RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 7, 2017
28 OPINION EDITORIAL
EDNA
Talk is cheap WITH THE new Labour/NZ First/Greens government now in power, what changes can the rural sector expect? In essence there will be change, but just how much is open to question. The new Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, is well respected in the sector, but he seems something of a lone voice in the heavily urban-centric cabinet with little or no understanding of the primary sector. Country-of-origin labelling is likely, but that was coming anyway. The splitting off of biosecurity and possibly the food safety functions from MPI seems clear. But with the coalition agreement signalling the setting up of new forestry and fishery services, it’s possible these functions could remain under the MPI umbrella – but with greater independence, more funding and more staff, i.e. communications, HR and IT consultants. A review of the PGP grants is likely and Crown support for irrigation is gone, although current schemes will keep their funding. It’s possible this may be revised in time, but the Greens want dairying scaled down and a move to other forms of farming. There will be a strong focus on cleaning up rivers and this is likely to be based on a new national policy statement (NPS). Expect to see fast-tracking of plans for improving rivers to swimmable standards and fencing intensively stocked land near waterways, including setbacks for riparian planting to filter and absorb silt and nutrients. However, much of this work has already been done, so those expecting quick results on this front will be disappointed. The infamous idea of a water tax is gone, but agriculture will now be included in the emissions trading scheme. How this will work and at what cost is still rather sketchy. Of course, we will now have a climate change commission – to go along with the committees on tax, child poverty and agriculture to name a few – which will publish numerous reports, employ friends and supporters of the new government, but probably achieve bugger-all. There’s promise of a strong emphasis on regional development, with an annual $1 billion budget which hopefully will benefit rural communities and not just be a slush fund for re-electing certain politicians. Thankfully, Labour’s anti-free trade election rhetoric seems to have been just that, and the ban it plans to impose on sales of houses and farms to foreigners will not trip up current or future FTAs, which are the lifeblood of our trading nation’s future. Ok, the talk is over. Go do it!
RURALNEWS TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
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“Quick! Quick! – present the trophy! – before Winston claims it was won by a coalition of three other horses!”
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THE HOUND Clean sweep
Wait for it
Gassed
Tickled Pink
THE HOUND sees that former Feds spin doctor and Winston Peters’ chief of staff for the past six years, David Broome, no longer has a job. It appears Broome’s consistent brownnosing of Peters and carrying his man-bag while in opposition didn’t mean much when it came to Government: he was dumped quicker than one of NZ First’s election bottom lines. There’s not too much sympathy for Broome with much of the parliamentary media pack unhappy with his behaviour during the coalition negotiations – by instructing parliamentary security to cut off media access to the new deputy PM during the talks. Meanwhile, your old mate hears that the chance of Broome getting back with the Feds is less than zero: a number of insiders say the best thing that happened to the farming lobby was when he left to go work for Winny. Ouch!
YOUR CANINE crusader reckons it is only fair to give the new government a chance. However, many in the rural sector are understandably nervous about what Socialist Cindy’s new regime may visit on them and the wider country. Let’s hope the social engineering that lefties are so fond of does not include emulating a recent proposal in California. The Hound reads that California’s Governor Jerry Brown recently signed in a new law that makes the state the first in the US to officially recognise a ‘third gender’. Apparently now California residents who identify as transgender or nonbinary (whatever that means) will be able to select the letter X on stateissued documents rather than M or F! Your old mate reckons it won’t be long before NZ does the same. You read it here first.
THIS OLD mutt hears that – like the proverbial bad penny – his good mate and former chairman of failed meat industry ginger group, MIE, John McCarthy was used by Winston Peters as his ‘agriculture advisor’ during the Dutch auction held between Labour and National last month. Mind you, the Hound is not surprised as Peters and McCarthy were tight as the proverbial fish’s behind in their failed attempt to try to de-rail the Shanghai Maling/Silver Fern Farm merger a couple of years back. Meanwhile, one of Winston’s new lackey list MPs is none other than another former failed MIE member, South Otago farmer Mark Patterson. So farmers can thank McCarthy and Patterson for selling out the agricultural sector to Labour and getting it stuck in the ETS. Talk about gassing your mates!
THE HOUND’S editor was contacted by a Hawkes Bay sheep farmer about an item in the Oct 24 column on American singer Pink’s illogical and ignorant antiwool stance. While he didn’t entirely disagree with the sentiment expressed in said column but suggested an even better idea. Our Hawkes Bay visitor reckoned a more constructive initiative would be for Merino NZ, Fed Farmers or some other wool related body to contact Pink’s management and show her how sheep are raised in NZ, a demonstration of shearing and then present her with some nice wool-based attire. He reckons this would show her how well sheep are treated in NZ, why they are shorn as well as the environmentally friendly and fashionable apparel made from wool. A brilliant idea, but will the NZ wool industry take up the challenge.
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