Taking out NZ First out seems his only plan.
Much more capable National Party leaders than Bridges have tried and failed in that strategy over the past 27 years.
While Muller’s political attack was predictable it amounted to not much more than a tired relitigation of the 2017 election result. Time to move on Todd.
For me, what was truly disappointing about Muller’s tirade was that it was devoid of any attempt to articulate his own vision as a would-be agriculture minister.
It might be tempting for some farmers during a time of change to look to leaders who tell them everything is okay and nothing needs to change but that would be to deny reality.
Times such as these demand leaders prepared to address big, strategic challenges and articulate a genuine pathway to meet ambitious goals.
NZ remains as reliant as ever on our primary sector to drive the economic and social ambitions of our country.
That’s never been more clearly demonstrated than during this term of the Coalition Government, in which, despite the constant peddling of gloom from the National Party, we have enjoyed record export receipts and extremely high terms of trade. We do need to keep some perspective here.
If we step back and look at the big picture the reality is clear.
We do have catchments where land use change has over-allocated nutrient and sediment loadings in some of our waterways. We do have international obligations to meet under the Paris Accord – commitments signed off by Muller’s own colleagues in the National Party. We need to continue evolve our farming practices on issues like animal welfare and stock wintering.
If we don’t address these issues it will be the high-end consumers we aspire to market our produce to that we will be ultimately answerable to. The production-led commodity game is a strategy of the past. Disruptors like alternative proteins are not conceptual threats – they’re available right now at your local Burger King.
Just ask the strong wool sector how ignoring such disruptors works out.
From my experience a good number of farmers and growers implicitly understand these realities and are already well ahead of regulators.
NZ First has not been in denial, however, we have played a significant role in providing balance to these debates and making sure farmers’ voices are heard within the Coalition. Results of this can be seen in the likes of curtailing of the capital gains tax, preventing feebates on utes and insisting on farming staying out of an Emissions Trading Scheme without farm-level accountability.
We have also taken very keen interest in submissions on freshwater and biodiversity proposals to make sure there is a degree of flexibility, pragmatism and fairness built into the eventual outcomes.
To that end I have engaged extensively with farmers the length of the country and our door is always open to farming leaders who seek to engage constructively with solutions. Pleasingly, that door is well used.
Additionally, Muller’s assertion that NZ First has not been a friend of rural NZ conveniently overlooks the Provincial Growth Fund, the massive $3 billion investment into our regions, the largest regional development fund per capita in the world. I know first-hand how appreciative the regions are to have this help to unlock their economic potential.
It also ignores the farm debt mediation scheme that was enacted last year and is a brainchild of NZ First going back to the early 2000s. The legislation ensures creditors will offer mediation to farmers who find themselves in financial difficulties.
With the banks piling enormous pressure on our farmers this initiative will be of great help.
Like us or not, one thing is for sure, NZ First will be competing hard for rural NZ’s vote in September.
My own pathway from being a member of the National Party to NZ First was seeing National’s complacency in rural NZ.
For years National was allowed to take our rural vote for granted.
Despite their rural rhetoric, to gain power National needs to win big in Auckland and urban NZ, that’s where the votes are and that’s ultimately who will pull their strings hardest. While it might be inconvenient for them to face a battleground in their rural heartland, that’s exactly what we will be forcing them do.
