increase font size
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash.
ACT MP Mark Cameron is calling on Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash to apologise for comments made about Groundswell members.
During Question Time today, Nash said “I’m not too sure what Groundswell stands for these days… It’s a mixture of racism, anti-vaxxers, etc., etc.”
Nash told Parliament that the Government has met with farming leaders and engaged with rural communities when it has been appropriate.
Cameron says Nash showed contempt for rural New Zealand with his comments.
“Never has a politician looked down on the people paying the bills like this, stereotyping farmers the way Labour judges others for doing.
“Groundswell represents tens of thousands of everyday Kiwis concerned about the avalanche of red tape being imposed on farmers.”
Cameron says ACT has been advocating for Government to meet with Groundswell over concerns regarding freshwater regulations, the Zero Carbon Act, Significant Natural Areas, the Climate Change Commission’s report, and other initiatives and issues.
“Rural communities deserve better than name-calling from Labour MPs. Jacinda Ardern promised to govern for all New Zealanders. This was supposed to be a kind government. If Ardern wants to be taken seriously, she’ll tell Nash to apologise.”
OPINION: Many sheep and beef farmers will be worse off under the new environment legislation than they were under the Resource Management Act (RMA), claims Beef+Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) in an email to levy payers.
A drop in methane targets announced by the Government this month has pleased farmers but there are concerns that without cross-party support, the targets would change once a Labour-led Government is voted into office.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: This old mutt is loath to sound like Groundswell has been topping up his bowl with brisket off-cuts, but the ginger group makes a good point about the arguments raised in favour of toeing the Paris Agreement line.
The ACT Party's call for a better deal on the Paris Agreement on climate change is being backed by farmer organisations.
Safer Farms has welcomed its first three regional champions that will be taking the Farm Without Harm message directly into their rural communities.
Farm software outfit Trev has released new integrations with LIC, giving farmers a more connected view of animal performance across the season and turning routine data capture into actionable farm intelligence.
Crafting a successful family succession plan is a notoriously hard act to pull off.
Farmers need not worry about fertiliser supply this autumn but the prices they pay will depend on how the Middle East conflict plays out.
American butter undercutting New Zealand's own product on New Zealand supermarket shelves appears to be a case of markets working as they should, says Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
Tech savvy Huntly farmer Rhys Darby believes technology could help solve one of the dairy industry's pressing problems - how to attract more young people into farming.
