Farmers note: the flooding you saw on tonight's news is a result of climate change. Do you want the government to do nothing about it?
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| Oh, the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men; he marched them up to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again. And when they were up they were up, And when they were down, they were down. And when they were only half way up, they were neither up nor down. |
1. The freshwater policy.
The decades-long decline in the quality of our rivers and lakes resulted in September 2020 in new rules affecting stock exclusion, fencing waterways, reporting nitrogen use, and changes around intensive winter grazing. Groundswell wants the policy scrapped saying the setting and attaining of freshwater guidelines should fall under catchment groups, in association with regional councils.
■ Comment. Forest and Bird (click here), and many others, disagree. It is evident already that many farmers and local authorities cannot be entrusted with the care of our rivers and lakes. Profits and votes are too important.
2. The so-called ‘ute tax’.
This is the straw Groundswell says finally broke the camel's back. The Government's Clean Car Package will subsidize lower-carbon-emitting cars from fully electric to ordinary internal combustion vehicles. It will also penalize the likes of the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger – two of the top-selling cars which are popular among farmers and tradies. The issue here is that there is currently no electric alternative available for utes which are extensively used by farmers. With no alternative available the Package merely adds another financial burden.
■ Comment. One would think this could be sorted with farmers' (and perhaps selected tradies') driving licences used to make them exempt.
3. Overseas workers. Government has made some border exceptions in this area, allowing an additional 200 dairy workers and 50 vets entry. Groundswell says this will not fill the gap. Federated Farmers previously estimating the dairy sector was short between 2000 and 4000 workers. Groundswell wants overseas seasonal rural workers classified as “skilled manual labourers” and prioritised through MIQ.
■ Comment. Government, of course, must put Covid protection needs first and there are limits on the MIQ facilities, but it has shown itself sympathetic to farmer and grower needs, and would no doubt have increased quotas in Spring, without the need for their tractor display.
4. The Emissions Trading Scheme
The Scheme is part of our response to climate change and the main tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Groundswell says the Scheme is seeing large areas of farmland incentivised into pines and a significant cost-burden borne by the world’s most emissions-efficient farmers. The unworkable elements of climate-change policy which are crucifying farmers and growers must be withdrawn.”
■ Comment. Farmers are currently exempt from the Scheme. A scheme for farmers is being designed by the agricultural industry and Government for implementation in 2025. Pine forests are covered by the ETS, which has helped make it more profitable to convert some farmland to trees. Firm action on climate change cannot be avoided.
5. Significant Natural Areas
Significant natural areas (SNAs) are natural areas that contain indigenous vegetation, fauna or threatened species that are protected as part of ongoing biodiversity efforts. The Resource Management Act requires that SNAs are protected on both public or private land.
SNAs have become a contentious issue because many indigenous lowland forests and wetlands are on private land, and some landowners see the mapping and identifying of these areas by councils as a “land grab”.
Groundswell NZ wants the regulations to be abandoned or re-written. It would prefer funding redirected to “proven systems like the QEII National Trust” – where private land can be voluntarily placed in protection by landowners in partnership with an independent trust.
■ Comment. No problem with this suggestion. Let's see how Government responds.
6. Indigenous biodiversity
The Government is looking at ways to reverse the decline of indigenous biodiversity. It considering a proposed National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity which would set out criteria for councils to identify and protect Significant Natural Areas on private land. This policy is still in a draft state and not yet in effect.
Groundswell NZ believes the draft policy should be scrapped. It says this policy punishes the landowners who have already been proactive in conservation, turns biodiversity “into a liability” and wastes money on box-ticking assessments.
■ Comment. I'm sure many NZers with disagree with Groundswell. Why don't they wait until they see the draft policy?
7. High country legislation.
The Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill is currently before Parliament. It aims to amend previous land acts with a single, broad policy. The Bill would end the controversial tenure review process, which divides Crown-owned leasehold stations into freehold and conservation land.
Groundswell NZ's position statement calls this Bill “another big-stick layer of regulation” being applied to high-country farmers, over and above existing council regulations, and says the unnecessary burden “must be lifted”.
■ Comment. Get real!
Related. Judith Collins. Farmers feel left out..
Related. Gordon Campbell on whining minority
P.S No surprise but Judith Collins tweeted National MPs to show up and support the protests. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"
The Three Waters Offer.
While one can sympathise with farmers on some of these issues, there did seem elements of "passing the buck" on to other citizens. and "e're rather special" about their protests. The same may be said of some urban councils which are objecting to Government plans to reduce the existing 67 water authorities to 4.
With water and other infrastructure neglected for so long something radical needs to be done. The existing systems are unfair, unequal, inadequate and chaotic. Read what Bernard Hickey has to say on Dawn Chorus.
Here's an extract:
"The political sensitivities are many and varied, and often depend on the historic approaches the various councils have taken to water charges, infrastructure investment and the use of debt. Some councils haven’t invested, haven’t charged for water and haven’t got big debt. Some have invested, have charged for water and do have more debt (Auckland), while others (Wellington and Christchurch) don’t charge for water and haven’t borrowed or invested as much themselves. The caveat is Christchurch’s networks were rebuilt with a lot of Crown money after the earthquakes.
"The perceived ‘fairness’ of these settlements (leaves) plenty of room for populist councillors and mayors to take easy shots at ‘big Government centralisation’ in their campaigns ahead of next year’s council elections. There are also incentives to throw political hospital passes to the Government around water charges and long-planned catch-up investment."
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