Oz is better
OPINION: News that the Labour Government is spending taxpayer money to advertise to New Zealanders living in Australia that life is better there now they can get citizenship is appalling.
National's agenda for Fonterra should be seriously questioned after it refused to support a move by Labour to protect farmers, says Labour's spokesperson for Primary Industries Damien O'Connor.
His comments follow the passage of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment (DIRA) Bill which passed its committee stage in Parliament last night without the support of the Labour Party.
"National refused to support a Labour amendment to the bill that would have put in place a legislative limit of 23% on the investment fund size under the Trading Among Farmers (TAF) proposals," O'Connor says
"Fonterra proposed a 23% legislative cap on the fund so that Labour might support the bill, prior to the vote on TAF.
"Labour has negotiated the 23% limit with Fonterra over the last two months and the National Government was fully aware of Fonterra's proposal in order to guarantee Labour's support for the legislation," O'Connor says.
"This legislative cap gives reassurance to farmers and provides flexibility for Fonterra in circumstances where the fund size might go beyond the 20% that they have proposed as a maximum fund size.
"The National Government voted this proposal down, which unfortunately leads to the conclusion that they want to remove all legislative protection for farmer shareholders, our single biggest New Zealand-owned company.
"Fonterra themselves have said the fund size is critical, and Labour believes a limit is needed to protect the company from the influence of outside investors who want a greater share of the most successful international dairy cooperative.
"The problem now for the Fonterra Shareholders' Council is that the 20% limit, as proposed by Fonterra, will not be in place prior to the issuing of unit securities later this year," O'Connor says.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
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