Penned by a Dr Bruce Curtis, “formerly” a sociology professor at Waikato University, the title ‘Corporate Welfare for Agribusiness’ telegraphed which way he was going to screw the scrum.
Using the KPMG ag report as a springboard, Doc Curtis unleashed every cliché in the book: farmers making a profit was “farming privilege”; and the removal of impractical red tape was “regulatory capture in action”. And the Hound’s favourite sneer, “agribusiness is very focused on its bottom line”.
That’s right doc, farming is a business!
And it’s described as “the backbone of the economy” because that’s exactly what it is.