"Our" business?
OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.
Provisions to manage Fonterra’s dominant position in New Zealand’s dairy markets will not expire at the end of May.
Parliament has passed a law change so that the efficiency and contestability provisions of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (DIRA) will be retained.
Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor says the Government will now undertake a comprehensive review of the DIRA and consult fully with the dairy sector.
O’Connor says the review will consider key issues facing the dairy industry, including, for example, environmental impact, land use, Fonterra’s obligation to collect milk, and how to achieve the best outcomes for farmers, consumers and the New Zealand economy.
Details on timing, delivery and definitive scope will be considered by Cabinet in the coming weeks.
“It was not in the interest of farmers, dairy processors, consumers, or the wider New Zealand economy to let these key DIRA provisions expire in the South Island and tinkering with the Act would not answer some of the bigger questions facing the industry.
“By rolling over the Act and committing ourselves to a wide-ranging review we are taking a considered and strategic approach to the changing needs of the dairy industry.’’
A report from the Commerce Commission, published in 2016, found that competition was not yet sufficient to warrant the removal of the DIRA provisions. This Government is satisfied that it is appropriate to retain the existing provisions while the review is conducted.
“Officials are currently working on the terms of reference for the review, and I intend to share these with the New Zealand public and the dairy industry in the first half of this year,” says O’Connor.
The DIRA was passed in 2001 to manage Fonterra’s dominant position in dairy markets, until sufficient competition emerged. Its automatic expiry provisions were triggered in 2015, when other dairy processors collected more than 20% of milksolids in the South Island.
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…
OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…