Farmers keen for details

Firstly, they focused on the Government's environmental regulations that has a direct, and they fear detrimental, effect on their farming operations.

"At any time, iwi can issue a statement and change their minds," claimed immediate past-president of Auckland Federated Farmers, Wendy Clark.

Meanwhile, former dairy chair Craig Maxwell wanted to know if National would be getting rid of those statements, concerned at the change from councils needing to take account of the Treaty of Waitangi when it came to consented activities to give effect to it.

Local MP, Andrew Bayly says National will be rewriting the legislation if elected.

"There's a lot to be undone before we even start talking about how to grow the economy."

He added, as a general principle, National wouldn't accept co-governance but says Māori had a role to play.

Bayly had invited local farmers to hear National's Agriculture spokesman Todd McClay speak but he was busy announcing the party's agriculture policies.

So, Nicola Grigg, associate agriculture spokesperson as well as spokesperson for animal welfare, biosecurity and food safety as well as horticulture spokesperson, and associate science, research and technology spokesperson, Sam Uffindel, came to talk to around 30 farmers.

Grigg claims that under new Resource Management Act (RMA) rules, many farmers wouldn't be able to farm.

"It's like Three Waters with so many layers of bureaucracy," she explained. "There's unbelievable stress and complication it's going to bring."

Grigg added that there were 20 different pieces of regulatory change under environmental law reform with which farmers were dealing.

"That's why you feel a tidal wave is coming at you," she said. "There's no use in a grey-face bureaucrat in Wellington thumping away at a keyboard making rules for you."

Grigg added that despite an extra 14,000 civil servants being employed under the Labour Government, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) delivery had "declined significantly". She believes part of the solution was for its employees to spend one week every year on-farm.

She says she lay awake at night worrying about foot and mouth disease coming into the country, with 1,000 travelers a week arriving from Bali since flights started again early in April.

"We've got to be stricter."

Grigg is also nervous about port security.

"Agriculture is what pays our way in the world," Uffindel told the gathering.

He believes there is an ability to drive a significant increase in value in exports "if we do things more efficiently". He claims farmers are being increasingly hit by wage demands and rules created by bureaucrats who'd "never set foot on a farm", wasting farmers' time.

Farmers at the meeting also expressed frustration about what the saw as inefficient and time-wasting reporting systems. Maxwell says he'd spent two hours re-entering the same information for his fertiliser company as was already held by Auckland Council.

Auckland Federated Farmers' president, Alan Cole, says with Significant Natural Areas (SNA), councils had already has a lot of the mapping work which was now being carried out again.