Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
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.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.