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

Good afternoon everyone and thank-you Dennis for inviting me to be here today.

The National Government’s business growth agenda has six streams focusing on the inputs businesses need to succeed and grow: export markets, capital markets, innovation, skilled and safe workplaces, natural resources and infrastructure.

There are more than 350 BGA actions, of which more than half are complete or being implemented.

Today I want to say a few words about my portfolio, and on some of the big challenges and opportunities facing your industry.

The horticulture industry plays a major role in New Zealand’s economic growth, contributing $6.7b to the economy in the year to June 2013 and making up around 8 percent of New Zealand’s total merchandise exports.

Horticultural exports have more than doubled since 2000, to $3.6 billion in 2013, and are forecasted to surpass $4 billion in 2016, a major milestone for the sector.

It’s great to be here tonight to launch this report on the economic contribution wine makes to New Zealand.

I believe it’s really important to celebrate your success as growers, producers and exporters. 

The wider primary industries are the backbone of New Zealand’s economy, making up around 73% of all our exports. Viticulture is an important part of that and this report shows us just how far you’ve come.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to address you all tonight.

Following some challenging years, there are strong indications of improved results for many companies in the sector this year.

This resilience is a reflection of the hard work of people throughout the red meat sector.

The meat and wool sectors make up 21 percent of total primary sector export revenue at an estimated export value of $8 billion for the year ending 30 June 2014, which is a record.

It’s great to be here today to witness the signing of the Government Industry Agreement Deed by the New Zealand Pork Industry.

This is a historic day. It’s the result of the hard work over several years of both industry and government to realise the benefits of working in partnership. 

There is a simple but important principle behind the GIA: by working together, we are stronger.

This agreement means we can share our expertise, experience and knowledge to make joint decisions on biosecurity readiness and response.

Thank you to Better Border Biosecurity (B3) for hosting this important conference. The theme is “10 years on – Adding Value to New Zealand’s Plant Biosecurity System through Research”.  

Today I want to talk to you about the importance of biosecurity to New Zealand, and the importance of scientific research to back it up.

I want to start by acknowledging the B3 partnership as a great model for working together on research.

Today is a very important day, and a long time in the making. This is the start of a new era of biosecurity partnership between the Government and industry.

We’re here for first signing of the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) for Biosecurity Readiness and Response Deed, between Kiwifruit Vine Health and the Ministry for Primary Industries.   

Mr Speaker, this Bill is a crucial piece of legislation.

As members will remember, this legislation came from the Ministerial Inquiry led by the Hon Paul Swain. That Inquiry was set up following serious allegations of mistreatment of crew on foreign chartered vessels. It made a number of legislative and non-legislative recommendations to improve agency coordination, monitoring and compliance of foreign chartered vessels.

This Bill is necessary to ensure that health and safety requirements on all fishing vessels in New Zealand waters are of the highest standard.

Thanks for the invitation to say a few words tonight.

Your conference theme is “Securing the next generation’s future” – which is a very good vision.

Tonight I want to say a few words on the importance of irrigation to New Zealand’s future, and what the Government – and industry – can do to help it succeed.

The potential of irrigation

I’m sure I don’t need to remind this audience of how important the primary industries are to our country.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is my great pleasure to be back in Colombia.

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

Thank you Pamela, and good morning to you all and welcome to the 2014 PreFabNZ conference.

I’d like to extend a special greeting to delegates from overseas, welcome to Auckland.

Putting together conferences like this takes time and energy.

I would like to start by acknowledging Pamela Bell, PreFabNZ chief executive, who has done so much to make this event possible.

Good morning. It is great to be back in Chile. This is my third trip to Latin America in just over a year, and my second trip to Chile and to this beautiful region.

The last time I was here I accompanied our Prime Minister as part of a broader trade mission across Latin America. This time I am joined by our trade Minister Tim Groser, and a 14 strong New Zealand business delegation.

This delegation includes some of the best of New Zealand's agribusiness, agri-tech, and agricultural training expertise.

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

I would like to acknowledge the pan-industry conference organisers; the Forest Owners Association, the Wood Processors Association, Pine Manufacturers Association and the Forestry Industry Contractors Association.

I would also like to acknowledge our MC Dr James Buwalda and my fellow panellists, Labour’s Hon. David Cunliffe and Dr Russel Norman from the Greens.

Thank you for the opportunity to address you all today.

The last few years have been some of the more challenging in New Zealand’s history. In the space of five short years we have endured the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the worst drought in 70 years, and of course the devastating series of earthquakes in the Canterbury region.

But we have largely weathered this storm, and while there will no doubt be further hurdles along the way, the future is looking bright for New Zealand.

Good afternoon everyone. It is a pleasure to be here in Riyadh this week, as part of a week-long visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Last year the Government launched the NZ Inc Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Strategy, which outlines New Zealand’s plans for further developing strong government and private sector relationships with the GCC.

Good morning and thank you for the invitation to be here. It gives me great pleasure to speak to you today about global food security, and New Zealand's journey to become a ‘kitchen of the world’.

Good morning and thank you for the invitation to speak.

For over a century, dams and the infrastructure associated with them have been a vital but often overlooked part of the fabric of this country.

Back in the 1880s, gold dredgers dammed a tributary of the Shotover River to provide hydropower for the nearby mine.

Early freezing works and dairy factories ran on hydro and it even helped power early municipal lighting at Reefton on the West Coast.

Today we still tend to associate dams with generating electricity for the national grid.

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:

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

Rotorua Mayor Hon Steve Chadwick, FAO Assistant Director-General Mr Konuma, FAO Director of the Forest Economics Policy and Products Ms Eva Muller, Scion CEO Warren Parker and chair Mr. Su Chunyu.

Distinguished delegates and guests, industry and iwi leaders, local dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen.

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

Good afternoon everyone and thanks for the warm welcome.

It is great to be back here in Rotorua, my second visit in as many months.

I attended the WoodEXPO 2013 meeting in September - and recognise some familiar faces from that informative day!

Putting together conferences takes time and energy and I want to start off by acknowledging three key individuals who made today’s forum possible.

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.

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.

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

Good morning everyone and thank you for inviting me to open this important and timely meeting. Thank you to Francis (CEO of Grow Rotorua) for the warm welcome.

I bring you apologies from Hon Steven Joyce who was unable to be with you on this occasion, and asked me to speak on his behalf.

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