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The Royal New Zealand Navy’s Offshore Patrol Vessel HMNZS OTAGO has successfully completed its first patrol of the season in the Southern Ocean - one of the world’s most challenging environments.

“It is important to New Zealand and the world that we protect the fragile marine environment of the Southern Ocean by helping to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says.

Good morning everyone. It’s great to be here as part of the launch of the 5th Business Growth Agenda Progress Report – Building Natural Resources.

As we conclude the parliamentary year, I certainly hope we have firmly established in most minds that this Government has a very clear focus on our economic growth agenda.

Part of that has to be the better use of New Zealand’s natural resources.

Primary Industries Minister David Carter says the go-ahead for the Wairarapa Water Use Project has the potential to irrigate an additional 30,000 to 50,000 hectares of land and boost the area’s GDP by $400 million.

Primary Industries Minister David Carter is welcoming a boost to New Zealand’s biosecurity frontline with the graduation today of 46 new recruits.

With training completed of the largest intake of border staff in over a decade, the Ministry for Primary Industries is issuing warrants to 43 new quarantine inspectors and three new detector dog handlers at a ceremony in Auckland.

Battery cages for layer hens are to be phased out under a new Code of Welfare released today by Primary Industries Minister David Carter.

From tomorrow (7 December), no new battery cages can be installed by egg producers and a staged phase-out of existing cages will begin.  By 2022, all battery cages will be prohibited.

“Scientific evidence and strong public opinion have made it clear that change is necessary.  We need alternatives to battery cages,” says Mr Carter.

A package of support measures is to be made available to North Island kiwifruit growers affected by the Psa-V vine disease, Primary Industries Minister David Carter announced today.

Mr Carter has declared Psa a medium-scale biosecurity event under the Government’s Primary Sector Recovery Policy, triggering further assistance for growers dealing with the impacts of the disease. 

Primary Industries Minister David Carter has welcomed the announcement of another successful Primary Growth Partnership bid which lifts the total invested to more than $650 million.

The Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) is to fund half of an $87 million innovation programme proposed by leading meat exporter ANZCO.

Further strengthening a primary industries relationship and boosting trade is the focus of a visit to India by Primary Industries Minister David Carter.

“India is a rapidly rising player in the Asia-Pacific region and New Zealand is keen to develop stronger economic and agricultural ties,” Mr Carter says.

The Minister will also travel to Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Primary Industries Minister David Carter and Environment Minister Amy Adams welcomed the release today of the third and final report of the Land and Water Forum (LAWF).

“This report presented to the Government marks the culmination of three years’ hard work by LAWF and we thank the members for tackling the tough issues of New Zealand’s fresh water management,” say Mr Carter and Ms Adams.

Thank you to the New Zealand Forest Owner’s Association for inviting me to launch the Forest Road Engineering Manual. Congratulations for taking the lead in revising this manual.

I would also like to acknowledge Brian Pritchard, chair of the FOA Transportation Committee; Brett Gilmore as the principle editor who I understand has put a huge amount of work into this project; and all those who have contributed.

As everyone in the room tonight knows, forestry is an important industry to New Zealand. It accounts for:

Primary Industries Minister David Carter today announced amendments to the Raw Milk Regulations, the rules by which independent milk processors can access raw milk from Fonterra.

“The Regulations ensure dairy processors can access raw milk when they are starting up and aim to support competition in domestic dairy products,” Mr Carter says.

“The changes follow an extensive consultation and review process on how best to achieve a fair and efficient dairy market in New Zealand.”

The key amendments are:

Firstly, I want to say I agree wholeheartedly with your theme this year - "Looking Forward to Sustainable Growth."

That is very much my focus, and the focus of this Government.

I want to begin today with the Government’s Business Growth Agenda and how important the primary industries are to achieving our ambitious economic growth goals.

Australian Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Hon Joe Ludwig will visit New Zealand for bilateral and primary industries meetings over the next two days.

Hon Ludwig, who will be joined by Primary Industries Ministers from NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory, will meet with Minister Carter this afternoon.

"This visit is a valuable opportunity to discuss two-way trade and issues in the primary sector that affect both Australia and New Zealand," says Mr Carter.

It is a pleasure to be here today at the third Annual Meeting of the Primary Growth Partnership.

I’d like to acknowledge my Associate Minister Nathan Guy, Investment Advisory Panel Chair Bill Falconer, members of the panel, MPI Director-General Wayne McNee, and all co-investors in the Primary Growth Partnership.

The genesis and growth of PGP is something of which we can all be very proud.

Primary Industries Minister David Carter has welcomed today's announcement of another successful Primary Growth Partnership bid which lifts the total allocated to around $600 million.

PGP is to fund nearly half of a $14.6 million programme led by PGG Wrightson Seeds to develop new pasture and forage crop technologies.

"In just three years, the PGP programme has worked with industry to develop some of the most exciting primary sector research and innovation proposals New Zealand has ever seen," says Mr Carter.

Primary Industries Minister David Carter has welcomed a move by New Zealand fish quota owners to forego fishing an increased orange roughy stock in the interest of long-term sustainability.

Tonight I want to say a few quick words about some of the challenges and opportunities facing the forestry industry.

The forestry industry is vital:

This Bill makes a wide range of improvements to the legislation that underpins our biosecurity system. The initial policy development work was started under the previous Labour Government and I want to acknowledge the continued support of the Labour Party.

A bill that makes the most significant changes to the Biosecurity Act in 15 years has passed into law.

The Biosecurity Law Reform Bill makes a wide range of amendments to the Act, along with related amendments to four other Acts.

“New Zealand has a highly effective biosecurity system which is recognised as world-leading, but the legislation has not kept pace with the way the system has had to evolve to meet ever-growing challenges,” says Primary Industries Minister David Carter.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Primary Industries Minister David Carter today announced a new convention to manage fisheries across the South Pacific.

The convention establishes the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), which will manage waters from Western Australia to South America, including the Tasman Sea and South Pacific Ocean.

“This is the culmination of six years of work by the New Zealand Government,” Mr McCully says. New Zealand co-sponsored the negotiations, alongside Chile and Australia.

Australia and New Zealand have today strengthened their long standing cooperation on forestry issues by signing the Arrangement on Combating Illegal Logging and Promoting Sustainable Forest Management. The signed Arrangement illustrates a shared commitment to working together to address illegal logging and promote sustainable forest management.

Nathan Guy is heading to Australia today for a range of meetings covering the Veterans’ Affairs, Immigration, and forestry portfolios.

Mr Guy will be meeting with Australian ministers and officials in Canberra to discuss planning for the 2015 Anzac commemorations at Gallipoli.

“It’s important we work closely together on what is going to be a very important event for Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.”

Mr Guy will also be meeting with Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be here this evening for the Future Forests Research Science Awards.

As Associate Minister for Primary Industries, I have a particular responsibility for forestry.

So tonight I would like to say a few words on: