Grigg NicolaHon NICOLA GRIGG (Minister of State for Trade): I also add my applause to that commentary just given. Mr Speaker congratulations on your ascension to that fine role.SPEAKER: You as well.Hon NICOLA GRIGG: We're all very pleased to see you there.It is a privilege after that stonking great election result to be standing on this side of the House after three years on the Opposition benches as part of the 54th Parliament and indeed a part of this innovative visionary coalition Government. I would like to welcome members from across the House particularly too those of you who are new here. Some people liken it to Hogwarts: you do get lost but you will eventually find your way. That is the topic I'd like to talk about a little bit today: after six years in the wilderness after six years of directionless ambling around directionless travel economic hard times we are back. We are going to rebuild this country. We are here to get New Zealand back on track. We have a very big few years ahead of us. There is a lot to do there is a lot to repair there is a lot to renew. We have a vision for this country despite what the naysayers will have you believe. We have a vision we have a plan we are excited. We believe New Zealand is the best little country on planet Earth and it deserves a Government who will serve it and accompany the success of Kiwis not try to determine it.As we all went out on the campaign trail just I don't know it was about six months ago—it feels like a lifetime ago—we took on the feedback of New Zealanders. They wanted to be heard; for six years they have been told what to do how to live their lives and they wanted to be heard. That came through loud and clear. So here we are with a coalition signed sealed and delivered; we are ready to deliver on what they have asked for. It's really interesting listening to the speeches on this side of the House about the new ideas the big ideas the huge energy. We've been itching to get back to work since the election. The results rolled in and New Zealanders were heard loud and clear. The coalition Government has done and will continue to do what the previous Government could not do and that was to listen. I would like to acknowledge the leaders of the coalition Government: of course our new Prime Minister Christopher Luxon; the leader of the ACT Party David Seymour; and of course the leader of the New Zealand First Party the Rt Hon Winston Peters. We have formed a coalition under the leadership of these three gentlemen that will deliver on the needs of New Zealanders with commitment with cohesion and with consideration.The speech delivered by the Governor-General on behalf of the new Government has outlined our direction and optimism for this great country. It has most certainly highlighted that we're determined to get things done. We're determined to get things done for New Zealanders and for them to see tangible differences in their everyday lives because that is what really matters. We want to establish stability again we want to grow economic prosperity we want to restore national unity and national pride. We want to boost social cohesiveness alongside rights and responsibilities of being a New Zealand citizen amongst all our goals. On this side of the House rebuilding the agricultural sector is very near and dear to my heart and indeed to those of my colleagues. I've been very privileged to have been named the National Party's Associate Minister of Agriculture (Horticulture) and I'd also like to identify the dream team made up of Andrew Hoggard from the ACT Party and Mark Patterson from New Zealand First. We will be supporting the lead Minister of Agriculture one Hon Todd McClay and we are ready to get things done.The agricultural sector like the rest of New Zealand has really really battled for the last six years and if you think inflation is bad in the urban environment go out on-farm. At 16 percent it is making life miserable. It has been very very tough out there for an industry that actually only wants to do the very best it can despite the rhetoric that has come from Government benches over the last six years. They have been bombarded with regulations with rules and with restrictions that are not fit for purpose and that have not been based in scientific evidence of best practice. They have been slammed with increased costs and they have been all but forgotten by the previous Government. So I want to take the opportunity this afternoon to speak about our agricultural and rural sector. We do know over here on this side of the House how very important these good men and women of New Zealand are to our culture and our economy and let's not forget that they have so often served as the economic lifeline for this country and they really should be recognised as such. We have not forgotten that they need confidence and they need our support and that is why we are going to make our intentions clear. A lot of other speakers have talked about our 100-day plan and I just want to quickly outline some of the coalition highlights and they are that we are going to enable our farmers and landowners to offset their emissions. We're going to calculate the sequestration against their on-farm emissions. We're going to amend the new Resource Management Act Mark II" as we call it. We're going to allow farmers to farm we're going to get houses built and we're going to enhance the primary sector including fish and aquaculture and forestry and pasture and horticulture and mining. We're going to cut red tape. We're going to cut regulatory blocks on irrigation on water storage and on managed aquifer recharge and flood protection schemes and goodness me all of these are actually beneficial to the environment. I know Mr Assistant Speaker Tuiono you are also very strident in your views about the agricultural sector and I'm sure that we will come to a lot of alignment in the coming years as we all work together for the benefit of this sector. We're going to be ambitious for our country. We're going to liberalise genetic engineering laws. We're going to ensure strong protection for human health and of course the environment. We're going to reverse the ban on live animal exports but New Zealand will become a world leader in ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare. We're going to reform the NAWAC as Mark Cameron alluded to—the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. It is not fit for purpose. It's membership its functions and its mandates are not appropriate. We're also going to cease the implementation of those significant natural areas that have also been previously mentioned. We're going to improve farm environment plans. Farmers are great custodians of the environment and this House must remember that. They are so often so unfairly targeted with vitriol that is entirely undeserved. We're going to replace the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. We're going to make it fit for purpose. We're going to go catchment by catchment and region by region. We're not going to allow this top-down nonsensical unscientific approach to continue. We're going to incentivise the uptake of emissions reduction mitigation. We're not just going to tax the sector into submission; we are going to encourage it to lead the world in this space. We are going to meet our carbon zero 2050 goals. We are on track to meet those targets and I know that every farmer in New Zealand is on board with that and is thoroughly incentivised to get going with it. Of course we're an export-dependent nation down at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean at the bottom of the world. We are going to prioritise trade agreements—fair free-trade agreements—and we will be targeting as our first port of call the great nation of India. On trade I've also had the privilege of being made the Minister of State for Trade. Of course when the Prime Minister rang me I did actually have to ask him what exactly that meant. But a quick google away and I soon discovered what exactly it meant and I'm very excited to get on board with that as well. New Zealand has gained so much by having really strong global relationships with our overseas partners. We do play a very important prominent role in the globe. We are seen as a fair player and that in this day and age is very important. So we'll be working very closely with the Hon Todd McClay who is the Minister for Trade. I am excited about his vision and the opportunities available to New Zealand. We understand that there are about $10 billion in non-tariff barriers sitting on the table that that previous Government ignored for six years. That is some work to do. From tomatoes to wine and everything else in between we will get our exports to market. We are excited to rebuild our relationships we're excited to rebuild our economy and we're excited to see the results that that means for every living New Zealander in this country. Mr Speaker thank you for allowing me to make the contribution."