Opinion
24 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019
EDITORIAL
Government gets its gas tax right
I
T’S been a long time coming but agriculture will join the rest of the productive sector in paying for its greenhouse gas emissions. Last week the Government and farming leaders announced an interim processor tax will be introduced until 2025 when farm-specific taxes and rebates will be implemented. The industry is on board with the farm-level monitoring but is balking at the processor tax. It’s come up with its own plan to address the emissions problem but indications are the Government won’t take up that plan. Of course, the Government’s plan has been condemned by both sides. Greenpeace called it laughable and some in the farming sector say it’s too onerous. That suggests it’s probably hit the right note overall. It’s important agriculture addresses the cloud over the farm. While New Zealand’s emissions profile is skewed by our abundance of renewable power generation the optics – at a glance – don’t look good for farming. And the level of scrutiny is only going to increase. Just last week the European Union appointed a new leader who campaigned on, among other things, introducing a carbon border tax that would add cost to those wanting to sell products into that bloc. Of course it’s not all optics. We’re beginning to see the effects of the changing climate now and keeping that change as negligible as possible is vital to preserving our farming legacy. But it needs to be practicable. It’s no good to anyone if we reach a destination having left half an industry broken down at the side of the road while getting there. For instance, farming has a 95% discount on its emissions now but will that survive the next election or the one after that? What happens if the price of carbon skyrockets? There’s a lot to think about but there are opportunities here as well. Every farmer should be working out how they can get a rebate or at least minimise their loss come 2025. All farmers need is a framework that is fair and transparent. This is not a bad start.
Bryan Gibson
LETTERS
Spill is being investigated I WRITE in response to the opinion piece of Alan Emerson, which has aspects that are inaccurate and misleading to your readers. Waikato Regional Council has a number of roles that it fulfils. Yes, as is appropriate and expected, we did work alongside Taupo District Council at the time of the recent and unfortunate discharge of sewage and sediment into Lake Taupo. We were initially involved in the incident response, water sampling and providing advice to the public and water users. However, we also have regulatory responsibilities and I can confirm that incident is the subject of a formal investigation. These investigations are thorough and take some time to complete. Your readers may be interested to know that this council is currently
investigating and taking enforcement action, in respect of environmental breaches across such varied industries as food processing, power generation, waste management, earthworks and farming. There are 11 local councils within the Waikato region. There are currently two of these councils facing prosecution for unauthorised discharges of wastewater into the environment. I trust that this brings some balance to the article of July 17 enabling your readers to be more fairly informed. Patrick Lynch Acting director – resource use Waikato Regional Council
Nasty crusade A MOST clever and potentially very nasty public relations crusade is being waged by the Australian-owned trading
banks against the Reserve Bank’s proposal to raise the capital requirements of the trading banks. The banks predict they will be forced to raise lending rates to farmers. Estimates vary from 50-120 basis points. That has unleashed a torrent of criticism from the farming community against the proposals of the RBNZ. We are told indebted farmers will be driven from the land, property prices will fall and chaos will reign. Not only that but several banks have been quietly raising margins on farm loans, hinting that is a necessary reaction to the coming RBNZinitiated regulatory change. And this is before the RBNZ has even made a decision on the subject. It is time to recognise what is happening there. As we all know, banks are very
profitable businesses with large profit streams to protect. The outrage towards the RBNZ and, on occasions, fear from the farming community suggests the Australian banks have won the first round by creating a wall of political indignation they hope will persuade the RBNZ to back off. This shock, horror, doomsday rhetoric is being reported without analysis by far too many in the agriculture media. We have in NZ some very good and financially literate business journalists along with economists in private practice and academia. Let’s hear some objective analysis around the selfserving propaganda of wealthy Australian banks. Graham Robertson Christchurch
Letterof theWeek EDITOR Bryan Gibson 06 323 1519 bryan.gibson@globalhq.co.nz EDITORIAL Stephen Bell 06 323 0769 editorial@globalhq.co.nz Neal Wallace 03 474 9240 neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz Colin Williscroft 06 323 1561 colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz Annette Scott 03 308 4001 annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz Hugh Stringleman 09 432 8594 hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz Alan Williams 03 359 3511 alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz Richard Rennie 07 552 6176 richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz Nigel Stirling 021 136 5570 nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com PUBLISHER Dean Williamson 027 323 9407 dean.williamson@globalhq.co.nz
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