On the go
OPINION: After hopping from one event to another at Fieldays, Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard would have been hoping for a rest.
He says ACT is diametrically opposed to such a tax which he says would have disproportionately hit farmers at a time when they are already struggling. He says such a tax would have been a cruel move because it would have hit farmers in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne who have been struggling to get back on their feet after Cyclone Gabrielle and other adverse weather events.
"These people are already suffering from stress and a loss of income and the impact on them would be terrible," he says.
Hoggard says any wealth tax would capture most farming operations as well as some people in urban areas.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Hoggard and ACT MPs Mark Cameron and Nicole McKee were touring a number of small towns throughout the country in what they are describing as a 'hearltand tour' - places that Hoggard says don't usually get a political event from the major parties.
He says while the events were sort of aimed at farmers, they attracted a wide range of people from the rural communities and attendances have been good. Hoggard says, for example, they had 100 people at Rongotea in the Manawatū, 100 in Timaru and 125 at Moutere with the average attendance being around 50.
"But what's interesting is that we thought farmers may want to talk about farming stuff, but no - it's the big issues such as crime, the cost of living, education, and co-governance.
"Issues that are affecting the whole country and the people who came to our meetings are worried about these," he says.
Hoggard says this gives weight to the notion that people are worried about the direction the country is heading in.
He says his colleague Cameron who comes from Northland says that school attendance in that region is low. He says only 27% of students regularly attend school and the long-term implications of this are very worrying.
Hoggard says being on the campaign trail has been exciting and interesting, but he has one suggestion for future governments about the timing of an election.
"Don't hold them during calving time," he says.
