promoting peace and harmony.