fbpx
Print this page
Tuesday, 26 November 2019 11:13

More carrot, less stick

Written by  Milking It

Rural News last week summed up the disconnect going on in rural communities: “It seems incredible that in times when commodity prices are strong, interest rates low and climate favourable there should be so much angst and concern in rural NZ”

The angst has been expressed by farmers in protests around the country and in angry confrontations with ministers Damien O’Connor, David Parker and Shane Jones. The latter responded with smart-arse and dismissive comments like “get over it”.

As Rural News said, the angst is the current reality and “can be squarely sheeted home to policy changes being proposed by the Government”. Consultation with farmers on these changes has been at best token.

Some changes are certainly needed, but the politicians must use more carrot and less stick if they’re to take farmers with them.

More like this

Banks on notice

OPINION: Shane 'Matua' Jones, crusader against all things woke, including "woke banks", couldn't have scripted it better when his NZ First colleague Andy Foster had his Members' Bill drawn from the ballot recently.

Dead in the water

OPINION: In a victory for common sense over virtue signalling, David Parker's National Policy Statement (NPS) work on freshwater is now dead in the water.

All hot air?

OPINION: While The Hound reckons it's great to see Shane 'I'm-a-red-blooded-male' Jones boiling over about the energy crisis - so much so that he's dropping f-bombs in the daily rags - your old mate hopes we'll see more than his usual bluster and get real action on this critical issue.

Not a fund for wish lists

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones delivered a speech this month at the inaugural Regional Growth Summit where he spoke about the Regional Infrastructure Fund, or RIF. Here's part of his speech...

Featured

Big return on a small investment

Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

National

Machinery & Products