11. Question No. 11—ForestryDARROCH BALL (NZ First) to the Minister of ForestryQuestion No. 11—Forestry11. DARROCH BALL (NZ First) to the Minister of Forestry: What recent reports has he seen about whole farm conversions to forestry?Hon SHANE JONES (Minister of Forestry): To be absolutely accurate I am going to read slightly longer than I ordinarily would do.SPEAKER: And if the member would straighten his tie it would look a lot better.Hon SHANE JONES: Under the one billion trees target the amount of forestry land would need to increase from 1.7 million hectares to only 2 million hectares over a 10-year period to achieve the outcome. The new tree planting will be on sheep and beef land but will continue in my view to focus on that land that is precipitous and marginal. The latest Overseas Investment Office stats show that only 8800 hectares of farmland has been converted to forestry—one thousandth of NZ's total sheep and beef land.Darroch Ball: How does the Minister respond to claims that Government policy might see a Waimate farmer's property sold to an overseas investor and converted into pine trees?Hon SHANE JONES: I don't want to catastrophise these apocryphal stories. The reality is that it's not for the Government to begin circumscribing the rights of landowners to transact with other parties. Now some sales are happening between Kiwi buyers and Kiwi sellers but any suggestion that there's a Klondike effect of the changes of last year in the overseas investment regime are not supported by fact.Darroch Ball: What steps has the Government taken to ensure that forestry contributes to the strength of rural communities and regional economies?Hon SHANE JONES: As a key part of the billion trees strategy nigh on $240 million was made available to achieve an outcome of farm and forestry working together. Farmers know the value of trees. The officials are working with farmers and I just think that it's time for us to detoxify this debate. And I think it's important that the other side of the House do not incite people to continue to peddle mistruths about how forestry and farming can be blended.Hon Todd McClay: Can he therefore confirm that he has today attacked farmers as being rednecks and if so does he now want to apologise to these hard-working New Zealanders and their families for the offence that this has caused?SPEAKER: I'm quite certain that in his role of Minister of Forestry he didn't do that.Hon Todd McClay: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The media is reporting that he did in his role as Minister of Forestry.SPEAKER: And what I am saying is that if he made comments outside the area of his responsibility of that type it wasn't ministerial.Hon Michael Woodhouse: If that were the case then the Minister would be perfectly capable of answering the question in that way but that does not make the question out of order.Hon SHANE JONES: Point of order.SPEAKER: Speaking to the point of order the Hon Shane Jones.Hon SHANE JONES: I have got no compunction in answering the question and I'm sure that I will not bring the quality of our sitting in the House to a lower level that you might suspect could be the case.SPEAKER: In light of that assurance—and with that member it's not a high test—the member may answer the question.Hon SHANE JONES: We had a highly charged atmosphere earlier this afternoon and I was disappointed in how my colleague the Minister of Agriculture was treated in what I thought was a very disgraceful way and in a very rare but irrational moment I did use that word. But the reality is that when you come to town and you make threats and you act in such a vitriolic fashion against the first assistant of the provinces" you're going to get that sort of response.SPEAKER: All right and can I just say that the evidence from that response made it absolutely clear that I was right in my original ruling.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why does he think it's OK for foreign investors to buy a farm to convert to forestry but not to buy a farm to farm or to convert to horticulture for example?Hon SHANE JONES: There is the availability of opportunity under the overseas investment regime for foreigners providing they meet a very high test to purchase farmland but we are not going to drive farmland values stratospherically high through international investors. The sorry fact of the matter is that forestry is already 74 percent - owned by foreigners and obviously we have simplified the process so those existing owners can transact with minimum difficulty. [Interruption] SPEAKER: OK—I think we've got that question. Can I just say that I think there might be some sort of release that members find when they announce their retirement from this place. Both the Hon Amy Adams and Alastair Scott have been exceptionally loud in their interjections during the question time today and I ask both of them just to turn the volume down a little bit.Hon Paula Bennett: I'd like to seek leave that if the Minister would like to lengthen his answer we'd love to hear more.SPEAKER: Well—Hon SHANE JONES: There is a famous whakataukī—SPEAKER: No no no no—sit. I think I warned the member yesterday about winding up the Deputy Prime Minister. I think winding up that member is not helpful either.Todd Muller: When will he start behaving like the whakataukī that he's just outlined?Hon SHANE JONES: Given that question was designed to create disharmony in the House I think it behoves me to offer a very thoughtful but modest answer: watch this space.SPEAKER: Yeah chance would be a fine thing."