King Colin: Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
King Colin: Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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COLIN KING (National—Kaikoura) 
: 
 It is a privilege to speak in support of the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill. In doing so I start off by saying that we should stop the politicking and as the Minister urged work collectively so that we can take this country forward in the best interests of all New Zealanders.  
I stand and speak here primarily as a former farmer and a former director of Meat and Wool New Zealand. Since 2000 Meat and Wool New Zealand has been part of the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium which has invested millions of dollars of farmers’ money into searching for solutions to find a way through the issue of methane emissions. Putting it very simply there is effectively no simple answer at the moment to the problem of mitigating methane emissions from animals. I make that point because I would like to develop that just a little bit further. It is a major challenge. It is also worth noting that the bill we have in front of us is the process through which we are introducing agriculture into an emissions trading scheme. We are a world leader in that and we want to remember that.  
The argument that farmers should be in an emissions trading scheme is on balance sound and reasonable. Let us consider some of the things that make it sound and reasonable. Agriculture is 50 percent of our emissions profile—give or take a little—so we must consider that we are the only country in the OECD in which agriculture makes such a high contribution to our GDP—20 percent. That effectively gives us the profile of a developing economy and developing economies at the moment do not have obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. New Zealand is a major exporter. In fact we export 85 percent of what we produce and in the case of dairy and lamb it is over 90 percent. So we have to work very hard towards finding a way through the impasse of the need to reduce our methane emissions as an agricultural nation. That is what the Government is endeavouring to do.  
Apart from this bill it is very important that we look at what this Government is doing to assist the major challenge confronting this country’s economy. Firstly and most sensibly the legislation is introducing agriculture fully into New Zealand’s climate change response by 2015. Secondly we have set up the Primary Growth Partnership which endeavours to advance $70 million worth of research funding to be matched dollar for dollar. Potentially that will grow to $170 million in a year to assist in that research. Thirdly the Minister of Agriculture is about to announce the centre of excellence that will focus on discovery science to reproduce and develop technologies so that farmers can mitigate methane emissions within agriculture. The fourth most important thing probably happened just yesterday in my view. It was the announcement by the Prime Minister that we will be doing our utmost to form a global alliance to establish and maximise the collective brainpower of the world’s top ruminant scientists to crack the dichotomy that exists presently. That is the dichotomy of a world that is grappling with climate change but that by 2050 will need to produce twice as much food as it does today.  
New Zealanders can take great confidence from a Government that has maturity and vision and that will allow agriculture to harvest its potential and in doing so reach the performance needed. However it would be remiss of me if I did not make the statement that agriculture will be in New Zealand’s climate change response by 2010 by virtue of the amount of electricity fossil fuels and transport that rural businesses use. I worked out that a 1000-cow dairy farm with irrigation will spend $170000 annually on electricity and that does not take into account fuel or transport. Given the isolated basis of those businesses everything those people do in the country will be affected and controlled by the New Zealand climate change response.  
This bill takes a balanced approach to introducing agriculture into climate change and my advice to all members in the House is as we have overcome every other problem let us go forward together united and focused on what is best for New Zealand. Thank you very much.