Editorial: War's over
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
LABOUR WANTS to increase our agricultural exports in quantity and quality.
Its agriculture spokesman Damien O'Connor also wants to keep our rural communities vibrant by keeping ownership of farmland in Kiwi hands and stop offshore speculators locking Kiwis out of the market.
To achieve this, Labour will reform monetary and overseas investment policy, boost research and development, and introduce a tax to discourage speculation on farmland prices, he says.
He points out the New Zealand dollar is one of the world's ten most traded currencies.
"Our currency surges and plunges on the whims of international speculators and our exporters suffer. When our exchange rate surges, it undermines the competitiveness of our products. When it falls, the price of inputs like fuel soars.
"Labour will adopt the successful Australian model, which recognises that employment, economic prosperity, and the health of the export sector are at least as important as inflation control. We will give the Reserve Bank more sophisticated tools to counter inflation than simply jacking up interest rates. This will mean lower interest rates and a more competitive dollar.
"We will ensure exporters are represented on the Reserve Bank Board. Labour believes better outcomes will be achieved if there are a number of board members with exporting backgrounds."
On overseas investment, O'Connor warns we risk losing ownership of our farmland and infrastructure by allowing New Zealanders to be outbid by foreign buyers.
"We cannot let our farming communities become tenants on their land. Sales of farmland to offshore buyers will be declined unless they invest in significant further processing of related primary products and related jobs."
On R&D, Labour will push agricultural innovation into the next gear by introducing tax credits for research and development. These will encourage more research leading to higher value, more sustainable exports.
"We expect that innovative agricultural companies like Fonterra will be major beneficiaries of these tax credits," he says.
Over the last decade, there was a bubble in farm prices as well as house prices. Cheap credit enabled corporate and foreign buyers to force up prices and speculate on capital gain, O'Connor points out
"To get into the market, farmers have had to take on high levels of debt.
The dairy industry, for example, now spends 18% of its income servicing its debts, O'Connor says.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
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