Labour MP for Rangitata Jo Luxton, who spent part of the last parliamentary term as the committee’s deputy chair, says some of that trust has been lost and she wants to help build it back up again.
Luxton says she made a conscious effort during her first three years in parliament to build a relationship with the sector in Mid-Canterbury, including visiting local farmers and attending Federated Farmers meetings when possible.
Having shifted to the Ashburton area from Bay of Plenty in 1996 when working in the dairy industry, she is more familiar with the dairy sector than she is with sheep and beef and cropping, but is planning to change that.
Joining Luxton on the committee are fellow Labour MPs Steph Lewis (Whanganui) and Anna Lorck (Tukituki), National’s David Bennett (list) and Ian McKelvie (Rangitikei) and Act’s Mark Cameron (list).
At this stage, the committee members have not sat down to look at what business from the previous committee they want to continue with.
She says they will probably wait until Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor settles on his agenda first.
Luxton is pleased to be back on the Primary Production select committee.
After being its deputy chair for the first nine months of last term she was moved to the same role on the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee for about a year and then took on the same role on the Regulations Review select committee for a similar amount of time.
She says when she was last on the committee there was a real camaraderie among its members, more so than some other committees.
“I missed it (Primary Production). It was one I really enjoyed,” Luxton said.
She was very happy when rung by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after the last election and offered the committee’s chair, as it is a good fit for her not only personally because of her previous experience but also because of where she lives in the Rangitata electorate, which contains significant rural areas.
If her own polling at the last election is anything to go by, Luxton may be in a good place to bridge any gap between the Government and rural communities.
From being more than 6000 votes behind National’s Andrew Falloon at the 2017 election, Luxton was more than 4000 ahead of National candidate Megan Hands at last year’s election, the first time a Labour candidate had won the seat.
She says her first term, as a list MP, was invaluable in terms of fact finding, learning the routines of parliament and the parliamentary cycle.
“Nothing can prepare you for being an MP. It can be exciting, challenging and scary,” she said.
“It’s also a privilege.
“I’m far more confident now than what I was.
“This term is a good opportunity to cement some of the relationships I’ve made.”
Luxton is also a member of the Education and Workforce select committee, both areas of interest for the primary sector.
