India FTA Unites NZ First, Greens
National’s much-touted free trade deal with India featured in the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek, Hamilton on Wednesday night.
Shaw, who is also the Minister for Climate Change, says he sees the point made by many farmers that the ETS represents an additional tax.
His comments come just a couple of weeks after sector leaders labelled the Government’s plan ‘tone-deaf’.
“I’ve been talking to farmers a lot over the course of the last six years that I’ve been a Minister… and so I can certainly understand that,” he said in an interview with Country TV.
“I think there are some myths that I’d like to bust. People will say ‘Well, why are you just focusing on farmers? Why isn’t anyone else being asked to do anything about it?’,” he says.
He says that, currently, agriculture is the only sector that does not face a price on emissions.
“But I certainly understand, with all of the other things that are going on and the uncertainty about what that policy decision will be, that that’s anxiety-inducing for people.”
He says that, despite the anxiety surrounding the policy, he has still seen some positive reactions to it.
“I suspect people have kind of seen that I’ve been trying to find a kind of a balanced approach, one that actually does the job.
“One thing that I hear a lot from farmers is they say, ‘We’re not opposed to regulations on the environment, but we want something that works, that’s workable’.”
Shaw says that one of the biggest myths that needs busting is the idea that rural communities are specifically being targeted instead of urban and suburban Kiwis.
“Our focus has been almost entirely on the kind of pollution that you see in cities,” he says.
Examples of this include the clean car discount, decarbonisation work.
Shaw says his problem with the proposal from the He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) Climate Action Partnership is that he doesn’t believe it will work.
“I think it will, actually, just impose an additional cost without achieving the result and so, I’ve been reasonably vocal about that.
“It’s also a massively bureaucratic proposal. It relies on ministers making decisions on both the supply side and the demand side so they set the price of the levy and they also set the price for the rewards that you get.”
Shaw says he would prefer what he labels as a simpler, farmer-to-farmer approach.
Get the full story on Country TV, tonight at 7.30pm on sky channel 81, or get 30 days FREE access, online and on demand at www.countrytv.co.nz.
