New Zealand Executive Government Speech Archive

An Address By The
Minister of Agriculture

Dr The Hon Lockwood Smith
Launch of Primary Industry Management Services
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
Wellington
Wednesday 28 May 1996

Chief Executive Denis Hunt; Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to meet with some of the key players in the horticulture industry and, of course, to launch Primary Industry Management Services. The horticulture industry continues to grow in importance to New Zealand, with exports worth nearly one and a half billion dollars in 1995. I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far of your marketing efforts; your focus on quality and product identification.

The new structure of industry groups - of which Primary Industry Management Services is a part - seems eminently sensible. We have organisations focussing on their core functions, but able to contract the skills and services offered by PIMS when required. The existence of PIMS avoids costly duplication of services. That can only benefit the people that fund you - the growers. And because you have no guarantee of business, you have a strong incentive to make sure you continue to offer the services the industry values, as efficiently as possible. Again, that benefits the growers.

The early part of my time as Minister of Agriculture has been taken up dealing with the recent BSE and fruitfly scares. These issues were of immediate and critical importance. The good news is that the fruitfly situation in Mt Roskill is now under control. No fruitfly have been found for nearly two weeks. MAF's excellent work in Mt Roskill means the trade implications have been minimal, with Australia set to reconsider its 80km ban on Monday. Our trading partners know that when fruitfly are found in New Zealand, MAF has the expertise to eradicate them. I also have MAF working flat out on a package of initiatives to improve our border security to minimise the risk of future fruitfly scares. I'm satisfied with progress to date. We've been greatly assisted by the United States Department of Agriculture in examining how we could best use x-ray machines at airports. I hope to be able to take a fully integrated plan to Cabinet as soon as possible.

The BSE and fruitfly issues, while obviously of critical importance, have distracted me from the role I really want to play as Minister of Agriculture. I see myself as an advocate for farmers and growers. More and more, as I travel round the country, I find that farmers and growers know very clearly what needs to be done to improve their incomes and maintain our industry as New Zealand's most important. They know the importance of marketing - extracting more value back to New Zealand. They know the importance of getting market signals back to the farmer or the grower. They know the critical importance of controlling distribution lines as far as possible to the final consumer.

My job as minister is to make sure the establishment listens to the most important people in the industry - the farmers and the growers. I look forward to working with you, as both supporter and critic. I have tremendous confidence in the future of the horticulture industry and I wish Primary Industry Management Services all the best in its role in the sector.

Home || Ministers || Policies || Speeches || Departments