Guy Nathan: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGuy Nathan: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 06 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10871. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): It is great to be able to make a contribution in the Budget debate here this afternoon. Bill English stood up here on 16 May this year and delivered his fifth Budget. It was fantastically well received by the electorate at large. Just look at the polling numbers for National over the last couple of weeks since Bill English stood in this House and rolled out his fifth Budget. We need to acknowledge Bill English because he has weathered very tough economic times and steered a fantastic path for this small but powerful country of ours.We have come through one of the worst recessions in the history of this country under the leadership of John Key and the Minister of Finance Bill English. This Budget which was read out on 16 May means that we are going to get into surplus next year 2014-15 which is fantastic when you think about all of the things that this Government has had to weather. We are going to get back into surplus.We are forecast to stay on a growth path of around 3 percent. When you compare us with other countries around the world this is fantastic. Of course unemployment has dropped. It is the lowest it has been for about the last 3 years at 6.2 percent. When the Opposition members stand up here this afternoon and say that there are no jobs they are wrong. They are fundamentally wrong because this Government backs businesses. Businesses are the ones who are going to continue to grow the economy and the Government backs them to the hilt. What is also interesting is that we are seeing ACC levy reductions. Next year we are going to see a reduction of around $300 million which is the size of a tax cut. When we came into office the ACC was an absolute mess. Nick Smith and co. have sorted out the ACC—with the Minister for ACC Judith Collins—and turned the ACC round so that we can now return those levies to hard-working families and businesses up and down the country.We are also putting more money—$5.1 billion over 4 years—into health and education. We heard from Minister Parata this afternoon about her focus and the Government’s focus on education. We have also heard in the last couple of weeks about the real focus that we have on lifting the performance of the health system across New Zealand and Minister Tony Ryall is doing a fantastic job in that space. There is more money going into science. We are focusing on housing for vulnerable people as well. This is a fantastic Budget and we need to acknowledge Bill English and the sterling work that he has done there.I want to spend some time in my contribution this afternoon talking about the Ministry for Primary Industries. It has the strategy of “grow and protect”.Andrew Little: Tell us about meat exports to China.Hon NATHAN GUY: What the Opposition members do not want to hear about is the growth part of the primary industries because they do not care about growth. Andrew Little chips in over in the back seat in the Opposition. Oppositions members do not want to hear about the prosperity of the Primary Growth Partnership. They do not care about businesses working in partnership with the Government. We have invested in 13 projects in partnership with industry that are going to realise a $7 billion—Andrew Little: You left the meat sitting on the wharves.Hon NATHAN GUY: —that is a $7 billion prize Mr Little by 2025 and that is going to be year on year. The Government cares about businesses and it backs them. The Opposition does not.Just today I have announced another funding round for the Primary Growth Partnership. And of course what we are also going to do is grow the economy with free-trade agreements as well which are going to be a big part of our exports doubling. Currently primary industries are worth around $30 billion. We have set a target of $60billion by 2025. Free-trade agreements are going to be a part of that as is also the Primary Growth Partnership.But of course the problem that the Labour Party is going to have if it is ever lucky enough to get into Government is that the Greens are against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Andrew Little nods there. He knows that. He realises that that is a problem because that is worth about $2 billion a year to us. So here we have the Labour camp sort of on the fence unsure whether to support free-trade agreements and the far left part of a potential Government—heaven forbid if it ever happened in the future—is against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.So what I also want to focus on with the primary industries is biosecurity. That is my No.1 priority and it is something that I cannot afford to take my eye off and neither can my officials. We have a world-class biosecurity system. It is interesting that the Opposition members cannot even read the Budget. They are out there saying there has been a funding cut in biosecurity. If they just looked below the top line in the Budget they would realise that $5 million in funding was brought forward for the Joint Border Management System in 2011-12 and $1 million for the mergers with the Ministry of Primary Industries. What Opposition members have not realised of course is there is no funding cut in biosecurity. Why would I allow that to happen when it is my No. 1 priority? So the challenge to Opposition members is to make sure they get their facts right. If they are going to stand up in this House or go out and talk to farmers—who do not care and do not listen to them anyway—they should make sure that their facts are right.Opposition parties should clearly know and understand that this is my No. 1 priority. That is why 30 new front-line biosecurity officers are being recruited now and 56 have been recruited in the last 6 months. I have such a focus on biosecurity that we are working on Government-industry agreements—and I acknowledge the stakeholders who are working through this—so that we can be ready to respond to incursions and threats in the future. We are working closer than we ever have worked with our Australian counterparts on foot-and-mouth preparedness. Just tonight we have got a couple of officials flying up to the UK to be a part of the simulated exercise happening in the UK called Operation Walnut—a real focus on biosecurity.Can I also just comment on and mention also meat exports into China. There has been an issue with certification which the Ministry of Primary Industries will learn from. Unfortunately it happened. It should never have happened. As the regulator the ministry issues about 12000 documents a week. This is bread and butter for the ministry. There will be learnings that will come out of this. We do not want this to happen again. I need to acknowledge that we have reached a solution with the Chinese officials. I need to acknowledge them. I acknowledge also that the meat industry has played a part in this as well and it has been very supportive in finding the resolution. We are going to host some Chinese officials down here to get a broader certification process under way.Hon Member: Hopeless hopeless hopeless. Talk about 101.Hon NATHAN GUY: Opposition members instead of harping on should be supporting this Government.What I also want to focus on in this Budget debate in particular is the $80 million out of $400 million that is going into irrigation. It should be applauded. It should be applauded by Opposition members but of course they are confused. Their spokesperson on agriculture Damien O’Connor is unsure whether to support irrigation or not. When Mr O’Connor visited Hawke’s Bay with Shane Jones they both said: “Oh it’s a very good case. It’s in an obscure part of New Zealand but by and large it looks pretty good.” Then we had the failed former MP for Labour up there Stuart Nashsaying there was no way that Labour would support any water storage irrigation projects. So on one hand you have got Labour sort of saying “Yes we support it.” but on the other hand you have got one of its failed ex - list MPs out there saying “We don’t support it.”So I am very confused as to whether or not Labour backs rural New Zealand. Here we are having just come through the worst drought that we have had in 70 years. You would think that Labour would be supporting water storage projects—400000 hectares of land potentially under irrigation. Labour does not care. Labour does not care about rural communities.I could run through a list and I am going to run through a list in the last moment I have got. Labour wants to introduce a capital gains tax. That will go down like a cup of sick in rural communities. It is going to lift income tax for the higher earners as well. Well that will not go down well. There will be a higher company tax. Labour is against any dairy expansion with the far left greenies involved. It wants a wider more expansive emissions trading scheme. It wants to have a limit to water use. It is not going to back the 90-day probation period for new employees. It does not support the roll-out of broadband into rural communities. There is no support for irrigation. It wants to stop projects like Transmission Gully and the Kapiti Expressway. The list goes on. Of course Labour wants to unwind any Resource Management Act reforms. It is not interested in returning money to hard-working taxpayers in terms of our ACC rebates. It is going to rack up more debt.Rural New Zealand does not believe anything that Labour or the Greens say. That is why we hold all the seats that we do hold. That is why I am hugely passionate about the primary industries. That is why it is a real focus of mine and is the engine room of the New Zealand economy.