Choudhary Ashraf: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Choudhary Ashraf: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:645;Page:14280] 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
Aleikum salaam Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise to say how proud I am of this Labour Government because this Labour Government and the Labour Party provide leadership and vision for this country and have done for years. For the last 8 years this Government has provided leadership and vision in many spheres of life. I am proud to say that in the areas of education health savings and the environment we have shown real leadership particularly in early childhood education and tertiary education. I am proud when talking about some of the ethnic communities which take education as a major interest in their life because they themselves are so proud that their 3 and 4-year-old children are now being educated. This is a new vision for us to ensure that our children as they grow up start going to school early in their life. 
The student loan scheme and particularly the interest-free loan scheme provided by this Government last year have also been great news for a lot of our youngsters in university and tertiary education. They give an opportunity to everyone in the community—be they ethnic community people Maori people low-income people or Pacific Island people—to go to a tertiary institution in order to advance themselves into higher education and into jobs. Unless we have a skilled labour force this country will not make much progress. 
I am proud of the fact that this Government has lowered doctors’ fees. We now have a $3 prescription fee. I was really surprised the other day after going to the doctor about a problem when I went to the pharmacy and found that I had to pay only $3 for the prescription. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: How much? 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY 
: Only $3. After years of having to pay $20 or $15 I had to pay only $3 for the prescription. I really got a shock. I could not believe that after so many years of high prescription fees I paid only $3 for a prescription. It is unbelievable. I am very proud of the Government for taking those steps. 
I will spend some time today talking about major issues on which this Government has taken leadership and they are about sustainability climate change and resource management. I think that any nation any country that does not look ahead plan for the future and take leadership will go nowhere. 
I am really proud of the fact that in so many areas this Government has shown real leadership in terms of sustainability climate change and resource management. This country is a small country. We do not have a lot of resources as for example Australia has but whatever resources we have we have to make sure we use them properly and have sustainable agriculture and a sustainable environment. We must look after our soils air and water. 
I will highlight some of the issues on which this Government has taken leadership not only in New Zealand but overseas. I am particularly delighted to talk about these issues because they are around some of the areas in which I have had the opportunity in my lifetime to do some research and development. 
One of those issues is the passage of the emissions trading scheme which is a scheme that concerns the future of this country and the future of this world. Under the Kyoto agreement we have to make sure we have a good log of all the emissions of various gases—for example nitrous oxide carbon dioxide and methane. Unless we have a good catalogue of the rate of emission of these gases and of what will happen particularly in agriculture we will not go very far. I am really delighted that first there will be a lot of money spent on research and development into gas emissions and also that there will be a look at the trading scheme. Under the Kyoto agreement most nations will look into it. I am delighted that Australia our neighbour has come around to signing the Kyoto agreement and that we will move ahead together. 
Second I am really pleased we have passed the Biofuel Bill at its first reading. It is a fantastic bill. Again we have to look forward to look ahead to how we will use biomass in this country. We have to look at alternative ways to fuel cars—alternatives to petrol and diesel. I am delighted with some of the work I was part of in my department at Massey University years ago when we looked at various fuels—for example tallow esters. Tallow is the one thing that at the moment we have plenty of. We have plenty of tallow—animal fat—in our factories and on our farms that we can use to be converted into petrol or diesel equivalents. We can also look for example at vegetable oils for biofuels. 
I have been thinking about another thing and I will be talking to the Ministers about it. You know it is not often thought that we can grow sugar cane for example in this country. I have been thinking about it. Historically we have not really looked at growing sugar cane in this country but if we look at the climate north of Auckland we see that the climate there is almost semi-tropical which is the ideal climate for growing sugar cane. I am not sure why over the years nobody has looked at that. I have actually seen sugar cane growing at some people’s houses in Auckland. It grows very well. Being from a farming background myself I know that in the climate of the Auckland-Northland region we could grow sugar cane as a biomass to convert into biofuels. This is something that is happening overseas in Australia South America and so on. A lot of sugar cane is being used to be converted into biofuel and into ethanol for cars etc. It is something I think we should look at seriously—sugarcane as a source of biofuel to power our vehicles in the long term. 
Then of course we have our transport strategy. I am really proud of the fact that I now live in Auckland where I have the opportunity to travel around the motorways every weekend when I am going out to meetings and see the building of motorways roads and transport systems really going places. I am very proud of the fact that this Government is doing that. 
This Government is proud of the fact that we are looking at sustainable land management because again it is looking to the future. We have a fantastic resource that we are using for our foreign exchange; we are a proud dairy-farming country of the world. I am delighted to see the extension of dairy farms and the way things are happening in this country with Fonterra. That is the future of this nation in terms of milk and milk product exports. I know that some people have been worried about the potential impact on the environment but I myself as a scientist can assure them that dairy farming in this country has a long-term future. We should be proud of the fact that we are taking leadership and also looking at the sustainable land management of this country. 
Similarly we are developing a national policy statement for our fresh water. Our water source is generally considered to be clean and green and all that but having looked at some other nations and at the way things are happening I think we have to look at cleaning our waters particularly our lakes rivers and streams. As we grow the dairy industry more we have to make sure our bodies of fresh water are clean. 
Along with the green image we have also been finalising the waste minimisation scheme in our country. Again we have in this country the perspective of being very clean and green but really if we look at what is happening in terms of waste particularly at some of the ways in which it can be recycled we see that we need to take leadership. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.