NICOLA GRIGG - OPINION PIECE

Last week, the National party released the first tranche of our three-part agricultural policydrawing a very clear line in the sand that, unlike Labour, we are the party that is going to cut the unnecessary red tape and get our farmers back actually farming. As anybody in Canterbury knows, farming is the backbone of New Zealand’s economy, and I am proud that our farmers are the best in the world. Selwyn has one of the fastest-growing GDPs in the country, and that is thanks to the hard work done by our rural sector.

Last year, New Zealand’s agriculture exports totalled $41 billion, or 63 percent of our goods exports. When farmers succeed, New Zealand succeeds. However, since coming to power, Labour has waged war on farmers by burying them under a mountain of unnecessary and unworkable red tape - including introducing or changing more than twenty new or amended regulations that directly affect the ability of business operations in the agricultural sector. For example, ‘wetlands’ are so poorly defined that farmers are having to go to court to determine whether land is a boggy paddock that can be farmed or a protected wetland that can’t. This is adding to the uncertainty and frustration amongst the existing impractical working environment. Farmers end up spending more of their time and money grappling with Labour’s new rules and have less to invest in their farms, risking lower productivity. For example, the Government’s delays in finalising their rules for freshwater farm plans alone are going to cost Canterbury farmers $7 million in consent fees. These costs get passed on to consumers, so we all end up paying for Labour’s over-regulation.

Labour has used rules and regulations to try to run farms from Wellington. That ends under National.

National’s Getting Back to Farming package will cut the mountain of red tape to help farmers get on with earning the income on which their livelihoods, New Zealand’s economy and New Zealanders’ standard of living, depend. We have been hearing the cries from the sector for the past five years, and we hear you. We want to put the pride and practicality back into farming.

We’ll get Wellington out of farming and ensure farming regulations are fit for purpose and are workable in each area of the sector, rather than imposing a generic set of rules that just don’t work. National will return the management of local issues to local councils. We’ll ensure rural communities have the tools they need to continue to provide New Zealand, and the world, with high-quality, low-carbon food and fibre.

In contrast to Labour’s heavy-handed centralisation, National supports practical environmentalism. We are committed to a carefully balanced approach, integrating both environmental and economic goals. National will deliver a professional, competent regulatory system that targets environmental outcomes without telling farmers how to run their businesses, and while imposing the minimum compliance costs on them. We have also been working closely with the export sector to reinstate live shipments of cattle offshore at the absolute highest level of animal welfare standards possible. We firmly believe New Zealand farmers are the best in the world, which is why we are backing farmers to uphold the highest standards of animal welfare. As National’s spokesperson for Animal Welfare, I care very deeply for all animals.

Most ships in current use are refurbished container shipsthese are fundamentally unsuitable for live exports and should not, and will not, be allowed to carry livestock under a National Government. I recently paid a visit to the last vessel to leave the Napier port prior to the ban of live exports that comes into effect at the end of the month - a custom-made ship with incredible facilities, good drainage, rubber flooring, air conditioning, sawdust bedding, plenty of food and water reticulation. This is the world-class standard National will regulate for, and we will tolerate nothing less. This is only the start. This country does not need more rules. It needs better regulation. National will be announcing more policies on agricultureand many other things - in the coming weeks and months. And in government, National will deliver results so that all New Zealanders get ahead.

Nicola Grigg,