Guy Nathan: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGuy Nathan: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 07 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11705. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): There has been a lot of talk in the last week or so about the Labour-Greens’ MOU (memorandum of understanding)—I call it the “marriage of unity” but wait it might end up being called the “marriage of disunity”. Let me take you through a little example that we have seen play out in the last week or so since this marriage of unity—or disunity—has been playing out.On the West Coast of the South Island we have Damien O’Connor and he has a very strong challenge from our National list MP Maureen Pugh. Of course what does the local paper do? They are interested in local stories and so they pick up the phone and ring Damien O’Connor; he answers and they ask him: “Do you support this MOU?”. They had to ask him seven times whether he supported it or not. In fact I think that everyone on the West Coast is actually unsure whether or not their local MP supports this memorandum of understanding. West Coasters are very pragmatic people. The coasters know a hell of a lot about primary production. Actually so does Damien O’Connor and he knows that this deal is terrible for his voters on the coast. He knows that what underpins his regional economy is dairy farming. Well we have just heard a speech from the Greens—actually two of them—opposing dairy farmers. Those members would prefer it if we had no dairy farmers in the whole of New Zealand let alone on the West Coast of the South Island.We also saw in 2014 the Greens oppose special legislation—Cyclone Ita had come through and there were a whole lot of wind-blown trees down there on the West Coast. Damien O’Connor crossed the floor because he knew it was good for local jobs on the West Coast. The Greens were opposed to that. Of course what we will also see play out is that the Greens are opposed to mining which is hugely important on the West Coast. But importantly let us not worry too much about the marriage of disunity because it is already playing out. It is playing out on the West Coast; it is playing out as I speak.I think actually most Labour members who are on the right of their caucus like Mr O’Connor like Stuart Nash like Kelvin Davis like many others like Phil Goff—Tim Macindoe: Clayton Cosgrove.Hon NATHAN GUY: Phil Twyford Clayton Cosgrove—they are all petrified of this deal. You can bet your bottom dollar that those who are standing—those names I have just mentioned—when their billboards go up in their electorates there will be a little tinge of red but it will be all about the personality because they know this deal is terrible for Labour and I think ultimately it will be terrible for the Greens. I reckon they will both be punished.But importantly I want to focus on this Budget because this Budget is what matters. This Budget is what people are talking about on the West Coast of the South Island. This Budget is what people are talking about in my electorate of Ōtaki. This is Bill English’s eighth Budget—a fantastic Budget. We are back into surplus there is massive investment into health and education—$2.2 billion in health over 4 years—and more money into the SuperGold card.Of course in my electorate Ōtaki I have got the highest number of over 65s on a proportionality basis. They are stopping me on the street saying: “Well done for supporting the SuperGold card.” They really back this Budget. There is more money into health more money into education. They are very concerned about their grandkids and they acknowledge that this is an all-time spend on health education and social services and that is hugely important. They acknowledge there are 200000 jobs that have been created in the last 3 years. Is that not fantastic? There are 170000 predicted to be created in the next 3 years. This is a Government that is doing things. It is getting the books back in order paying down debt getting back in the black and actually voters acknowledge that. They acknowledge that we have steered this country through the tough times.What is really exciting about this Budget for me is the record biosecurity investment of $223 million—90 new staff working on the front line an extra 24 of these amazing dog detector teams and six new X-ray machines on top of the other ones that we have got. We have now got Government-industry agreements—nine parties have signed up to that. There is a huge investment happening in keeping our borders safe on top of the border clearance levy and the like.I could go on—$70 million into managing TB. This is a very invasive disease that we have got to get on top of and that means $70 million on top of $30 million over the next 4 years. That is a $100 million investment which has been applauded by many in the primary sector. We want to eradicate TB from wildlife by 2026 and we are on track to do that with this investment.Also wilding pines—many people will be unaware that these are causing a huge amount of concern in regional and provincial New Zealand. We have estimated there are about 1.8 million hectares of these invasive wild pines. They are basically a weed tree and they are spreading their seeds at about 90000 hectares a year. Kevin Hague knows all about this and he is nodding. He sees this as a very prudent investment. We want to get in there and stop the spread of these wilding pine trees and kill them off and we hope that regional councils will come on board and partner with us. We hope that philanthropic organisations will come and partner with us and communities as well.Also there is $100 million for environmental clean-up projects. That is a massive investment. It is interesting that when the Greens had their conference over the weekend the co-leader stood up and said: “I am the river and the river is me.” Well now its members are out there saying we need to do more in this space. In actual fact I think that this Government has done a huge amount in cleaning up our waterways—actually way more than when the Greens got left at the altar and Labour was in charge in the last 3 years of the Labour - New Zealand First coalition. Importantly over that period of time from 2000 to 2008 there was about $29 million invested in the clean-up of our rivers and streams and lakes.This Government has invested $115 million since 2008-15 and we are now going to invest another $100 million. I think it is fantastic that we can get out there and partner once again with other community organisations the regional councils and philanthropic individuals who want to come forward and partner with us. The Greens have now just woken up to the fact that actually rivers are important. Well we have known that for a huge amount of time. We are investing $5 million in cleaning up the Manawatū River which runs through my electorate. We are investing over a million dollars in Lake Horowhenua cleaning up that. We are doing a huge amount as we speak.We are also investing $20 million in the Global Research Alliance (GRA). That is very important for our farmers because we know that in terms of our emissions profile about half comes from agriculture. So we have got the best scientists in New Zealand—and some around the world—who are working on this initiative. The GRA has got about 46 countries that have signed up to it. We are leading the world in trying to reduce methane emissions from our animals. I think that is a fantastic initiative which the Government is very keen once again to focus on to ensure we give our farmers solutions. The Greens and Labours just want to give our farmers problems. We want to invest in new technology. We want to provide the tools in the tool box so that farmers can open it up and say: “Yes this is how I can address my emissions profile.”What is also really important to acknowledge in this Budget is that there is more money in tertiary education. We know we need to attract another 50000 people to the primary sector in the next 9 years and that is going to be really challenging. Over half of those—so 26000—will need to have a level 4 or a tertiary qualification. They will be food safety scientists they will be robotic engineers they will be environmental planners. That is why this Budget focuses so heavily on science—$761 million. Ultimately that means our investment in science will be about $1.6 billion in the next few years. We are also going to put more money into science engineering agriculture and veterinary science students as well in terms of their tuition fees.This is a Budget that is focused on the future. This is a Budget that is about getting us back into surplus. This is a Budget that is about creating jobs for all New Zealanders—200000 in the last 3 years and another 170000 in the next 3 years. This is a Government that is really focused on the issues that matter for New Zealand. I applaud Bill English for his eighth Budget. He has done incredibly well to get us back into surplus and to grow this economy. We are now favoured on the international stage. When you look at all these countries—whether it is OECD measurements or different measurements—and you think about little old New Zealand we can put our hands on our hearts and say we have done a fantastic job in getting us through the global financial crisis doing more in terms of investing in the future and our children and looking after some of those in need. Thank you. I applaud this Budget.