Rural Vote Debate on Q&A: Substance or Just Platitudes?
It was billed as a chance for all the political parties to woo the rural vote, but question marks hang over just how effective this was.
Under the old regime, Feds were so badly treated they were even left out of a number of consultations affecting the farming sector by the Labour government.
Now it seems everywhere you look in Parliament there is a Feds' influence.
This includes the two new associate ag ministers, Andrew Hoggard and Mark Patterson, as well as MPs primary production select committee deputy chair Miles Anderson, and new MPs Mike Butterick from Wairarapa and Grant McCallum from Northland - all former Fed Farmers office holders.
There are also quite a few parliamentary staffers who were former Feds staff.
Talk about going from the outhouse to the big house.
