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Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has paid tribute to Rural Support Trust members at a function in Parliament tonight, thanking them for their work during the drought earlier this year.

“This was the worst drought in 70 years and a very tough time for many rural communities.

“Rural Support Trusts worked tirelessly to lift farmer and community morale. I want to salute them for the work they did in sitting around the kitchen table with so many farmers, supporting them to find a way through.

Thank you for the introduction. It is a pleasure to address this forum today and to welcome visitors from China, the United States, Australia and New Zealand .

Can I acknowledge:

The Government is proposing to ban the removal of shark fins and the dumping of the shark carcass at sea, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

The Ministers made the announcement at the Island Bay Marine Education Centre in Wellington, while releasing the National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks for public consultation.

Good morning and thank you for the invitation to address your annual conference. This morning I’d like to talk briefly about some of the important developments since I attended your annual awards dinner last year.

Of course this week we saw the Melbourne Cup and New Zealanders spent $9.3 million on betting, a new record and up one percent from last year.

My pick was Voleuse do Coeurs, trained by a Kiwi and ridden by top New Zealand jockey James McDonald. Sadly she ran in 10th, so I hope no-one took my advice. Congratulations to the winner Fiorente.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have today released proposals for improving freshwater management, including national water standards.

“Ensuring an on-going and reliable supply of healthy water is one of the most important environmental and economic issues facing New Zealand today,” Ms Adams says.

“It is critical that we protect and improve the water quality that we all care so much about.”

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the appointment of Sir Ian Barker to Chair the new Snapper 1 Strategy Group, which will work on a long term plan to manage the fishery.

“As part of the Snapper 1 review this year I directed the Ministry for Primary Industries to set up a multi-sector strategy group before the end of the year. There will be seven members appointed in total, with two members each representing the commercial, recreational, and customary sectors.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has launched a new programme to help unlock the potential for primary industry growth in Northland today.

“This is the start of a wider programme by the Ministry for Primary Industries to work in partnership with regions to help them further develop industries like agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and aquaculture.

“We chose to start with Northland because it has significant potential, with a good climate and a vast tracts of land suitable for further development,” says Mr Guy.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy is welcoming new investment of $750,000 into irrigation projects in Central Otago, and $100,000 in the Rangitikei, coming from the Government’s Irrigation Acceleration Fund (IAF).

“There is major unrealised potential across the country for further irrigation development, and these two projects will help unlock that.

The Government today noted the release of the Fonterra Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate incident.

“The report lists a number of recommendations and I understand Fonterra has committed itself to resolving the identified issues,” Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says.

“It is important to note that this is Fonterra’s inquiry and the Government has its own inquiries underway into the incident.”

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy is welcoming more success stories from the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) scheme, with five major projects announcing breakthroughs this month.

“The programme ‘Transforming the Dairy Value Chain’ is helping to develop a patented technology for developing frozen mozzarella cheese in one day rather than the previous two months. Last week Fonterra announced a new $72 million investment into its Clandeboye plant near Timaru to expand production of this cheese.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the creation of a new position for an agricultural counsellor in the New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta.

“This is in recognition of the growing importance of the bilateral relationship with Indonesia. It is a further step by the Ministry for Primary Industries to increase its presence in Asian markets and provide in-market support for exporters.

“As announced earlier this year, MPI is also putting more staff into China by the end of the year and is doubling its market access team in Wellington from 8 to 16.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has announced that a delegation of 10 veterinarians, farming leaders and MPI staff will take part in foot and mouth disease (FMD) training in Asia next year to experience working with the disease first hand.

“While the major focus is always on preventing FMD, it is also very important that we are prepared to respond to such an outbreak quickly and effectively if it ever did happen.

“The training will develop a larger pool of people in New Zealand with experience in recognising, diagnosing and controlling the disease.

Good morning and thank you for inviting me to open the 105^th Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Greyhound Racing Association.

Can I acknowledge:

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has announced five new appointments to the Biosecurity Ministerial Advisory Committee today.

The Committee plays an important role in providing the Minister with independent advice on the performance of New Zealand’s biosecurity system as a whole, and on specific biosecurity issues where necessary.

“Biosecurity is my number one priority, and hugely important to New Zealand as a trading nation,” says Mr Guy.

Thank you Bob, and thank you to the New Zealand Companion Animal Council for inviting me here today to talk with you about animal welfare.

Can I acknowledge Joyce D’Silva Joyce, Ambassador and former Chief Executive of Compassion in World Farming, and my fellow MPs – Trevor Mallard, Mojo Mathers, Ian McKelvie and Andrew Williams.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has today announced a new programme for overseas farmers to spend time in New Zealand on an agri-tech study tour.

“Four places a year will be available for farmers to spend up to three weeks here, looking at improved agricultural productivity and reducing on-farm methane emissions,” says Mr Guy.

“This programme will be fully funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries and will help promote New Zealand’s agribusiness expertise overseas.

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy is welcoming a proposal to bring in compulsory screening of palm kernel expeller (PKE) imported into New Zealand.

PKE is imported mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia and is used by the dairy industry as supplementary stock feed.

“The proposal from the Ministry for Primary Industries is that all PKE must be passed through a 4-6mm size screen on entry to New Zealand and before going on sale. There will also be added requirements for record keeping and traceability.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed exciting progress on seafood harvesting technology, developed through the Government’s Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) scheme.

“The Precision Seafood Harvesting project is developing new net technology which is world-leading. It has the potential for huge economic and environmental benefits.

“Underwater images have been released at the Seafood NZ conference today in Auckland showing this technology in action.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye are welcoming Martyn Dunne CNZM as the new Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

“Mr Dunne has an outstanding record of service in the military, the public service and as a diplomat,” says Mr Guy.

“His appointment signals a fresh start for MPI. I look forward to working with him on important issues like biosecurity and doubling our exports by 2025.”

Primary Industries Nathan Guy has announced Sir Maarten Wevers as the sixth and newest member of the Primary Growth Partnership’s Investment Advisory Panel (IAP).

“This appointment reflects the growing profile and importance of the Primary Growth Partnership,” Mr Guy says.

Members of the IAP are responsible for providing advice on the investment decisions of PGP funds, and to help ensure that PGP investments achieve the aims of economic growth.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says rural communities have bounced back strongly after this year’s drought, with the official declaration ending today.

“Earlier this year I extended the official drought declaration covering the entire North Island and West Coast of the South Island until the end of September. This was in recognition that the drought was the worst in 70 years and the need for support would continue through the winter.

Good afternoon everybody.

I would like first to extend a special welcome to industry and business leaders, my parliamentary colleagues, and our partner PGP programmes here today as we showcase the wide range of PGP programmes underway to date and exciting innovations they are progressing. 

We will – I understand – be hearing from some of the newer programmes shortly.  I’d encourage you to explore the stands, and I also understand you can even sample some of the programme’s products in today’s canapés.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has announced $800,000 in funding for two new Global Research Alliance projects in Latin America.

Mr Guy made the announcement during his speech at the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture conference in Buenos Aires, involving Agriculture Ministers from across the region.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has today announced increases to catch limits for a range of New Zealand fisheries, thanks to healthy stock levels.

“These decisions today reflect the success of the Quota Management System (QMS), which is recognised as world leading. It is driven by science and responsive to change, which means that as stocks improve we can increase our sustainable take”, says Mr Guy.