Guy Nathan: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGuy Nathan: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 09 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8775. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): Mr Assistant Speaker can I wish you a very happy New Year and can I wish the whole House a happy New Year—2016 is going to be a very very busy one for the Government and our work programme has been laid out in the 2016 Prime Minister’s statement here this afternoon.I have started the year by moving around the country a fair bit in the last few weeks after I went down to the Marlborough Sounds and had a very good holiday. I managed to check out the blue cod fishery there. I must say it is in pretty good shape. I managed to catch a few—all sized legally of course—and they were delicious I might add.Importantly I have been cruising around the country. With Minister Smith and Minister Barry I announced the reform of the Marine Protection Authority and all that work that we are doing there in the two recreational fishing parks in the Marlborough Sounds and in the Hauraki Gulf which have been well-received. Ultimately that will mean that mum and dad will be able to get out there and enjoy catching a fish.Importantly what we have also done is—I have been down to North Canterbury. Of course it has been struggling through a prolonged period of drought there that is into its second year now so we have extended that declaration for another 6 months. But I must say that El Niño has not gripped the country like we did once think it was going to. There has been quite an amount of plentiful rainfall on the east coast of most of the South Island and the North Island. So we all breathed a sigh of relief there but there are certainly still some tough times to come for those farmers in North Canterbury.As Minister for Racing I also attended the Wellington Cup the Karaka Million—which was a huge success again—and also the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales. It is very pleasing to see that the overall turnover in its sales is up by 27 percent. There are some positive signs there showing the strength of New Zealand breeding stock and attracting a lot of international investment as well as New Zealand investment.And then of course as Minister Parata has just outlined with my colleagues Minister Flavell Minister Joyce and Minister Goodhew we were all in Northland the other day to announce the Northland regional economic development there. The action plan of 58 initiatives was well-received by the local community.Tracey Martin: Seventy years it’s taken for National to do something for Northland.Hon NATHAN GUY: In fact I am not even sure that the local member could bag it because a lot of those 58 initiatives across the primary sector are going to be well-received. Also just on the weekend I was down at the Hilux New Zealand Rural Games in Queenstown. What a fantastic event that is. It is showcasing New Zealand’s primary sector and the hard work that our farmers do and actually also showcasing that we can have a bit of fun with those activities. My cowpat did not go that well. It got to about 25 metres before it exploded. My left arm needed a bit of work there.Then of course I went out and supported the Ministry for Primary Industries with its response on the Tau fly from South-east Asia in Manurewa. I want to thank the people in South Auckland for their support because we have just stepped that operation down and closed it off over the last couple of weeks because we did not have any further finds. So it just shows that the Ministry for Primary Industries can step up a good response with the New Zealand public’s support.But importantly I want to talk about the Prime Minister’s statement which outlined that over the next 5 years economic growth is going to be at around 2.7 percent. Of course on this side of the House we are very buoyed that the unemployment figure came out last week—5.3 percent. It just shows that the Government is doing something and is working closely with New Zealand businesses on attracting and ensuring that they can take on more employees and with the hard work that they do often businesses are working 7 days a week. Also incomes are going to be growing faster than inflation. ACC levies are dropping by $450 million this year which is fantastic. That is the equivalent of a massive tax cut and when you drop that down to every individual who owns a vehicle that is around $130 per vehicle. Then we get into the regional economic development space—the five plans that we have got. We are working our way through working closely with those regional leaders.I have talked about Northland and there is some great work happening in Minister Tolley’s patch of the East Coast and the Bay of Plenty. There is some great work starting to happen in my area in Manawatū and Whanganui and working closely with those regional leaders down on the West Coast of the South Island as well.But the big issue and the big talking point over the last few weeks has been the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I thought the Prime Minister summed it up very very well this afternoon in his address where he talked about Labour having two positions. So we will not be talking so much about the TPP agreement; we will be talking about Labour’s two positions. It is the party of two positions—Hon David Cunliffe: Don’t abdicate the real issue.Hon NATHAN GUY: —and now Mr Cunliffe interjects because he knows that when he was leader he backed the TPP because it was very important for the productive part of the New Zealand economy. Mr Goff sitting next to Mr Cunliffe also backs the TPP. Every Labour leader including Prime Minister Helen Clark backs the TPP.Tracey Martin: Perhaps you just stuffed up the negotiations.Hon David Cunliffe: You guys screwed up. Admit it.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! The member will resume his seat for a second. It is a robust debate. A bit of interjection back and forth does not hurt but I just ask the two members who have been pretty constant to settle down a bit and especially to not accuse me of screwing it up. Thank you.Hon NATHAN GUY: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. What I would really like to hear concisely and clearly from Mr Cunliffe when he stands up and makes a contribution this afternoon about Labour Party policy is what their position is on the TPP because there is so much confusion. Even today they are talking about ignoring bits of the TPP agreement if they were lucky enough to get into Government. How on earth can you have an agreement that is ratified through the New Zealand Parliament and you are saying to everyone here in New Zealand: “Oh well that’s a bit that we are actually going to ignore if we ever come into Government.” How on earth can you do that? How is it that Labour and New Zealand First members can turn their backs on the most productive part of the New Zealand economy with the TPP? How is it that New Zealand First members can turn up at the Northland Field Days and say that this deal is terrible for those Northland farmers? There is $274 million of tariff elimination almost overnight—almost overnight and this deal is worth around $2.7 billion by 2030.So how is it that Labour and New Zealand First can turn up in the regions and say in Labour’s particular case that they are a party that supports free trade? Well if you go out on the street in Lambton Quay or go into Oxford Street the main street in Levin in my electorate with a camera and a microphone and say “What do you think of Labour’s position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership?” people would not have a clue because Labour is sending out mixed messages.We on this side are very supportive of free trade. Even Helen Clark realises that this agreement is hugely important for the New Zealand economy and when we think about what it means for New Zealand ultimately it means more jobs it means more money. We will not get rich as a country unless we can sell products to the world. We are talking about 800 million consumers. We are talking about 36 percent of the global population. We are talking about the No. 1 economy in the world the US; the No. 3 Japan. We have been trying for 20 to 25 years to get a free-trade agreement with these countries. This is fantastic. What is not well understood is that we get a level playing field with our biosecurity and food safety regime across all of these countries. Members will be aware that from time to time we get products held up at the border. Now we will have a streamlined approach across these 11 other countries with food safety and biosecurity. This is hugely significant.Also in the Prime Minister’s statement for 2016 he talks about the importance of biosecurity and how we are working together with industry to manage and respond to important risks. We are doing a lot in this space it is my No. 1 priority—more money in last year’s Budget an extra $27 million more X-ray machines more people on the front line. I was there with the Ministry for Primary Industries saluting and celebrating with the 51 biosecurity officers who were sworn in just coming into Christmas last year. We are doing a huge amount in this space.The statement also talks about the importance of Resource Management Act reform and that is hugely important for businesses and actually for mum and dad as well if they are just extending their deck or putting a fence up. So we are asking the House to get on and support the Resource Management Act because it is hugely important particularly when you start focusing on housing affordability. We are doing a lot in research and development: about $300 million invested across the primary industries and research and development. The Primary Growth Partnership—we are doing a huge amount in this space.As a final comment a huge amount of money is invested in infrastructure. About $6 billion over the next year and a big part of that is in roading and a huge amount of that 2000 jobs is in the Wellington region for Transmission Gully and for the Kapiti Expressway which is going fantastically well. Maybe at the end of the year we will be driving on that 18-kilometre route. It is very exciting and I endorse the Prime Minister’s statement. It will be a busy year in Government. We are going to get on and do things and make this great country a better place to live.