Horticulture New Zealandhas welcomed the country’s new Labour-led coalition government.
Jacinda Ardern was sworn in as New Zealand’s 40th, and youngest, prime minister last week, promising to lead “a government for all New Zealanders.”
While the Labour Party did not win the majority vote in the September election, it was able to align two smaller parties to form a government.
Under Ardern’s administration, Damien O’Connor has been appointed minister of agriculture, biosecurity, food safety and rural communities, along with associate minister of trade and export growth.
Horticulture New Zealandpresident Julian Raine said his industry looked forward to working with Ardern and O’Connor, as it continued to grow its presence on the world stage.
“Horticulture is essential to New Zealand. It is a NZ$5.6bn industry, with exports totalling NZ$3.4bn and New Zealanders being fed with the remaining NZ$2.2bn earned - that is, delivering fresh fruit and vegetables to New Zealanders every day to ensure a healthy diet,” Raine explained.
'The new government has expressed a desire to drive for better outcomes for New Zealanders and we look forward to working with them on delivering jobs and healthy food to contribute to that. We are particularly pleased to see planned investment in regions where horticulture has great capacity for growth.”
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