He was relatively sanguine about the Government’s composition but any real indication of what policy would be was likely to be signalled by ministerial appointments in coming days.
“At this stage nothing is solid and we have not been privy to any information about this but it is quite likely there will be some real surprises that you would not have got had it been a straight out win for Labour.”
He believed the water tax proposal had been something of an election gambit.
“We have the Prime Minister (Jacinda Ardern) saying the water conditions are deteriorating. No-one is denying that but there are different ways to deal with that.”
Hort NZ was had prepared to argue the inefficiency of a water tax and still would if required.
He noted half the support for NZ First came from the rural sector and believed Winston Peters would be mindful of that support when setting rural based policies.
Chapman was optimistic the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme would remain, with all three parties expressing their support for it.
“The RSE is not immigration and we are interested in who will get the immigration minister’s role and how they will work.”
He took comfort in Labour’s immigration policy expressing support for the rural sector’s needs.
