Editorial: Sensible move
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty has announced he is selling his infamous ute for charity.
“The time has come to upgrade,” he said in a tweet this morning.
The red 1997 Mazda B2500 ute was a feature of McAnulty’s 2020 campaign for the Wairarapa parliamentary seat.
The ute became the subject of minor controversy after McAnulty won the Wairarapa seat, with National MP Chris Bishop calling for McAnulty to give it up after the announcement of a Climate Change Emergency in December 2020.
I am selling my ute for charity.
— Kieran McAnulty MP (@Kieran_McAnulty) September 19, 2021
The time has come to upgrade.
437,000kms. It is pretty slow these days. It hasn't had a back door for years.
All proceeds going to the Rural Support Trusts in Wairarapa, Tararua District and Central Hawke's Bay.https://t.co/Gg71Y5C0WY pic.twitter.com/uWQxQRIiY8
The ute became controversial again after the Government announced its Clean Car Discount Scheme – dubbed by many as the ‘ute tax’ – when photos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern driving the ute during the 2020 election campaign resurfaced.
The ute is being sold on Trade Me with an opening bid of $2,000 already placed.
In his tweet, McAnulty said that all proceeds from the sale of the ute will go to Rural Support Trusts in the Wairarapa, Tararua District and Central Hawke’s Bay.
Virtual fencing and herding systems supplier, Halter is welcoming a decision by the Victorian Government to allow farmers in the state to use the technology.
DairyNZ’s latest Econ Tracker update shows most farms will still finish the season in a positive position, although the gap has narrowed compared with early season expectations.
New Zealand’s national lamb crop for the 2025–26 season is estimated at 19.66 million head, a lift of one percent (or 188,000 more lambs) on last season, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) latest Lamb Crop report.
Farmers appear to be cautiously welcoming the Government’s plan to reform local government, according to Ag First chief executive, James Allen.
The Fonterra divestment capital return should provide “a tailwind to GDP growth” next year, according to a new ANZ NZ report, but it’s not “manna from heaven” for the economy.
Fonterra's Eltham site in Taranaki is stepping up its global impact with an upgrade to its processed cheese production lines, boosting capacity to meet growing international demand.

OPINION: Your old mate welcomes the proposed changes to local government but notes it drew responses that ranged from the reasonable…
OPINION: A press release from the oxygen thieves running the hot air symposium on climate change, known as COP30, grabbed your…