Tuesday, 25 April 2023 09:55

Nothing new - O'Connor

Written by Peter Burke

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Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says National's agriculture policy will take the country backwards, not forwards.

He says the changes being proposed around environmental issues will put NZ's export growth at risk. "NZ relies on its sustainability credentials for its exports and this policy puts that in jeopardy," he says.

O'Connor says many of the policies in the document are not new but have simply been rolled into a document. He adds that the reason central government has taken a lead in setting national environmental standards was to remove any ambiguity and inconsistency at a local level.

The ACT Party's spokesperson on Primary Industries, Mark Cameron, gave the National policy a 6 out of 10 rating. He claims it says the right things but has too much compromise and a glaring omission of policy on He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) and protecting property rights from Significant Natural Areas (SNAs).

"ACT has the policy that will bring about real change for farmers. They can't just water down Labour and the Greens' anti-farming policies. They need to be scrapped entirely," he says.

Cameron says doubling the RSE cap is nice, but ACT believes the sensible policy change would be to remove the cap on the number of RSEs completely, like Australia's scheme.

"It's good they have adopted ACT's position on live animal exports. It is a $500m industry that the country needs, and I have a Member's Bill ready to go," he says.

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Dreams aren't plans

OPINION: Milking It reckons if you're National, looking at recent polls, the dream scenario is that the elusive economic recovery finally roars to life.

If voters see some growth and wages rising faster than prices, the government could say they've "fixed" things as they ride into the next election.

Back here on Earth though, the economy they inherited is a basket case, and the long-term headwinds are fierce.

Political commentator Liam Hehir says, "dreams are not plans" and if the turnaround doesn't come in time, National may have no choice but to go negative.

"Everybody wants to fight on the economy if they can. But when neither side has a compelling story, the contest shifts to other issues. That's not new. In fact, it's the stuff of politics everywhere, always."