Search

Good morning

Thank you Mark, for your introduction and thank you Agcarm, for the invitation to join the 70th Annual Conference. It is a pleasure to be here.

E aku rangatira, tēnā koutou katoa. Ka nui te honore ki te mihi ki a koutou.

It is a pleasure to be here today to open this event, celebrating 20 years of the Food Treaty.

I want to use this opportunity to highlight the importance and success of the Food Treaty for both Australia and New Zealand, and also give my thoughts on some of the topics you will be hearing about today, including the future of food regulation.

Importance of trans-Tasman relationship and success of the Food Treaty

E aku rangatira, tēnā koutou katoa. Ka nui te honore ki te mihi ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou katoa.

Thanks and acknowledgements:

• Guy Wills (general manager of NIG nutritionals)
• Matt Bolton (owner of Oete farms)
• Board and staff from New Image and Good Health

Apparently Captain James Cook had a taste for goat milk, and took a goat along with him on his maiden voyage to New Zealand. This was the beginning of a long established history of goat milk in this country.

John [Hon John Luxton, Chair Dairy NZ], Tim [Tim Mackle Chief Executive] and members of the Dairy NZ Board for organizing this event.

I would like to acknowledge my Parliamentary colleagues: Hon Damien O’Connor, Ian McKelvie, Barbara Kuriger, and Fletcher Tabuteau.

There are also a large number of CE’s and leaders from business, government and local government here, including Kingi Smiler, Chairman of Miraka and Laurie Margrain, Chairman for Open Country Dairy, and Martyn Dunne, Director General of the Ministry for Primary Industries.