Labour Caucus Portfolios Reshuffled Ahead of 2026 Election
Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins has announced a reshuffle of the party's caucus portfolios.
Labour’s $50 million commitment to support integrated farm planning will do little for farmers, claims National’s ag spokesperson David Bennett.
He says Labour doesn’t back farmers and today’s announcement will do little to ease burden of meeting regulations.
“Today’s promises around farm environment plans will do little to alleviate the individual farm cost and won’t necessarily mean that there will be a streamlined process for all farmers,” says Bennett.
“Labour can’t be trusted to deliver reasonable and rational rules when farmers know the true intentions of their party."
Bennett says Labour’s changes to winter grazing won’t be of much help to farmers.
“Minster O’Connor has said that consent for winter grazing will no longer be required and will instead come under a new system. Farmers will be wary of what this new system looks like and will be afraid it’s just more of the same from Labour.
“This is just more tinkering, which is occurring because of their own failed processes that didn’t consult with farmers.
“Right now we need our farmers to be positive, investing, creating jobs and getting us through the Covid crisis – Labour doesn’t back them but National does.”
National will be releasing policies for the primary sector tomorrow.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.