Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pamu breaks ranks with farmers

Neal Wallace
Claims Landcorp is taking a leadership role in advocating new agricultural taxes in its submission to the Tax Working Group ring hollow for National Party agriculture spokesman Nathan Guy.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

He says Landcorp is driving a wedge between it and mainstream farmers by advocating environmental taxes, an enhanced Emissions Trading Scheme, consideration of water use charges and not being opposed to a well-designed capital gains tax.

Guy said Landcorp, which trades as Pamu, is breaking ranks with mainstream farmers and its submission has infuriated farmers he has spoken to who already feel under siege from new regulations and costs only to see Pamu as betraying them.

“There is a massive wedge between Landcorp and what I call practical, hard-working farmers trying to do their best.”

In Parliament Guy and the party’s state-owned enterprises spokesman David Carter asked Associate State-Owned Enterprises Minister Shane Jones why Landcorp’s submission was lodged a month after the deadline and whether it was asked to make one.

Pamu said it was not asked to make a submission but decided to do so in May because it was specifically looking at taxes that would affect its business.

“We also see this as consistent with taking a leadership stand in a similar way to, for example, our stand on health and safety issues, which has contributed to greater use of helmets on quad bikes on farms and a broader recognition of the importance of safe farming practices.”

It acknowledges, however, it failed to flag its submission with its shareholding minister, which was against the usual no-surprises protocol and it regrets that.

Pamu said work on its submission began in mid-March but the delay in submitting it was because the author took three weeks bereavement leave in Britain. The submission was completed on that person’s return in late April.

Pamu was then invited to meet the group, other stakeholders and Treasury to discuss its submission.

It said agriculture needs to reduce its environmental footprint and support climate change initiatives, of which reducing nitrogen emissions is one part.

Given Pamu’s size and Crown ownership, it says it is obligated to actively discuss those issues.

It said it is not opposed to a well-designed capital gains tax but opposes a land tax.

Pamu also advocated for a nitrogen fertiliser tax, an enhanced ETS and for the group to consider the issue of water use.

Its support in principal for a capital gains tax is conditional on issues such as compliance costs, that cash tax is payable only when gains are realised, a fair and equitable basis for valuing farmland and excluding farming family homes.

Enhancing the ETS and agriculture’s inclusion will help to ensure best use of land, including the planting of trees.

The ETS does not incentivise emissions reduction or distinguish between short-lived methane and longer-surviving gases.

“Making such distinctions could be useful by enabling emissions charges to be specified and varied in relation to the severity of the harm being caused in each case.”

Pamu also said water quality and allocation could be addressed by an agreed national allocation method with tax credits or incentives for establishing or maintaining wetlands and ecosystems.

It considers a levy or tax on nitrogen fertiliser will encourage alternative products, which is preferable to limiting or taxing cow numbers.

“While there is not a direct correlation between the use of these products and nitrogen leaching we would contend that usage is a suitable proxy which correlates well with intensive farming on high risk soils.”

Any revenue raised from environmental levies should be invested in cleaning up waterways, subsidising nitrogen fertiliser alternatives, riparian plantings and fencing or increasing the Sustainable Farming Fund.

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading