12. Pest Control—Predator Free New Zealand 2050MAUREEN PUGH (National) to the Minister of ConservationPest Control—Predator Free New Zealand 205012. MAUREEN PUGH (National) to the Minister of Conservation: What recent announcements has she made about making New Zealand predator-free by 2050?Hon MAGGIE BARRY (Minister of Conservation): Last month the Prime Minister Minister Joyce Minister Guy Minister Smith and I announced that we have committed to the most ambitious predator-control project ever before seen in the world and that is to rid New Zealand of the top three predators by 2050. This is a very ambitious aim. Rats stoats and possums kill around 25 million of our native birds every year. They cost this country in terms of lost productivity around $3.3 billion and it has to stop. This Government will invest an initial $28 million over 4 years and we are looking for support from other partners to contribute $2 for each dollar we do. This is a very ambitious scheme but we are confident we can achieve it in collaboration.David Seymour: Can the Minister confirm that the new Government funding attached to this announcement amounts to $1.56 per New Zealander per year?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: The cost to the taxpayer of New Zealand in terms of what we have given—for $28 million over 4 years—is minimal. But when we grow this—and we have already had very strong indications that we have millions of dollars coming in from philanthropists and others—and when we set up the Crown-owned company Predator Free New Zealand that will enable and allow philanthropists and businesses to put a great deal of money in. So in terms of the calculations that that member is asking me about the sky is the limit. I would aim to keep the cost of money that the taxpayer pays to a minimum amount. Thank you.David Seymour: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. She just needed to say: Yes."Mr SPEAKER: Order! That may be the member's opinion but it is not a point of order.Maureen Pugh: What opportunities will a predator-free New Zealand present?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: A predator-free New Zealand would create a vast safe habitat for our native animals. It will also boost regional economies. It will help with tourism. It will provide jobs. It will have a lot of positive impacts for our primary sector. It will eradicate possums which of course are one of the main carriers of bovine TB; that is a terrible disease for both cattle and deer. It is a game-changer it is ambitious and it has been heralded worldwide if not by the rabble in the Opposition benches who just do not get a vision like this because they are so unimaginative. [Interruption] Mr SPEAKER: Order! Can I have a little less interjection now from both sides of the House.Richard Prosser: Is it rational to believe that New Zealand can be predator-free for just $28 million of Government funding over 34 years when that total would provide less than 50c each for the rats and possums present this year alone?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: I address my answer to one of the less rational people in this House.Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister will stand withdraw and apologise and then just answer the question.Hon MAGGIE BARRY: I withdraw and apologise. When it comes to rational thinking this predator-free New Zealand goal is a tremendous one. The amount of money that it will cost us is negligible compared with the amount of gains this country will have as a result of this predator-free goal. The amount of money that it is costing—$28 million over 4 years—is an initial investment. It will be matched by imaginative visionary people who have already indicated to us that this is where they also would like to assist and where New Zealand needs to go. So I have every confidence that it is achievable.Maureen Pugh: What projects and technologies will serve as a template for a predator-free New Zealand?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: Project Taranaki Mounga and Cape to City in Hawke's Bay are both great examples of what great things can happen when people work together and join forces towards a goal. Department of Conservation staff are very good at clearing predators out of offshore islands—Campbell Island and Zealandia prove that—so our inventors our conservationists and our scientists have also developed a self-resetting trap which will reset 24 times. These are the kinds of things along with the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge that will be integral to developing newer more effective and efficient forms of control. Now is the time to do it."