Simon Power: Keeping our agri industry competitive

This week, Mystery Creek plays host to Fieldays, the largest agricultural showcase in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a great opportunity to look at the contribution of the country's rural sector and what the Government is doing to help our primary industries grow.
Farming is the backbone of our economy, which is why the Government is investing in the primary sector and supporting rural families. We know that when our rural communities are doing well, the benefits flow through to our towns and cities and improve living standards for everyone. We're improving freshwater management, supporting research and innovation, and breaking down barriers to growth.
The Fresh Water Package, which was announced as part of Budget 2011, is about making the most of our economic opportunities to provide more jobs and higher incomes, while fulfilling our environmental responsibilities.
There are many places in the world with good average annual rainfall and plenty of sunshine, yet few can match the innovation of New Zealand's agricultural sector. The Government is putting $35 million into the Irrigation Acceleration Fund to help get irrigation projects under way, and we're proposing future investment of up to $400 million of equity in regional irrigation projects.
The Institute of Economic Research suggests these funds could support 340,000 hectares of new irrigation, boosting exports by $1.4 billion a year by 2018, rising to $4 billion a year by 2026.
Improving the quality of fresh water is important to all New Zealanders and that's why we're committing $264 million to help clean up lakes, rivers and aquifers.
The Government is also helping primary industries work smarter by way of the Primary Growth Partnership, a government-industry initiative aimed at boosting growth through science and innovation. Projects are under way across a range of key sectors. In less than two years the partnership has pledged $477 million to primary sector innovation. This is the biggest-ever funding injection in this area, and shows our commitment to boosting productivity.
These initiatives are being supported by moves to break down barriers to growth, such as improving the tax system, cutting red tape, and building better infrastructure.
We've cut the company tax to 28 per cent and implemented across-the-board personal tax cuts. We're making changes to the Resource Management Act to make it easier to do business. And we've committed to investing around $4.5 billion over 10 years for rural infrastructure, to improve connections and services for our rural communities.
Our agriculture industries have the scale, the market share, and the supply chains to be truly competitive on the world stage.