Water, water everywhere - Muller comes in out of the rain

True-blue Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule welcomes new National Party leader Todd Muller to the first public election campaign meeting in Hawke's Bay, with farmers at Maraekakaho. Photo / Paul Taylor.

Meteorological climate change wasn't on the agenda at as new National Party leader Todd Muller started his first post-coup visit to Hawke's Bay.

But when it came to political climate change, in particular his own part in it, it was there in spades as arrived on Thursday for the first of two days in the region.

In a way, it marked the end of stage one of the three-month campaign leading to the General Election on September 19.

It was just five months since his first Hawke's Bay experience of the year, a National backbenchers' retreat in January. This time he was back as leader, and, according to Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule, as the future Prime Minister.

He'd also been back three times as party spokesman on agriculture in the midst of the Hawke's Bay drought – today it was amidst possibly the longest spell of rain in the area since October.

His arrival to meet farmers at the Maraekakaho Hall west of Hastings after a drive across the countryside from a party electorate gathering at Off The Track restaurant, in Havelock North, was late, ultimately a consequence of the cancellation of a flight from Wellington and rearrangement of plans to meet the appointments.

Stalwart farmer Peter Grieve dishes some advice to the new National Party leader Todd Muller, out of the rain in the Maraekakaho Hall. Photo / Paul Taylor

It became the quintessential local hall meeting, with about 50 gathering out of the rain.

Muller declined to take the last few steps to the stage, instead choosing to speak like, given his height, a lock or No 8 giving the halftime talk at the rugby – clearly the gathering on the same team.

It was natural that he would talk water, both the absence of it, and its abundance, but when asked afterwards if its use as a "strategic resource" to New Zealand – in the same context of coal in the 1800s and oil in the 1900s – meant the Ruataniwha Dam is back on the agenda.

There would have to be "local conversation" first, he told Hawke's Bay Today, as the issue of water storage started to loom as a contentious issue in yet another election.

With the brass tacks of policy about to start unfolding, he highlighted the roles of farmers and water in New Zealand.

Complementing the sector for its continuation during the Covid-19 crisis, he said: "We must never forget the fact that (we are) one of the best producers of food to the World."

Despite being interrupted by a call for vehicles to be moved, so the school bus could turn around in the car park, he kept water notionally on the agenda in referring to the pandemic, saying: "It feels like we're in the eye of the hurricane."

"We've" come out the other side, he suggested, and affirmed it was now how the country dealt with the recovery. The conversation come September, he reckoned would be about the next three years, not the events of the last few months, and again affirmed the National Party was best equipped to deal with it.

The last National government had the "KPIs" corporately speaking, and it met them, he said, but claimed all the Labour government targets had gone.

Todd Muller reaffirms farmers and water as the keys to New Zealand producing food to the World. Photo / Paul Taylor

He later had a "Meet Todd Muller" public meeting in Havelock North, the same community in which he attended a party back-benchers' retreat, just five months earlier.

The 51-year-old Muller, just five weeks on from the Bay of Plenty MP's May 22 leadership coup that ousted predecessor and neighbouring Tauranga electorate MP Simon Bridges, had Agriculture spokesmanship successor, and Hamilton East MP, David Bennett with him, and was able to establish affinity with the audience through his own role in food production.

He grew up on a kiwifruit orchard, and after studying at Waikato University joined the National Party in 1989, and worked as executive assistant to Prime Minister Jim Bolger from 1994-1997.

He began a corporate career working for kiwifruit company Zespri with roles of Industry Relations manager and general manager of Corporate and Grower Services, which he left to run family company and post-harvest operation Apata.

He joined dairy industry giant Fonterra as Local Government and Regional Relations manager in 2011 and became Group Director of Co-operative Affairs before resigning in 2014 to focus on his first election campaign later that year.

He said the party has "signalled significant infrastructures – not just roads – which we will announce", but water and farmers' ability to best use it, is high on the agenda.

"My view is that water is a critical enabler of that choice," he said.
Todd Muller's visit came as the Government, through Regional Economical Development under-secretary Fletcher Tabuteau speaking just a few kilometres away in Hastings, announced almost $8 million worth of funding for vocational training and job readiness and creating "immediate" jobs in the manufacturing, recycling and horticulture industries.

The Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust receives $5 million to build a hostel near its complex at the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park (now Mitre 10 Park), targeting "positive" social change for young people from Hawke's Bay's more disadvantaged communities, and Hawk Group gets a $2.88 million loan to half-fund manufacturing line at their site in Hastings.

The fitness centre trust will use sports and physical fitness to build self-esteem, develop leadership skills and prepare participants for vocational training and jobs, aiming to help 100 young people a year.

Earlier in the day Tabuteau launched a $20.1 million PGF-financed upgrade of the road from Waipukurau to Porangahau.