O'Connor DamienHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Thanks Mr Speaker. Indeed it is an honour to take a short call here today and to be part of a Government that is unashamedly focused on one goal and that is a better New Zealand for every New Zealander. The coalition Government has come together a diverse range of views and backgrounds to form a Government that is going to focus on that goal for the 12 years that we will be in Government. We are out there listening learning and we are leading.In my areas of responsibility across the primary industries I have to say it's a great honour to shift the focus for the primary sector. What I am trying to do is give them honest leadership. I'm not trying to pull the wool over their eyes. I'm not trying to promise them things that can't be delivered through market forces. What I am saying to them is that this Government will give them clear guidelines and will help them to get more value for everything that they do. The previous Government simply said Do more and you'll be better off." without any consideration for the environmental impacts without any consideration for the animal welfare impacts or indeed the workload or the inability to attract people into the sector. They simply said "The market will deliver." That idiocy can no longer continue.We are a Government that will lead for New Zealanders to deliver us a better New Zealand. It came to a head two weeks ago in this House when this Government decided to intervene and make legislative changes to the NAIT system. Now—NAIT—you may say what is NAIT? Well National Animal Identification and Tracing. It's kind of "NAT" with an "I" in it—"impotency" is what the "I" stands for I have to say. The system simply didn't work. When we got delivered Mycoplasma bovis from the previous Government we had to go about trying to make some desperate improvements. The changes in the legislation last week that the Opposition jumped up and down about filibustered on and misled the farming sector out there about saying that all sorts of dastardly things would happen wasn't really helpful. We'd decided to make some changes that were necessary. That is what we will do all through our term in Government. I want to work through some of the things that we have done.I'd like to acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues and ministerial colleagues. The Hon Chris Hipkins is getting out and making the changes in education that are absolutely crucial all the way from early childhood through to tertiary education. The Hon Phil Twyford is building houses for people who need homes. That's what we will do; we will intervene and we'll take necessary action not sit back on our hands and expect our mates in the markets to deliver because that's what a National Government does.Can I acknowledge my coalition partners New Zealand First and the Greens who support the initiatives the many of them that we are making in this area. We have set up in the area of primary industries Biosecurity New Zealand as a separate business unit in the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) because it's so important. We've set up the New Zealand Food Safety Authority because food safety is so important. Forestry under Minister Jones is going to get out and start planting trees and be the industry that it always had the potential to be but languished under the previous National Government.Can I say that we are going to consider the issues of climate change. The Prime Minister has said it is the single biggest issue of our generation. As we travel around the world as Ministers I think each and every one of us gets that message whether it is in Europe or Asia or anywhere. Climate change is driving fear among many people throughout this world mostly the poor the people living in low-lying areas the people who have no options. It is our responsibility to commit to reducing the impacts of climate change and to reducing emissions and the agricultural sector is being considered for our part.I know the farmers that are out there just want clear signals. No they don't want extra costs but they see the value of investment for the greater good. They are prepared to commit to their communities. They are prepared to commit to the wider world and the welfare of the wider world. They just need to know what to do. We're going to get on with that and give them a clear steer on that. We're going to give them a clear steer on water quality and the tools to assist them. We launched two weeks ago in fact the Extension Service Model Initiative from MPI. That is MPI will no longer sit back on their hands and expect farmers to change. We will proactively go out there and share the information available that has been gathered from Crown research institutes and universities to share that with the farmers to assist them to change their ways and to get more value for everything that they do not just "do more"."