increase font size
AIR NEW Zealand is under fire from farmers for pulling out of some regional routes.
From April the airline will suspend services: Kaitaia - Auckland; Whakatane - Auckland; Whangarei - Wellington; Taupo - Wellington; Westport - Wellington and Palmerston North - Nelson. Hamilton - Auckland will also be suspended from February 2016.
It is also shutting down subsidiary, Eagle Airways, which operates 19-seat airplanes on regional routes; according to Air NZ, Eagle Airways has been losing $1 million per month for the past two years.
But Federated Farmers leaders in affected regions are unimpressed; some have also blasted the Government for failing to stop the routes from being axed.
Kaitaia is a typical example of how National will not support Northland, according to Federated Farmers Northland provincial president, Roger Ludbrook.
"I am sorry for Kaitaia and sorry for MP Mike Sabin. He is a good man who has not been able to effect Air New Zealand's decision because Northland National MPs have no power or influence in parliament.
"Kaitaia is just a provincial town that Wellington will allow to die, because they need the votes not from the provinces but from the urban centres. So that is where resources will be spent.
"This move by Air New Zealand is a short sighted tragedy, because New Zealand's spending is done in the cities, whereas wealth is created in this country from provincial townships like Kaitaia.
"It will just make it more difficult for people to do business in Kaitaia and the Far North, meaning more businesses will leave and creating new businesses will become even harder."
He says Air New Zealand has slammed another nail in Northland's coffin.
"And our Labour and National politicians have shown how weak they are to do anything about it," Ludbrook says.
West Coast Federated Farmers provincial president, Katie Milne, says the elimination of the Westport to Wellington service is "just another step in the quiet deterioration of New Zealand's outlying rural areas.
"I know it's tough for Air New Zealand to budget for these services, but once they are gone it's just so difficult to turn around and get these provincial services back again.
"You might say the Coast still has the Hokitika service to Christchurch, but that service is often disrupted by bad weather, and even at the best of times it's the long way round to get to Wellington," says Milne.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
Farmers want the Government to scrap controversial freshwater rules that "put river spirits and ideology ahead of practical water use", says Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper.
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…
