Speech to Environmental Defence Society Conference

I have been asked to speak today about the Government’s reform agenda which is a very wide brief, but particularly pertinent to my two portfolio areas of Primary Industries and Local Government.

But I want to start with a few comments on Antarctica and the Ross Sea as I understand you’ve just had a session with documentary film-maker Peter Young.

I haven’t seen Peter’s documentary, but I did watch the recent story on TV1’s ‘Sunday’ programme.

There’s no doubt it was a piece produced by a New Zealander passionate about ending fishing in the Ross Sea, because of his perception about the environmental sustainability of this unique part of the globe.

But as is so often the case, there are two sides to every story.

I thought Gareth Morgan’s position was also relevant. If New Zealand acts unilaterally in this area, there’s a good chance that other nations will plunder any fishing resource, without accepting any responsibility for long-term sustainability.

That is why the New Zealand Government has been very active in developing a proposal for a Marine Protection Area in the Ross Sea, which could then be presented to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

But this type of proposal takes time.

To achieve enduring protection for an area of the Ross Sea requires agreement from each of the 25 countries that are members of CCAMLR.

If New Zealand charges off on its own, we risk achieving absolutely nothing – whereas a balanced approach may well achieve protection, which may include some limited sustainable fishing.

So it’s a little like the old adage "good things take time" – similar to the Land and Water Forum process that EDS has been so involved in. And I will talk more about that shortly.

But first, let me briefly outline the Government’s reform agenda.

Simply, New Zealand can no longer live beyond its means.

As we watch the daily news, we can all observe the economic disasters that befall countries like Spain, living with uncontrolled debt.

As New Zealand citizens rightfully demand world-class health and education systems, and world-class social support, we collectively have to deliver an economy that will pay for those services.

Because we are a nation of just 4.5 million people, the only way we can do this is by exporting goods and services to the world.

This puts the spotlight firmly on New Zealand’s primary industries, as these represent 71 per cent of our total export earnings.

The Government’s growth agenda recognises that we must strive for more exports from primary production, and that’s in quantity and quality, and in value-add.

Therein lies the rub with an organisation such as EDS.

How does New Zealand intensify its agricultural production systems and at the same time avoid, or mitigate environmental impacts so that we remain at the top of our game - particularly in the eyes of our international customers.

New Zealand has an enormous opportunity to exploit our hard-won reputation as a leader in environmental sustainability, animal welfare and food safety.

Early on in this Government’s tenure, we identified irrigation as a way to lift production.

Farmers were clamouring for more water and many of them, in my opinion, hadn’t adequately considered the overall environmental impacts.

Or, for that matter, the level of apprehension from other New Zealanders, particularly those living in urban areas, who have a genuine interest in the environmental state of our waterways.

So collectively, we all embarked on the LAWF process.

I thank EDS for its commitment to this.

It has been impressive to see over 60 stakeholders coming from very different perspectives, committing a huge amount of time and resource to find solutions on contentious issues.

While you have landed two reports, we await the next report which will have to crunch some very difficult issues around allocation.

I acknowledge the tight timeframe LAWF is working to, with a final report due in the next couple of months.

However, this Government is determined to see these issues resolved, hopefully with LAWF’s agreement, so that we can advance a further piece of legislation to improve the Resource Management Act.

In the meantime, within the primary sector we have addressed decades of underfunding in science and innovation.

The Primary Growth Partnership has been an outstanding success.

Established less than three years ago, we now have $590 million of investment pledged in primary sector research and development.

With approximately half of this money coming from industry, I’m confident that these projects will ultimately deliver huge benefits.

It is worth noting that a number of these projects include substantial environmental research.

For example, the STIMBR PGP programme aims to find alternative options for meeting overseas countries’ phytosanitary requirements for the export of logs, sawn timber and other wood product, without the reliance on methyl bromide.

If it achieves its aim, it could reduce methyl bromide use by 50 per cent for forestry products which would result in a 108 tonne decrease in the use of methyl bromide.

This would position New Zealand as a leader in this field on the international stage, and would positively reinforce our clean and green image.

Another PGP project underway includes environmental research aimed at helping improve nutrient management on farms while also significantly reducing its environmental footprint.

By improving existing nutrient products, developing new products and improving farm adoption of best practice nutrient management, this project will reduce nitrogen and phosphate being leached into water ways.

The project could also lead to a reduction in atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases, and decreased accumulation of contaminants like cadmium in soils or taken up in plants.

Talking about environmental outcomes leads me to my most important priority within my portfolios – biosecurity.

It is the single greatest risk to our economy, and this risk increases as we grow trade and tourism.

Today, 175,000 items will come across our borders, and each presents some risk.

While I am confident that we have the best biosecurity system in the world, there is no reason for complacency.

There needs to be continual improvement and I, and MPI, will work in partnership with industry to deliver that improvement.

But while Government is primarily responsible, so is every New Zealander.

That’s why I won’t accept that the recent Queensland Fruit Fly find here in Auckland was a failure of our biosecurity. It was the surveillance system working.

It is naïve to think that we could possibly develop a system that could 100% guarantee the detection of a single fruit fly egg or single larva within a pallet of hundreds of melons or oranges.

This is exactly why we have a detection system – and it worked exactly as it was meant to.

I move now to my other portfolio area – and the Better Local Government reform programme.

New Zealand’s 78 local authorities are a significant component of the New Zealand economy.

They make up four per cent of GDP, spend $7.5 billion per year of ratepayer money, and manage $120 billion worth of public assets.

The Better Local Government Reform programme will improve the operation of local government in New Zealand. It will focus local authorities on operating more efficiently and effectively by focusing on the things that only they can do.

It will deliver settings that will encourage local authorities to reduce red tape and compliance, minimise rates for households and businesses, control debt, and provide high quality infrastructure at the least possible cost.

Unlike the 1989 Reforms, what this Government is proposing is for communities to have more opportunity to determine the boundaries that will best suit their purposes.

We must drive this from the bottom-up.

We need to:

• firstly – make the process of getting proposals before the Local Government Commission easier;

• secondly – give the Commission the power to modify proposals; and

• thirdly – allow a proposal with widespread community support to proceed without the need for a ratepayer poll.

The reforms also set out the establishment of financial prudence requirements for local authorities.

In line with central government, and in fact every household and business in New Zealand, councils must restrain spending, keep costs down and run as efficiently and effectively as possible.

I note that EDS has put in a submission to the Select Committee concerning the four well beings.

While the Select Committee process is where this matter must now be debated, I view the four well beings – economic, social, environmental and cultural – as being all things to all people.

The proposed wording: "To meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses" is an attempt to focus councils on core functions, while still giving them the ultimate responsibility to decide what activities they can undertake.

I’m not going to tell councils what activities they can and can’t undertake, but I do expect more financial cost/benefit analysis before councils make decisions around some of the less than essential activities.

By getting local government to work in tandem with central government, we can drive better economic performance for New Zealand.

In conclusion, I want to reiterate that New Zealand is highly reliant on the performance of growers and farmers for our continued economic growth.

I hope we are moving at last from the ‘farmers versus environmentalists’ mentality.

I personally don’t know of any farmer who sets out to create environmental damage. And any who do should know the consequences.

Farmers are inherently dependent on the environment and how their access to resources is managed – you simply can’t have one without the other.

We must balance the need for farming businesses to operate successfully with the need for environmental care to drive the New Zealand economy forward.

I encourage us all to continue to work together to achieve this goal.

Thank you.