Muller ToddTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Thank you Madam Chair. It's a great privilege to rise and speak for a few minutes on the annual reviews on the Ministry for the Environment. What a tremendous contribution from both my colleagues. Can I particularly reference Scott Simpson's—it was very funny watching from this side of the House as he quite appropriately talked up the potential of our chair Deborah Russell. Hon Scott Simpson: She's the new LINZ Minister. TODD MULLER: It's extraordinary—and is likely to be a new Minister post-Budget. Just watching the blood drain from the face of Kieran McAnulty it was quite extraordinary. Then also from Willie Jackson—with the mere mention of a Cabinet reshuffle the blood drained from his face as well. It was very awkward; it was extraordinary.But we've had some very interesting reflections on the conversation that we had at the Environment Committee about the annual reviews. In particular I'd like to draw attention to the conversation that we had around climate change. We started first with a reflection and a series of questions relating specifically to the Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group that had reported back around the importance of a national adaptation plan with a whole series of recommendations. It essentially landed on the table with a thud. There was no commitment to operationalise those. We've heard nothing since; it's just silence from the Government in terms of what they're actually going to do which reinforces this view that they are good at rhetoric but very very poor at follow through. There's been reference as we had at the Environment Committee about the zero carbon bill and I suspect that's getting close and I watch with interest the shaking hands of New Zealand First as they have to sign it off as it goes through Cabinet trying to marry the commitments they've made to their rural sector versus what they're prepared to support in terms of commitments for the future of this country. I wait with interest to see how that unfolds.But specifically in the select committee we were discussing the interim climate change reports both of which were signalled by the chief executive to be made public by the end of April. One of them related to the move to 100 percent renewable energy generation and the second of course: whether or how agriculture gets included in an emissions trading scheme. Of course silence. We know those reports have been landed. We know those reports have been finalised. But unlike the commitment made by Vicky Robertson at that select committee there is still no public disclosure of what is in that report.Hon Scott Simpson: Why?TODD MULLER: Exactly Mr Simpson—why? So here we have a scenario where only a few weeks ago we're told explicitly at the select committee to expect those critical pieces of thinking to be made public and discussed and reflected on and instead they sit behind a wall of silence of the Government who yet again is trying to find out how on earth three hands hold the pen at the same time—with great difficulty; with great difficulty.It's interesting when we reflect on some of the conversations that we had in a climate change context—and I build on the very good contribution from Sarah Dowie my colleague just before—that whenever we have a conversation as we did with the conservation area representatives there is a complete aversion to the opportunity of using biotech and gene editing for the future challenges that sit in front of this country. We posed the questions. We've posed them at the select committee and we pose them here in this House. Despite the fact that Professor Gluckman has made it very clear that any attempt or ambition that we might have in the climate change space to reduce our emissions over the next 10 20 30 years is utterly dependent on using world's best technology wherever it comes from being open to all ideas all innovation—because that is the secret of enabling New Zealand agriculture to thrive and feed the world—that side says no; they're not interested. They're only interested in science that supports their political narrative. They're not interested in the interests of people of rural New Zealand which takes me to the last issue that we traversed at the select committee that is covered in our report: urban-rural divide.If there is a singular issue that we can see coming forward in this House that talks to this Government's inability to deeply understand provincial New Zealand it's the response to the questions that we put on that issue. We were given fudge answers that We try to connect our Ministers with rural New Zealand"—that was the answer—"We try to connect our Ministers with rural New Zealand". They only had Damien O'Connor and he's been on the job for 30 years. That's it; the singular voice. Provincial New Zealand the underpinning economic engine of this country and they have to say that they try hard to connect their Ministers with rural New Zealand because they're not naturally understanding their interests."