Saturday, March 30, 2024

OFF THE CUFF: Government action smacks of treason

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There is an old saying about not biting the hand that feeds you.  It is loosely translated as meaning it is in your ultimate best interest to take care of those who take care of you. 
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The metaphorical hand that feeds you might be providing you with a monetary value, with education, with health care or anything else and of course actual food can come into it too.

As a Kiwi sheep and beef farmer I feel like I am a feeder. Not only do I grow natural products that provide healthy options for consumers, I also feed a considerable amount of financial support into our local community and also into the Government’s coffers. 

Over my 16 years of farming in my own right various governments have come and gone. They have all presented challenges to our farming communities but ultimately we have been able to manage a path through their policies with not too much disruption.

That has now changed.

The introduction of the Zero Carbon Bill by the three-legged monster that is our Government attacks and insults our industry in a way I have never experienced before. 

To impose such flawed and taxing legislation on the only industry that built this country is at best incompetent and at worst smacks of treason. 

I have read numerous reactions over the past few weeks from various farming leaders from all around the country and there is a strong theme coming through. 

We all agree this is a step too far and too big a pill to swallow. 

There has also been a strong sense of unity in the reaction to this Bill and that is being reinforced by farmer sentiment.

I recall, just over a decade ago, similar sentiment around a similar subject. The Emissions Trading Scheme was created to tax farmers for their animal emissions based on flawed science and a greedy government. 

We were told by the various ETS calculators of the day that our own 600 hectare farm, which is covered in poplars, willows, areas of native bush and some production pines, would need a third of it to be planted in trees to offset our emissions or we had to stump up with nearly $50,000 a year. Luckily, this flawed thinking was defeated before it became a reality but I fear this time around we might not be so lucky.

This Zero Carbon Bill feels very personal to me. 

It tells me I am facing the prospect of reducing production on our farm even though I look out the window to green, grassy hills with healthy and happy stock. 

It tells me that despite the landscape being littered with thousands of trees I can’t use them to lessen my impact on the environment. And probably most importantly, it tells me this Government simply does not care for the industry that built and now sustains this country. It simply will not stop till it gets its pound of flesh.

I am the first to admit I am no expert on climate change and the emissions associated with it. But I do know a flawed model when I see one and this Bill is certainly that. For any Zero Carbon Bill to work effectively without crippling the backbone of the economy it has to be well structured and thought out by those who know the farming industry the best, farmers. 

We all accept the responsibility farming bestows on us with regards to emissions and we know we have a role to play in reducing them. 

If farmers don’t educate themselves now on what is happening with this issue they will face dire consequences in years to come. In its current form this legislation has the potential to put some people out of business should it be allowed to proceed unchecked. And many more could also choose to leave our industry because they no longer have the stomach to fight.

The Zero Carbon Bill is already in motion so this Government needs to know it has a scrap on its hands until this is fixed. Local and national lobby groups need to be supported en masse by farmers if necessary amendments are to be made. This can happen only with a good knowledge base, communication and determination. 

We all watched in horror at the last election when Winston Peters and his party played the role of kingmaker. Maybe the time has come for rural NZ to forget about voting for anyone else, circle the wagons and form a new political party that represents our own best interests. 

If we were all to get behind such a movement we could find ourselves in the position of kingmakers for the election next year. I will leave far greater minds and personalities the responsibility of turning this into reality. But one thing I do know for certain.

They would have my vote.

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