King Colin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
King Colin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:664;Page:11822] 
7. 
COLIN KING (National—Kaikoura) 
 to the  
Minister of Agriculture 
: What reports has he recently received on the state of New Zealand’s primary sector? 
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) 
: 
 On Monday the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry launched its annual flagship publication  
Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry 
 often known as SONZAF. This report looks at issues facing the primary sector and both current performance and forecast performance over the coming 5 years. The report shows that our primary producers are at the forefront of New Zealand’s export-led recovery and despite a number of challenges can look forward to a mainly positive outlook over the next 5 years. 
Colin King 
: What are the key findings of the report and what significant trends does it pick for the sector in coming years? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The report identifies a robust economic outlook for our primary sector on the back of an increasingly strong demand from developing economies most notably China. Higher prices are predicted across the sector from forestry to dairy with general conditions for our food exporters expected to be far less turbulent than what we have endured over the last 12 months. This is great news not only for our rural producers and our rural communities but in fact for all New Zealanders. 
David Shearer 
: Has he seen the report issued this week from Statistics New Zealand that shows that innovation in the agricultural sector dropped in 2009 and is now 15 percent below that of other business sectors; if so does he believe that this drop is a result of the long delays to Primary Growth Partnership funding? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I have not seen that report but I was very pleased to see the member yesterday at the Mystery Creek Fieldays which is the premier agricultural event of our calendar. In fact innovation is the major theme of those Fieldays. It is a wonderful event. 
David Shearer 
: I seek leave to table the Statistics New Zealand business operations survey. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Colin King 
: How is the Government moving to address the key challenges raised in the  
Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry 
 2010 report? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The two key issues raised in the report this year are environmental performance and water storage. Those are two major areas of focus for the Government and are certainly a priority of mine as Minister. That is why we have developed things like the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. We are funding a major carbon footprint programme and we are totally committed to removing the regulatory roadblocks to water storage and getting more reliable irrigation to rural New Zealand. 
John Boscawen 
: Does he agree with the Prime Minister’s statement made to primary producers at Fieldays yesterday when referring to the emissions trading scheme: “I don’t think that New Zealand should be doing more than the rest of the world.”; if so does that mean agriculture will not have to incur any costs of the emissions trading scheme including diesel until farmers in other parts of the world are also included in an emission trading scheme? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I always agree with the Prime Minister. Yesterday I had the opportunity of spending at least 3 hours with him as he wandered around the Mystery Creek Fieldays. He had much opportunity to talk to the farmers of New Zealand. Not one farmer raised the issue of the emissions trading scheme with the Prime Minister during the time I spent with him. 
John Boscawen 
: Does he agree with the Prime Minister who told protesting farmers at Fieldays yesterday that the emissions trading scheme would cost them 3c per kilogram of milksolids; if so is that 3c cost from 1 July this year or from 1 January 2015? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I certainly agreed with the Prime Minister when he mentioned the 10 protesters that the ACT Party had assembled and when he pointed out to those 10 protesting ACT supporters that they had been fed a gross amount of misinformation by the ACT Party.