Is the Coalition Government Really Backing Farmers?

This will come as a surprise to farmers, who are under the impression the coalition Government is backing farmers, and committed to reducing government interference and red tape. So, what is going on?

B+LNZ’s email explains that sheep and beef farmers will be forced into a mandatory freshwater farm plan regime facing significantly higher administrative and regulatory burden than what they currently face. Our reading of the new legislation concurs with B+LNZ’s findings.

Under the existing Resource Management Act most sheep and beef farmers (and less intensive farms and those without irrigation) operate as a permitted activity, not requiring a consent. The presumption is that if the effects of your activity are no more than minor and you comply with any rules, then you can carry on free of government oversight. Another way of describing this is that regulators must provide justification for regulatory requirements on people. They can’t just regulate for the sake of regulation.

These restraints on regulators are one of the few good elements in the RMA and it is a major concern they have disappeared in the new legislation.

Under the new legislation, every livestock, horticulture and viticulture farmer over 50ha (arable is over 5ha) must have a Freshwater Farm Plan regardless of the region or catchment they are in, whether there are any freshwater issues or whether they operate as a permitted or consented activity. No regulatory or environmental justification is provided for this blanket requirement. The only reason the government have provided is that it is a compromise to quell the freshwater quality concerns of environmentalists and the public.

Reading through the fine print of the new legislation, intensive farming operations such as irrigators and dairy farmers may face less compliance, bureaucratic oversight and cost as the consent system is necessarily overhauled and an alternative, simpler freshwater farm plan pathway is provided. However, the government believes that in order for this to be acceptable to the public, all other farmers must now come under government oversight and essentially a consent to farm.

There are several alarming aspects to the proposed freshwater farm plan legislation.

1. It places many farmers under a system of government oversight that would not have been allowed previously under the RMA.
2. This legislation is contrary to the election promises and principles of all three coalition parties by introducing state control on people without any environmental justification, a policy more in keeping with the extreme left than centre right.
3. It is also contrary to the Regulatory Standards Act, legislation introduced by this government designed to ensure responsible regulation.
4. The government has said other issues like indigenous biodiversity will be added at a later date, which again would disproportionately negatively impact sheep & beef farmers.
5. It will exacerbate ill feelings between sectors and we urge farmers to recognise that the cause is poorly designed government policy, not a sector versus sector issue.
6. A major concern is that all farmers would now be captured under government oversight, placing them at the mercy of less farmer friendly governments in the future.

It is not that farmers oppose farm plans as a useful management tool. Farmers have shown through industry initiatives and previous systems, e.g. catchment boards, they will embrace farm plans if used in the right context. But with a B+LNZ survey showing 83% of farmers opposed to mandatory government prescribed Freshwater Farm Plans, the legislation is doomed to fail.

With widespread adoption of industry led farm plans, the government’s proposal is completely unnecessary and shows they do not trust the rural sector to continue to take the lead in this space.

The Freshwater Farm Plan policy will be a key issue for farmers in the upcoming election and in the meantime, we are hoping that commonsense will prevail through the submission process.

• Jamie McFadden is Groundswell NZ environmental spokesperson