1. Question No. 1—Climate ChangeMARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Minister of Climate ChangeORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Climate Change1. MARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Minister of Climate Change: Does he stand by all his statements and actions? Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister of Climate Change): Yes in the context in which they were made. In particular I stand by the decision taken in 2019 to work with the agricultural sector on a plan to reduce agricultural emissions. Since then the He Waka Eka Noa partnership has been engaging widely with the farming community and the Government supports this work. In fact I also stand by the decision to grant the partnership an additional month to conduct appropriate consultation with farmers ahead of delivering their advice to Ministers at the end of May. During that time and including this very morning Ministers have engaged regularly and constructively with the partnership leads who represent the vast majority of the New Zealand agricultural sector including Apiculture New Zealand Beef + Lamb DairyNZ the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand Deer Industry New Zealand Federated Farmers the Federation of Māori Authorities Fonterra the Foundation for Arable Research Horticulture New Zealand Irrigation New Zealand and the Meat Industry Association. I note that Groundswell NZ have to date and very recently refused to engage with the Government as part of that leadership collective. The agricultural sector has a critical role to play in our bid—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I think the member has well and truly addressed the question. Mark Cameron: Does he continue to stand by his position which he affirmed in the House on 10 March 2022 that farmers have the tools necessary to offset emissions and if so to what tools was he referring? Hon JAMES SHAW: I think that the member needs to have more faith in the farming community of New Zealand. There are farms all over the country that have introduced a variety of technological and practice changes to reduce their emissions by more than 10 percent and increase their profitability at the same time. I think that he needs to look no further than research that was done by the biological emissions research group that was set up under the previous National Government and a series of industry research papers and experiments done on farms all over the country. Mark Cameron: Sorry they're not commercially available—anyway. Does he accept that if Kiwi farmers don't have access to adequate methane mitigation technologies they may be forced to reduce stock numbers to decrease emissions? Hon JAMES SHAW: Well I accept what I've seen from the science so far which is that there are farms all over the country that have reduced their methane emissions and increased their profitability by changing their business models and I think what we need to focus on here is the profitability of farms particularly for those farms that are particularly struggling with increased debt as a result of overleveraging in the last decade. Mark Cameron: Does he agree with the Hon Damien O'Connor's response in select committee on 10 February 2022: I don't think there needs to be." when he asked if we need a reduction in the national herd size? Hon JAMES SHAW: Yes. Mark Cameron: Would it be fair to push farmers into an emissions pricing scheme when they don't have the tools to reduce emissions without reducing stock numbers? Hon JAMES SHAW: Well I think that the member needs to have more faith in the New Zealand farming community and in the agricultural businesses that are conducting research and have been conducting research over the course of the last decade. This Government has spent something like $200 million over the course of the last 10 to 12 years—started by the previous National Government and continued by the current Government—into reducing agricultural emissions. It's quite clear that the New Zealand agricultural sector as I said including Apiculture New Zealand Beef + Lamb DairyNZ the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand Deer Industry New Zealand Federated Farmers the Federation of Māori Authorities Fonterra the Foundation for Arable Research Horticulture New Zealand Irrigation New Zealand and the Meat Industry Association have got with the programme and I think that that member should too. Mark Cameron: Is the Minister concerned if the methodology that he's used currently in the consultation process between the emissions trading scheme and He Waka Eka Noa is not done in a fair and honest fashion this will drive up the food prices of staples such as milk and meat? Hon JAMES SHAW: Well I'm sort of reserving my judgment until we receive the final recommendations of the partnership at the end of May and we'll be conducting analysis after that."