Editorial: Elusive India FTA
OPINION: Without doubt, a priority of the Government this year will be to gain traction on the elusive free trade deal with India.
He'll be getting there quickly so he can meet with his counterpart and get the conversation going again. McClay says NZ is going to invest heavily in the Indian relationship and claims the effort put into developing the Indian relationship over the past six years has been underwhelming and underdone.
"I want to get up there and tell them we see them as partners," he told Rural News.
"Then I want to get up to the Middle East, the UAE and GCC - the Gulf Cooperation Councl which brings together six Arab countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates."
Another area of focus for McClay is immigration settings, which many primary sector groups are deeply unhappy about. This includes the slowness of processing visa applications and some of the actual rules as to how many and who is allowed into NZ to fill important roles at the right time. He says Immigration Minister, Erica Stanford, will be on to this task.
Also of concern to the wider rural sector is the state of NZ's infrastructure - in particular roads. McClay syas there has been a lack of investment in roading over the past six years.
He says good infrastructure increases productivity and leads to profitable businesses. He says good infrastructure also means getting goods to market faster and more efficiently.
"Me and my colleagues will be looking closely at this area. We want to be judged on the number of roads built, not the number of announcements made," he says.
Who Else Is Involved In The Ag Sector?
There are now more farmers in the National-led coalition.
This will see a number of other people - in and outside cabinet - who will be working closely alongside Todd McClay.
Penny Simmonds, who is the new Minister for the Environment and also Tertiary Education, will have a significant impact on the ag sector. Also, Erica Stanford as Immigration Minister, Chris Bishop with Infrastructure, and Dr Shane Reti as Minister of Health and probably Simeon Brown with the Local Government portfolio.
Meanwhile, Nicola Grigg is Associate Minister of Agriculture with special responsibility for Horticulture and Minister of State for Trade.
First term ACT MP Andrew Hoggard is an Associate Minister for Agriculture with responsibility for biosecurity, food safety, animal welfare, skills and is also associate Minister for the Environment. Mark Patterson from NZ First has also scored an Associate Ag role - namely for Rural Communities.
