Board upheaval at PGW
The board of rural trader PGG Wrightson Limited has agreed to call a special meeting demanded by its largest shareholder.
Māori supoort for HWEN may be a key factor in winning government support for the primary sector-led initiative.
The Māori perspective is obvious when reading the narrative in the report. Traci Houpapa, chair of the Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA), says she supports the recommendations in HWEN. She says, from the very beginning, when the partnership was first proposed, Māori strongly advocated for a Te Ao view, which ties in health and wealth of people as well as the wealth of the land.
"Our preferred stance has always been centred on taiao (the environment)," she told Rural News. "The current profit-driven focus of the primary sector industries carries a significant environmental cost. It is not sustainable and we have pushed for a values-over-value approach."
Houpapa says Māori warrant special consideration, having come to the table with a long tail of deficit.
She says they lost 95% of their land post Treaty and almost 60% of the land they got back is hard hill country, which means that when adverse climatic events occur, Māori farms tend to be disproportionately affected when compared to Pakeha farms.
"It is important to remember that FOMA has vested interests in the performance of all the HWEN signatories," she adds. "As significant levy payers into those industry groups, we expect better performance, participation and better partnership and investment into the Māori climate change adaptation process."
Houpapa says the HWEN report has resulted in a series of valuable wins for Māori farmers, growers and landowners.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
A leading financial and banking advisor says he doubts if most dairy farmers fully understand the dynamics of banking.
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