August 26, 2024 • 6 mins
We find the Minister of Trade and Agriculture playing host today – for the CE of the OECD, find out how the second half of his trip to India went, and what’s on his bragging list of things going well.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McLay joins us now in
the country. Good afternoon, Hey Rowena, how are you very well?
Thank you. Now you've got a bit of an exciting
day today because you've got the CE of the OE
c D. All the letters are with you today.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
So the OECD is a big important organization for New
Zealand based in Paris. It's a large group of similar
like money countries, many of them larger economies, and it
focuses on a range of things from economies to bringing
down barriers, to enhancing trade, to taxation and so on.
(00:36):
For us and for me as Minutes of Agriculture and Trade,
it's a really good way to make sure that the
work they're doing is drawing attention to the harm that
subsidies do to production around the world.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
So European Union is still big subsidizers of their agriculture
and they dig into that and they come up with
the reports that allows us to keep pushing the EU
and others to you know, subsidize less and bring down
sort of barriers.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Q exporters can do a bet of there. So I've
got a cross party group.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Damian oc Connon's coming along others from some other party
coming to meet them, so that we can put New
Zealand's best foot forward, to say, keep telling the rest
of the world to be more like New Zealand farmers.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Now, last time Jamie McKay caught up with you, you
were in Delhi. You were in India, your third visit,
in your fifth meeting over there nine months. How did
the rest of the trip go?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, it was really fascinating.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
So Christopher Luxan Prime Minister, has done.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Our relationship with India will be a strategic priority for
New Zealand in an agriculture.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And trade space.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I'm helping along with Winston Peters sort of lead that
lead that big push.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
In Delhi.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
You met with a lot of ministers there, ag minister,
the dairy minister, forestry minister, many of them.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And then of course I had a meeting with their
trade minister.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
That was my fifth with him, where we're talking about
ways to you heart's trade in both directions. But then
on the final day I went up to Gujarat, which
is a very big farming and dairy area and visited
some derry farms and milk processes and it was fascinating.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Number one, just how different it is to New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know, people have three or four or five cows
that milk them and take the milk along to be
measured and then they sort of get paid for it.
But what I really did see is big opportunities for
us to cooperate and work together, not only in you know,
ad tech and you know, looking at how we can
help them, you know, improve productivity and farming, but also
(02:28):
from the processing point of view, where there are some
opportunities for New Zealand exporters to cooperate and supply high
quality product that goes into the mix over there. So
you know, we're investing a lot in the relationship because
it's a very important one to us. But we are
starting to talk more about trade and I had a
really good chance with the Goyal, their Minister of Commerce
(02:49):
and Trade, to talk a lot about the sheep meat
and the difference between the way they are treating Australian
meat going and compared to New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Meat, and that we should have a level playing field
in that.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So, you know, early days still, but you know there's
been a lot of contact than just nine months, but
in fact more contact from the current government of the
last nine months than probably the last six years that
Labor was in power. And we're doing that because there's
one point four billion consumers in India who have interest
in the things we produce in New Zealand. We've just
got to keep investing in then get a bit of
trade architecture sort of out.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And I know I've spoken about this with you in
person when I was in seeing a conference and you
were one of the guest speakers. But it was great
to hear her Excellency Nita Boushan mentioned how a lot
of the Indian parliaments have got New Zealand wool carpet.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yes, the Indian Parliament has here. So that's that you
didn't High Commissioner to New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And I found that out actually just on a visit
their trademan as have said to me, our parliament has
wool carpets from New Zealand and they look around the
world as the type of carpet they want and they
selected New Zealand And so that's a really good thing.
Just tells you that there's a lot of opportunity there.
The final thing that's I think is important Rowena is
it's not just one way.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
It's not just us going up there, because.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Of course we had a big delegation of officials from
the Commence Ministry came down at my invitation to talk
to us about, you know, getting rid of some of
these barriers to trade. But of course we've also had
the Indian President visit New Zealand and it's the second
time in the history of our relationship that an Indian
president has come here, and I think that just demonstrates
(04:20):
that both sides are taking the relationship seriously. There's a
lot more work to do. Prime Minister Luxe and Wall
visit also, but we're pulling at all the stops to
make sure we can build that relationship so that Kiwi
exports and particularly are farmers get a fair deal in
the large, important Indian market.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And just finally, Todd, you've highlighted recently twenty things on
how to sort the rural economy that National has actually
acted on.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, that's right really, and so it was on your
show a few weeks ago that Prime Minister luxein said,
you know, a Kiwi farmers are doing there, but they're
contributing to rebuild the economy.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And in that we had a look at the work
that we're doing.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
A lot more needs to be done. You know.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
We know that over the six years of labor they
put in place twenty new rules and regulations and laws
that added cost and complexity to farmers. You know, we
want to get well and can out of farming. We
trust farmers to meet their obligations, want to work with them,
so we look through it and since the government's formed
nine months ago, there are twenty things that we have
done to rebuild the rural economy and make it easier
(05:24):
farmers to meet their obligations. From dispanding Hywoker Canoa and
removing agriculture from the ets, you know, restoring these common
sense rules around an intensive winter grazing sock exclusion, down
to starting the process to replace a national policy statements
for fresh water, you know, introducing pragmatic rules for on
(05:46):
farm water storage and sorting out our farm plans so
that they're not costly and expense. It's a really long
list of things, the stuff that the coalition government parties
committed to before the election, and it's really just saying
to New Zealand, we're working with you to find better
solutions to these challenges we're not interested in just putting
cost on you. Every single one of them, including the
(06:08):
inquiry into rural banking, is focused on, you know, improving
returns at the farm gate and getting costs down on
farmers so they can be productive, they can make more
from the products that they're innovating and producing, and that
they can continue to do what they do so well.
Just help rebuild the New Zealand economy. But within that
it's about the farmers and the hard work that men
(06:29):
and women in rural New Zealand are doing. There's a
lot more to do together yet before we can turn
the corner and say we've undone some of the harm
and damage that we've done over the six years of
labor and you know that the rural economy is as
strong as it can be.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Thank you for not going into all twenty as well,
or it would have turned into a bit of a
National Party broadcast. We're trying to keep things neutral here,
but really do appreciate your time, Minister of Trade and Agriculture,
Todd McLay go, Well, it's a pleasure to see you
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McLay joins us now in
the country. Good afternoon, Hey Rowena, how are you very well?
Thank you. Now you've got a bit of an exciting
day today because you've got the CE of the OE
c D. All the letters are with you today.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
So the OECD is a big important organization for New
Zealand based in Paris. It's a large group of similar
like money countries, many of them larger economies, and it
focuses on a range of things from economies to bringing
down barriers, to enhancing trade, to taxation and so on.
(00:36):
For us and for me as Minutes of Agriculture and Trade,
it's a really good way to make sure that the
work they're doing is drawing attention to the harm that
subsidies do to production around the world.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
So European Union is still big subsidizers of their agriculture
and they dig into that and they come up with
the reports that allows us to keep pushing the EU
and others to you know, subsidize less and bring down
sort of barriers.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Q exporters can do a bet of there. So I've
got a cross party group.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Damian oc Connon's coming along others from some other party
coming to meet them, so that we can put New
Zealand's best foot forward, to say, keep telling the rest
of the world to be more like New Zealand farmers.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Now, last time Jamie McKay caught up with you, you
were in Delhi. You were in India, your third visit,
in your fifth meeting over there nine months. How did
the rest of the trip go?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, it was really fascinating.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
So Christopher Luxan Prime Minister, has done.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Our relationship with India will be a strategic priority for
New Zealand in an agriculture.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And trade space.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I'm helping along with Winston Peters sort of lead that
lead that big push.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
In Delhi.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
You met with a lot of ministers there, ag minister,
the dairy minister, forestry minister, many of them.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And then of course I had a meeting with their
trade minister.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
That was my fifth with him, where we're talking about
ways to you heart's trade in both directions. But then
on the final day I went up to Gujarat, which
is a very big farming and dairy area and visited
some derry farms and milk processes and it was fascinating.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Number one, just how different it is to New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know, people have three or four or five cows
that milk them and take the milk along to be
measured and then they sort of get paid for it.
But what I really did see is big opportunities for
us to cooperate and work together, not only in you know,
ad tech and you know, looking at how we can
help them, you know, improve productivity and farming, but also
(02:28):
from the processing point of view, where there are some
opportunities for New Zealand exporters to cooperate and supply high
quality product that goes into the mix over there. So
you know, we're investing a lot in the relationship because
it's a very important one to us. But we are
starting to talk more about trade and I had a
really good chance with the Goyal, their Minister of Commerce
(02:49):
and Trade, to talk a lot about the sheep meat
and the difference between the way they are treating Australian
meat going and compared to New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Meat, and that we should have a level playing field
in that.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So, you know, early days still, but you know there's
been a lot of contact than just nine months, but
in fact more contact from the current government of the
last nine months than probably the last six years that
Labor was in power. And we're doing that because there's
one point four billion consumers in India who have interest
in the things we produce in New Zealand. We've just
got to keep investing in then get a bit of
trade architecture sort of out.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And I know I've spoken about this with you in
person when I was in seeing a conference and you
were one of the guest speakers. But it was great
to hear her Excellency Nita Boushan mentioned how a lot
of the Indian parliaments have got New Zealand wool carpet.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yes, the Indian Parliament has here. So that's that you
didn't High Commissioner to New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And I found that out actually just on a visit
their trademan as have said to me, our parliament has
wool carpets from New Zealand and they look around the
world as the type of carpet they want and they
selected New Zealand And so that's a really good thing.
Just tells you that there's a lot of opportunity there.
The final thing that's I think is important Rowena is
it's not just one way.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
It's not just us going up there, because.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Of course we had a big delegation of officials from
the Commence Ministry came down at my invitation to talk
to us about, you know, getting rid of some of
these barriers to trade. But of course we've also had
the Indian President visit New Zealand and it's the second
time in the history of our relationship that an Indian
president has come here, and I think that just demonstrates
(04:20):
that both sides are taking the relationship seriously. There's a
lot more work to do. Prime Minister Luxe and Wall
visit also, but we're pulling at all the stops to
make sure we can build that relationship so that Kiwi
exports and particularly are farmers get a fair deal in
the large, important Indian market.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And just finally, Todd, you've highlighted recently twenty things on
how to sort the rural economy that National has actually
acted on.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, that's right really, and so it was on your
show a few weeks ago that Prime Minister luxein said,
you know, a Kiwi farmers are doing there, but they're
contributing to rebuild the economy.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And in that we had a look at the work
that we're doing.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
A lot more needs to be done. You know.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
We know that over the six years of labor they
put in place twenty new rules and regulations and laws
that added cost and complexity to farmers. You know, we
want to get well and can out of farming. We
trust farmers to meet their obligations, want to work with them,
so we look through it and since the government's formed
nine months ago, there are twenty things that we have
done to rebuild the rural economy and make it easier
(05:24):
farmers to meet their obligations. From dispanding Hywoker Canoa and
removing agriculture from the ets, you know, restoring these common
sense rules around an intensive winter grazing sock exclusion, down
to starting the process to replace a national policy statements
for fresh water, you know, introducing pragmatic rules for on
(05:46):
farm water storage and sorting out our farm plans so
that they're not costly and expense. It's a really long
list of things, the stuff that the coalition government parties
committed to before the election, and it's really just saying
to New Zealand, we're working with you to find better
solutions to these challenges we're not interested in just putting
cost on you. Every single one of them, including the
(06:08):
inquiry into rural banking, is focused on, you know, improving
returns at the farm gate and getting costs down on
farmers so they can be productive, they can make more
from the products that they're innovating and producing, and that
they can continue to do what they do so well.
Just help rebuild the New Zealand economy. But within that
it's about the farmers and the hard work that men
(06:29):
and women in rural New Zealand are doing. There's a
lot more to do together yet before we can turn
the corner and say we've undone some of the harm
and damage that we've done over the six years of
labor and you know that the rural economy is as
strong as it can be.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Thank you for not going into all twenty as well,
or it would have turned into a bit of a
National Party broadcast. We're trying to keep things neutral here,
but really do appreciate your time, Minister of Trade and Agriculture,
Todd McLay go, Well, it's a pleasure to see you
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