When dairy will chat with 'Chippy'

He says he realises that Hipkins has got a lot on at the moment with the floods in the upper North Island and a new cabinet to deal with other high priority issues. But he says once things settle down, he’d like to meet the new PM and get to know him because in the past the sector has had very little to do with him.

Van der Poel says this is because none of the new PM’s previous portfolios were close to the industry.

“We haven’t had a lot to do with him and him with us, so we need to start working together and constructively building up that relationship,” he told Dairy News.

“We want to have good relations with whoever is in government to make sure that any policy that comes out is practical and makes sense and allows farmers to get on with the job,” he says.

Among the topics van der Poel says he wants to raise with Hipkins is the He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) which he says is to make sure that getting this right will be a priority for the new PM.

He says it would be disappointing if this was sorted out given the three years of work that has gone into working this through. He says he also wants the new Hipkins government to be aware of the uncertainty farmers are facing because of the huge volume of legislation that is being thrust upon them. He says some of the legislation simply doesn’t make sense and is impractical.

We want assurances that any legislation changes make sense, are coordinated and that the Government works with industry to sort out the issues. We see ourselves as part of the solution whosever the government is to make sure that we are all trying to achieve the same things,” he says.

Van der Poel says the other issue he wants to take up with Hipkins is that of the immigration settings. He says the dairy and other industries don’t have enough people in the country to do the work if the economy is to go forward.

He says the dairy sector needs people to fill a variety of roles and says immigration settings are pivotal to this happening.