It's my personal view that we have a massive under-utilised resource of women around New Zealand and particularly rural New Zealand who really could contribute in a far more meaningful and effective way to the NZ food and fibre sector, domestically and internationally.
Women are integral to alldimensions of inclusive and sustainable development. A key element to New Zealand's Trade for All agenda.
Trade for All recommendations included the need to be able to enable more women and more women-led businesses into the trade sector.
This is also a big part of the strategy which aims to encourage a trade-led recovery from the pandemic.
To quote the 2015 McKinsey Global Insights Study, US$28 trillion will be added to the global GDP in 10 years if women's participation in the paid economy matched that of men's.
That's globally.
And quality education, women's equality and empowerment and also decent work and income growth are three of the seventeen sustainable development goals. At the KPMG breakfast meeting at Fieldays we heard that when it came to identifying priorities for the Agribusiness Agenda, 'female contributors had given top priority to equipping industry leaders with the skills that they need'. Which is a divergence from what the rest of the respondents in the survey said. In the KPMG panel discussion, Lindy Nelson, another great woman leader in our industry, raised a number of great points about how a change in the way of businesses are led will no longer have all the "isms".
The sexism, the racism, and all the other isms, but rather a different approach which women naturally tend to do — around a team approach and collaborative leadership — rather than individual leadership.
So, in other words, going forward, businesses are going to be far more team focused and far more inclusive.
Mel Poulton.
So, what are the challenges for women? What are the biases? Both the unconscious and conscious biases, globally and nationally, and some of these challenges could include access to capital and finance, identifying and capturing trade and investment opportunities, policies that disproportionately and negatively affect women, or those with children. Talking about the pay gap, as well as re-entering work. Paid work.
We need more role models, showing young women that they can lead, work and thrive in the food and fibre trade sector.
In New Zealand there are plenty of women leaders and influencers throughout our food and fibre sector.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and NZTE really want to engage with them and help understand how government agencies can be more inclusive of women in the sector.
• Mel Poulton is New Zealand's Special Agricultural Trade Envoy
Todd Muller
Trade Minister Damien O'Connor hopes to get an agreement in principle in a couple of months.
We were tardy but the real test sits in front of him. The Australian-UK deal is a good one and he now has to at least match or better it.
It's fair to say the agriculture market access offer from the UK surprised on the upside. Australian dairy exports will be completely tariff and quota free in five years, beef and sheep meat, 10 years further on, but with reasonable transitional conditions. In return, Australia were comfortable to concede in areas where our Labour Government baulks — an openness to capital, skills and people.
Todd Muller.
For increased access to UK agricultural markets, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was very happy to welcome less rigorous tests for UK capital, opening up migration settings for UK professionals to live and work in Australia, and expanded visa categories. Our exporters too, want no constraints in exporting their goods and services to the UK, accepting that there will probably be a similar transition period for our agricultural exports. Our employers want access to significant numbers of UK skilled people to help the recovery of their businesses from Covid-19. Our businesses want UK investment and global perspectives to help fund their growth. Our young people want to travel to the UK and ensure those OE years are a part of their lived experience.
Bi-lateral trade deals are a moment in time for governments to showcase how much they value strengthening integration between two peoples and nations. They are litmus tests on how they see the future. Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison, with their respective "I love Australia" and "Global Britain" mantras express a contagious enthusiasm for what is possible. For them connecting their countries with each other and the world is a critical enabler of global success post-Covid and their respective "go get 'em" attitudes are creating a pervasive domestic momentum.
New Zealand, by contrast, is in perpetual hand-wringing and self-flagellation. We are closed off, seemingly without a plan of opening up; closed to migration of any substance and afraid of foreign investment. At the very time our Trade Minister should be promoting our agricultural sectors sustainability credentials with gusto, this Government holds it up to the light, not to celebrate but to find flaws to critique, regulate and tax.
Bringing this "hunker down", defensive attitude is bad for NZ farmers and wider community, and risks diluting the UK/NZ FTA deal.
The urgency, the enthusiasm and the passion for NZ exporters needs to be front of centre — starting now.
Nothing less will be acceptable to the long term interests of this country.
