OPINION: For the first time in many years, a commonsense approach is emerging to balance environmental issues with the need for the nation's primary producers to be able to operate effectively.
Nationals' announcement of proposed changes to regulations in the RMA, especially around freshwater management, is spot-on. For too long the primary sector has been hobbled by a plethora of impractical, ideological-driven rules that have impeded economic growth in the primary sector. Farmers have had to live in a world of unnecessary complexity and uncertainty.
Forget the weeping and wailing of the watermelon party - also known as the Greens - and some of the cries of concern from others; this move will give a much-needed balanced approach to how the rural sector operates. Chris Bishop is on the money when he says the present RMA is broken and has embedded in it a culture of 'no'. The changes as he sees them are about saying yes more often, sand to grow the economy and wealth of all New Zealanders.
The slogan politics of environmentalist who constantly call dairying 'dirty' is pretty rich. They seem to conveniently forget that beaches in some of our major cities are often closed off because of pollution from sewage or from stormwater. What about the mussel farms at Mahurangi - just out of Warkworth - severely damaged by urban sewage?
Running a farm, an orchard or growing vegetables is not easy but the task has been made nigh impossible by silly nit-picking rules dreamed up by bureaucrats and politicians, be they at a national or local level. Finally, their days may be numbered and the rules proposed by the coalition will put an end to this.
That is not to say that farmers will be off the hook - they will still have to meet strict rules to protect the environment. But the emphasis will be on clearly defined outcomes.
