Good morning - I’ve been asked to talk to you about my role and where I see the dairy industry heading in the future.

As the Associate Minister I’ll be working closely with my colleague David Carter, and in particular on forestry issues which will be a challenge I’m looking forward to.

I’m also the Minister of Immigration, Racing, and Veterans Affairs. Immigration has some important connections with the Dairy industry, which I’ll say a few words about later.

Given my background, I know much hard work Dairying can be. And I especially know just how hard women in Dairying work.

I know that you fill a variety of roles on the farm – everything from Human Resources, accounts, to strategic planning and upskilling your staff.

And of course, the farm is one part of rural life – with family and community the other major, inter-connected responsibilities you have.

Global Opportunities

When it comes to producing dairy products, we know that New Zealand is a world leader. We have one of the most efficient and competitive industries in the world.

Our dairy industry is huge. It’s New Zealand’s biggest export earner accounting for around 30% of our export revenue.

In fact, New Zealand dairy exports account for around a third of all international dairy trade.

We also know that the world’s population is growing, and that the economies of countries like China and India are growing strongly. With this, demand for high quality, safe, pastoral product is growing.

For these reasons, I think our industry has a strong future.

I don’t agree with those who claim that agriculture is a “sunset industry”, on its way out. Critics have been saying that for decades. Meanwhile, commodity demand and prices have been growing while New Zealand farmers have continued to innovate and prosper.

However, with opportunity comes challenges.

• We can’t rest on our laurels. To continue to be a world leader, we must keep aiming higher.
• We need to be innovative, build on our strengths and continue to earn our reputation for safe, high-quality food, produced in a sustainable manner.
• Animal welfare and water quality will continue to be big issues.

The message I want to give you is that the Government is committed to supporting the Dairy industry, and the wider primary industries.

Government supporting the productive economy

This is why we’ve reformed our Crown Research Institutes to ensure they are better connected to business, and deliver practical research.

We’ve also established an Advisory Group on green growth to look at how we can achieve greater economic growth and development while protecting our environment.

And we are prioritising rural broadband, sustainable water storage and irrigation programmes – all of which will give a real boost to the productivity of the primary sector.

In last year’s Budget we announced the $35 million Irrigation Acceleration Fund to help the development of irrigation proposals.

Recently, the Irrigation Acceleration Fund and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council announced a jointly funded $3.3million full feasibility study of the Ruataniwha Water Storage Project.

This proposal could unlock enormous potential in the region, with the amount of irrigable land likely to increase from 6000ha to around 22,000ha.

We also have the Primary Growth Fund, which is providing $70 million in the next financial year to support new, innovative projects.

Just to give you a couple of examples of projects that have come from this. The Balance Agri-Nutrients project will improve the efficiency of nitrogen and phosphate use, and reduce nitrate leaching (or run off) on dairy farms. A range of biological products will be developed that improve nutrient and pest management.

Government-industry funding of $170 million is going towards transforming the Dairy Value Chain, through investment into new people, capability and knowledge.

The aim is to improve efficiency and agricultural information, drive new products, and boost research into food science.

We’re also proud of the tax cuts we brought in for both income and company tax, and RMA and local government reforms.

Quad bike safety

Another important programme is the quad bike safety campaign being run by the Department of Labour.

Around 400 farmers across New Zealand will get a visit from a Health and Safety inspector between now and May to check they are keeping workers safe.

It’s critical for farmers is to make sure workers are competent, have the right training, wear a helmet and never let kids ride an adult bike.

The aim is not to be heavy-handed, but to make our farms safer. An average of 850 people are seriously injured each year and five people killed. This is still too high.

Trade

Trade agreements are another important priority for this Government.

The Free Trade Agreement with China has created a favourable environment for our exporters, as the Chinese market has grown.  China is now our second largest trading partner.

The Prime Minister’s ambition, shared by China’s leaders, is to double bilateral trade to NZ $20 billion by 2015.

Over the past three years, we’ve worked on an ambitious trade agenda, and we’re not taking our foot off the pedal.

We are currently in talks with India and hope to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement.  The Prime Minister’s visit there earlier this year clearly demonstrated that good progress can be made.

As a nation, we rely on trade with the rest of the world to make a living.

On that note, I’d like to say a few words about a couple of other issues in the news that impact on the Dairying industry.

Foreign investment

Carefully managed, I believe both foreign investment and immigration can deliver real benefits for New Zealand.

Overseas investors and migrants can also bring in knowledge, skills and technology, and help develop global networks, leading to improvements in productivity and further economic growth.

Many New Zealand companies would struggle to find the capital needed to expand and grow without overseas investment.

It’s a two-way street. Many New Zealand firms have also looked abroad and purchased farmland to expand their own business activity.

The Government believes that careful, balanced foreign investment has a major role to play in New Zealand’s economic development.

Immigration – Rural workers

The same applies to Immigration – my other big Ministerial portfolio.

My aim as Minister is to boost the contribution the immigration makes to our economy.

It already is big business:

• New migrants contribute around $1.9 billion to our economy each year.
• International students coming here to study are worth $2.3 billion
• And tourism is worth around $9 billion.

Migrant workers also make a real contribution to the agricultural sector, filling the gap where there are not enough suitable workers.

Today we are launching these two great little booklets, a guide to working on a dairy farm, and a guide for employers. These were both produced by Immigration New Zealand, along Federated Farmers, Dairy NZ, Rural Women New Zealand, and input from your organisation.

It contains great advice on dealing with things like:

• Our changeable weather
• Kiwi slang and expressions
• Working with animals
• Employment law
• Keeping safe; and
• Adapting to rural life.

We also have an employer guide, which is a step by step guide to what dairy farmers need to know and do if they are thinking about recruiting migrant workers.

There is also plenty of useful information and checklists in there if farmers are already employing migrant workers.

It explains why settling migrants is good for productivity, and provides tips on how to prepare for migrant workers, what to do when they arrive, how to relate to migrant staff, and where to go for more assistance.

It has been really important for my officials to work alongside the industry and with farmers who have experience in this area.

Well done to everyone who helped put the guides together. I understand that a number of Dairy Women have contributed to the guides including Michelle Wilson, Sarah Speight, Alex Thompson, Val Ellis, Wendy Shaw, and Sharron Davie-Martin.

The reality is that because the dairy industry is such a dominant economic player in New Zealand, it must be a leader and take responsibility.

It is in everyone’s interest that we help new workers settle here, so that they are properly looked after and can be happy and productive.

I know that when it comes to running a dairy business, many of you will here today will be – in effect - the human resource manager, amongst your many other roles.

Copies of these guides are here today, so please take a copy and some for your staff as well.

There are more than 1500 migrant dairy workers in the country, out of a total dairy workforce of around 24,000. Nearly half of these workers came from the Philippines, with Fiji, Chile and South Africa the next most common countries.

This is a good example of how we use immigration to grow the New Zealand economy.

Our first preference is always jobs for New Zealanders, but if there is a gap in the market that is holding us back, we will look to bring suitable people in from overseas.

We’re likely to see more of this in the future as the rebuild of Christchurch starts in earnest. Obviously this will be a busy time for local tradespeople, and there is no doubt that we will need extra help from overseas.

Conclusion

As you can tell – the government has a busy work programme. Obviously there are a lot of other big issues I haven’t even touched on, like welfare reform, the mixed ownership model, and public sector reform.

The one clear theme of all the work we are doing is to grow the economy, and make it work for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

In doing that, we need to support your industry, and help you to be as successful, sustainable and productive as you can be.

When you do well, New Zealand does well.

Thank you.

(Source, Beehive, Nathan Guy)