Speaking after Friday’s Howl of a Protest rallies organised by the group Groundswell and held in more than 50 centres, Ardern says she is not surprised by the degree of support it drew or the concerns raised.
“The most important point is that some of the issues raised we have absolutely heard, we understand and appreciate,” Ardern said in an interview.
She promised to keep listening to rural communities and their concerns but will not alter her approach as advocated by protesters, specifically the volume, scope and cost of new regulations and the one-size-fits policies.
Ardern says the group she meets with most regularly is the Food and Fibre Leaders Forum and they have raised with her most of the issues aired by protesters on Friday.
She says the Government is listening and has acted, such as working with producer groups to develop a climate change response through the He Waka Eke Noa agreement, made changes to intensive winter grazing rules and extended working visas.
“We asked the food and fibre leaders their priority: space at MIQ facilities or worker certainty by extending the visas of lower-skilled migrants by 12 months? They were clear that they wanted worker certainty,” she said.
She called the He Waka Eke Noa agreement “a leap of faith together”.
But Ardern says she would not be doing her job if she ignored issues such as climate change, addressing environmental issues and reflecting the concerns of trading partners.
“We are the best in the world but we cannot allow our exports to slip down the world ranking,” she said.
She rejected claims the Government is not listening to the sector, saying climate change policy followed four years of consultation, while freshwater and intensive winter grazing policy has been amended in response to farmer concerns.
“There is a lot going on but we are also being asked to do a lot by those we trade with,” she said
Ardern says the Government is being unfairly targeted with the concerns over the significant natural areas (SNA) policy, which is being implemented by councils.
This has been a requirement since the Resource Management Act (RMA) became law and while 60% of councils have implemented the policy, the remainder recently started to map SNAs.
She appreciates that this could cause anxiety among landowners.
