increase font size
ACT Party leader David Seymour at the National Fieldays earlier this year.
In a new policy announcement made this morning, the ACT Party says rural regulations will be the first to hit the chopping block if the party is elected.
According to party leader David Seymour, who announced the policy from a farm in Rotoorangi in the Waikato, the primary sector would be one of the first four sectors to undergo what he calls a ‘red tape review’ by a new Minister and Ministry of Regulation.
“New Zealand’s biggest export industry is tied up in endless red tape,” says Seymour. “If we want New Zealand to have a prosperous future and a productive economy, we need to let farmers get back to what they do best.”
Already set for the chopping block if ACT is elected, Seymour says, are the following:
“There has been an avalanche of red tape and regulation on farmers. These are just the big ticket items, every farmer we’ve spoken to seems to have a fresh example of a new compliance course or form of paperwork they’re having to complete to keep the Government happy,” says Seymour.
He says ACT would task its Ministry of Regulation with working with the rural sector and understanding the burdens farmers face from different regulations.
“Many of the regulations that farmers need to comply with are designed to achieve similar objectives and should be simplified to avoid wasted effort. Other regulations were obviously written by Wellington bureaucrats who have probably never worn gumboots in their life,” he says.
“Farmers need real change,” he says.
“Farmers in countries who are our biggest trading partners are not paying a price for their methane emissions,” says Seymour. “Under ACT, New Zealand farmers wouldn’t either.”
“If we set more aggressive targets than other countries, it will not only harm the economy but also force activity to less efficient jurisdictions, increasing global emissions,” he says.
“ACT wants to see the rural sector given the respect it deserves. That means letting farmers get on with what they do best.”
Primary production select committee chair and ACT MP Mark Cameron recently contributed to the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill - Second Reading in Parliament. Here are excerpts from his speech:
OPINION: The country's dairy farmers will now also have a hand in providing free lunch for schools.
OPINION: The Reserve Bank’s rate cut is great news, albeit a bit late, but your old mate agrees with Act leader David Seymour that the cut – with more to come – is a “multi-billion dollar mea culpa” by the RBNZ.
OPINION: The latest travel receipts for MPs are in (April – June 2024).
OPINION: Not long after I started farming, I needed some bridge stringers to cross a small, on-farm stream.
The red meat sector is adopting the New Zealand Government’s ‘wait and see’ approach as it braces for the second Donald Trump presidency in the US.
Fonterra’s board has been reduced to nine - comprising six farmer-elected and three appointed directors.
Five hunting-related shootings this year is prompting a call to review firearm safety training for licencing.
The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.
Fonterra shareholders are concerned with a further decline in the co-op’s share of milk collected in New Zealand.
A governance group has been formed, following extensive sector consultation, to implement the recommendations from the Industry Working Group's (IWG) final report and is said to be forming a 'road map' for improving New Zealand's animal genetic gain system.
OPINION: Was the ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in…
OPINION: A reader recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a…
