Parker praises industry leaders

“Personally I am confident we are already on the path to a transition to a post-fossil-fuel economy, a low emissions economy,” he says.

“The leadership of some of the farm peak bodies is really good and to be applauded.”

Some individuals are “stepping up and leading and it is a hard space for them”.

“Some of them are elected to those positions and not all their members are as progressive in their thinking as they are,” he told an Environmental Defence Society conference on environmental reform last week. 

Although he did not name them last week, he had singled out at an earlier conference Andrew Morrison, chair of Beef + Lamb NZ and Jim van der Poel, chair of DairyNZ. Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings was also leading with some important examples. 

Parker says fresh water is his priority as Minister for the Environment and he is happy to be judged on his performance on that.

“When politicians prioritise things and put themselves out there to be judged on them we cause the ministries and civil society to take note and that in turn helps achieve the outcome,” he says.

“Making those sorts of statements is also a signal to the system that we are serious about fixing this.”

He says he is willing to work with anyone who is willing to share in that duty.

“Again I applaud the emerging leadership that is coming from some parts of the primary sector. I believe we are seeing a real change in the primary sector and a drive to make improvements.”

Parker says that among initiatives to come will be a revision of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management.