The list is diverse: The end of Government money for irrigation schemes, fuel tax changes that suck money out of the regions for Auckland public transport, the end to offshore drilling for oil and gas which will affect Taranaki, the loss of air ambulance services in Taupo, Rotorua and Te Anau and the refusal to fund $600,000 for the Rural Health Alliance.
Sitting in the wings are promises of tougher regulations on water quality and taxing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Understandably, rural New Zealanderes feel under attack from the Government and betrayed by its coalition partner NZ First, which openly courted rural votes at the last election promising improved rural infrastructure, health and social equity.
Its leader Winston Peters can point to success in a $1 billion regional development fund but the reality is his party appears to have been rolled on several issues by the Government and the Greens.
Politics aside, the nature and handling of these decisions leaves the most bitter of tastes.
In the same week the Government allocated $2 million to an inquiry in to an eight-year-old military action involving NZ soldiers in Afghanistan, it said it cannot find $600,000 for a rural health body.
Equally, decisions about ending three air ambulance services and phasing out offshore drilling for oil and gas by 2030, were all made without consulting the communities affected or with the courtesy of advanced notice.
An added insult was Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision to celebrate the oil and gas announcement by mixing with Victoria University students rather than fronting Taranaki people. She belatedly despatched senior Cabinet Minister Andrew Little to the province when the chorus of criticism became too loud to bear.
The Government has handled successive decisions with little respect for those rural communities most affected and they can rightly feel second class.
Neal Wallace
