9 April 2002 Bledisloe Medal Citation – Neil Watson Taylor

Presentation speech

In 1930 Governor-General Lord Bledisloe instituted the annual award of a gold medal for the Lincoln graduate or diploma holder who best justified their training through contributions to New Zealand's land-based industries.

In 1947 Lord Bledisloe presented the medal personally at Lincoln for the first time and spoke of the "great responsibility" that agricultural college graduates have to ensure the development of the land.

He would be well pleased with the contribution of the man we acknowledge here today as the latest recipient of the medal.

Neil Watson Taylor, Master of Agricultural Science, Chief Executive of Meat New Zealand, has discharged most honourably the responsibility which came with his Lincoln education.

While a son of the land – his family farmed in mid-Canterbury – Neil's career has taken shape beyond the farm gate through work in the agricultural sector as a whole, both nationally and internationally.

His forte has been agricultural economics and farm management and his first job after graduating with a B.Agr.Sc. in 1963 was with the Agricultural Economics Research Unit at Lincoln. From there he moved to a lectureship in the Farm Management Department and completed a masters degree in agricultural economics. This was the springboard for all his subsequent contributions to New Zealand, but he is on record as saying that one of the most rewarding times in his life was as a lecturer because he was seeing young people develop and was able to play a small part in that.

Neil's appreciation of the importance of education is seen in his service to this University as a Council member for six years in the 1980s, four of them as Deputy Chairman.

In 1970 Neil was appointed Chief Economist to the New Zealand Meat and Wool Board's Economic Service and eight years later became its Director.

His time with the Economic Service was marked by the rigour he applied to its analytical work and his consistently excellent analyses of what was happening in the sector. Overall he enhanced the already strong standing of the Service in terms of quality and integrity of research and independence of comment.

Other characteristics of his time with the Service are the wide network of connections he established across the industry and his tireless work communicating with farmers about industry trends.

His reputation with the Service led him to be involved in numerous industry committees including the Agricultural Review Committee and Zanetti Committee of 1975 which reported to the Minister of Agriculture on Farm Income Stabilisation.

From the Economic Service Neil was appointed the New Zealand Meat Board's Director of Trade Policy in Europe and he held that position from August 1989 until April 1993 when he became the Board's European Director through until September 1995.

Neil was "our man in Brussels" at a crucial time for New Zealand's sheep meat access to the European Community.

And here, Madam Chancellor, I would make the point about how farming and the development of the land in New Zealand are served not only by those who "till the soil and turn the sod," but by those who contribute in other ways such as through the ability to analyse complex economic issues, the ability to argue cases and advocate positions in international forums, and the ability to negotiate and draw up internationally binding agreements. All this is Neil's metier.

In Europe Neil strongly supported the advocacy of government negotiators for enhanced market access during the Uruguay Round of Gatt negotiations. He did this in two ways – by taking a rigorous analytical approach to developing a strong case for the New Zealand position and secondly by tirelessly meeting with a wide range of interest groups in European countries in order to present New Zealand's position.

Colleagues tell of him travelling extensively throughout Europe, networking and developing relationships in much the same way as he had done back in New Zealand among farmers and agricultural interest groups.

He is able to get alongside people and sell his ideas, says one. He's very diplomatic and never offends people, says another. He is firm but fair.

His integrity is absolute and never more evident than when an agreement is struck, is a third comment. With Neil, sticking not only to the letter of an agreement but also to its spirit is paramount. Indeed he always came down hard on those who failed in this respect but it was a point that won him the respect of the often hard men of Europe with whom he had to negotiate.

Trade agreements require painstaking cultivation. When Neil was sent to Brussels the aim was to get closer to the European Commission and ensure that New Zealand's sheep meat agreement with the European Community was strengthened and enhanced, particularly in regard to access for chilled lamb.

This was achieved and the outcome which gave New Zealand a quota of almost 227,000 tonnes – 70 percent of all sheep meat that Europe imports – without any restriction on chilled lamb within that quota, is probably the most valuable trade access agreement that New Zealand has anywhere in the world. Neil was involved in that work at a senior level for over four years.

Turning now to his current role as Chief Executive of Meat New Zealand. He came into the job in 1997 at a tough moment when central government was espousing little sympathy for the producer board concept. Boards were "fighting for survival". Drawing on his tremendous ability to get on with people, Neil steered the Meat Board through times of dramatic change and he is regarded as having conducted the consequent downsizing of the organisation in a "very humane" way.

His humanity was seen too during Britain's foot and mouth crisis last year when he was regularly on our television screens keeping us informed about the issue. Emblematic of his decency was his continuing counsel that this was not a moment for New Zealand to rush in and profit in mercenary manner from the misfortune of an old trading partner. There was a bigger picture, longer term considerations to take into account, he said.

Madam Chancellor, in all his fields of service to New Zealand – research officer, university lecturer, economist, international trade negotiator, meat industry chief, Neil Watson Taylor has discharged most worthily the "great responsibility" which Lord Bledisloe said devolves on those who have had the privilege of higher education. Accordingly I present him now for the award of Lincoln University's Bledisloe Medal for 2002.