WEBVTT

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[bright upbeat music]

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- New Zealand is a modern thriving country

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known for its spectacular landscape.

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Much of that landscape is covered
with farm animals.

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[sheep bleating]

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- So on this farm there's just under 4,000 ewes

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and just under 400 cows running on it.

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The animals are outside all the time.

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It's free range, it's open, it's healthy.

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- Agriculture doesn't just have a long history

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here in New Zealand.

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Today, it's a thriving primary industry.

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In recent decades
this country has had its share

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of hard times.

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Many lost their livelihood.

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The people, animals, the land
and waterways all suffered.

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[dramatic music]

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- And it ruined some lives

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and there was some real pain out there.

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There was some real pain and some real hurt

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and some real anger.

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Yeah, I had some good personal friends

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lose everything they had through those times

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and it was bloody hard.

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- The country was in crisis

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and it was clear that something
drastic had to be done.

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New Zealanders, affectionately called Kiwis,

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took the painful steps required
to stop the downward spiral

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and bold reforms were voted in.

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When you stand here on this land,

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you cannot help but marvel at the natural beauty.

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It's truly astonishing.

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It's hard to imagine that 30 years ago

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New Zealand was on the brink
of economic downfall.

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[dramatic music]

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- I'm Johan Norberg and I'm here
in this beautiful land

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to share the story about how the Kiwis

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took the bull by the horns, reformed their country

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and became genuine trailblazers for the world.

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[gentle music]

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- New Zealand is a former British colony

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and the UK became their biggest trade partner.

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By the 1950s, people here enjoyed

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some of the highest incomes in the world.

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New Zealand was a key agricultural provider

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for the British empire, and the UK was by far

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New Zealand's main market.

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[upbeat guitar music]

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The Cashmore ranch lies on the
north island of New Zealand.

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Bill Cashmore's family has
worked this land for generations.

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- Yes, so this property is
just under the 5,000 acres.

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Our income's around 40% from sheep,

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15% from wool and the rest from cattle.

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I've got two boys.

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Robert is managing the home farm operation here.

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- New Zealand is an island of immigrants

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where impoverished laborers took great risks

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in the hopes of a better life.

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Like many, Bill Cashmore's family

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made the long journey from England with a dream

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of owning land and new opportunities.

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- So William Cashmore was the first member of our family

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to come here.

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The man was my great-grandfather.

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So he rode in here as a young man,
no road, no nothing.

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They felled and milled timber
to grow a new nation

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and then they started grazing stock.

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They just got bigger and bigger.

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[gentle music]

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- Bill grew up working the farm

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and in his late twenties met his wife-to-be.

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- I didn't come from a farming background.

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I came from a farming town.

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I've been here 34 years and yeah...

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- Can't get her to leave.

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[all laugh]

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- I like it.

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- When Bill and his wife took over the farm,

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New Zealand's primary trading partner

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was still the United Kingdom.

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- So we used to sell everything to the UK
back in the day,

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you know, my father and grandfather say

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everything went to England.

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- But in the 1970s this all changed

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when the UK became part of the
European Economic Community.

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This meant that overnight New Zealand lost

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their favored trading status with England.

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In response, the New Zealand government

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tried to stabilize the economy
with subsidies for farmers.

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- But what we did have was guaranteed prices

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we'd receive for things by the government.

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And it got to the point that
a third or more of our income

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was being supplied from central government.

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So let me tell you about what I call

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the "skinny sheep policy",
where farmers were given

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a dollar a sheep I think it
was for me, or

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50 cents or something and it was nuts.

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Because the more you ran,
the more money you got paid

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to do so, but it didn't mean

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that the quality you were producing was any better,

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or was it good for the environment

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having... overstocking on marginal land?

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No, it wasn't.

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- By the early 1980s,
it was clear to most farmers

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that the subsidy program wasn't working

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in their best interests.

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In 1984, a new government was elected

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that dramatically reformed the economy of the country.

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Virtually overnight, all subsidies were removed.

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The farmers supported this,

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but only if trade restrictions were removed

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at the same time.

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This way the cost of farm equipment would drop

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and farmers would have access
to world markets as well.

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- All subsidies for agriculture were removed.

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So our income dropped 30% overnight, bang.

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- Changes for New Zealand farmers happened fast

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and hit hard.

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Interest rates increased, property values dropped,

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subsidies were eliminated cold turkey.

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These were necessary changes,

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but that didn't make it any easier
for farmers like Bill.

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- It was happening so fast

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that you could hardly get used to one

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before the next one was rolled out at you.

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Those were bloody tough days.

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You were lean, mean, but determined.

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- For most, the decision was clear.

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Adapt to the new economic reality
or lose the farm.

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- And then things started to improve.

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[upbeat music]

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So I've done a combination of things.

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We've used smart genetics,

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we've used better management practices.

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The same number of ewes, same number of cows,

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but they're producing 30 to 50% more.

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- Across New Zealand

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farmers who managed to hang on to their land

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were able to compete in the international market

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as never before.

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- Well, we didn't have a choice.

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New Zealand is a little wee country

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at the bottom of the world
and we have to compete

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by selling beef to the United States,

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lamb to Britain and Europe and
China, and wool everywhere,

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and fruit and vegetables
and everything else we do,

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we've got to ship it there
and still sell it cheaper

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than what you can do it.

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So we have to compete.

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There's no way I'd ever go back

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to anything that's got government involvement in it.

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That's one thing I've learned

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is that individuals, given the right incentives

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and the right signals from the politicians, will deliver.

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So let people make their own individual choices.

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Let them work hard, make their sacrifices

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to achieve the things they want for themselves,

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for their family and for their communities

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and that's what delivers.

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You try and spread the benefits out everywhere,

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you get a very thin smear that doesn't achieve much.

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Agriculture and farming and working and business

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is in our blood in this family,
it's in our genes

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and long may it continue.

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[gentle music]