Nationwide rallies to be held to protest live export
As the new government considers lifting the ban on live exports, protestors are set to demonstrate against the policy.
Nearly four months on from the floods that devastated much of rural Canterbury, the Government has fallen short of the promises it made to local farmers, says National MP Nicola Grigg.
“Jacinda Ardern and Damien O’Connor flew into Ashburton with cameras rolling to announce a $4 million Canterbury Flood Recovery Fund – indicating that it was just a start, that they were still working to establish the full scale and cost of the damage – and that there would be more where that came from,” says Grigg who is MP for Selwyn.
She says the fund offers grants of up to 50% of eligible costs with a total limit of $250,000 and will contribute to uninsurable costs to enable productive land to return to a productive state as quickly as possible.
“Essentially, it can only be used for the clearing up of flood debris such as boulders, gravel, trees, and silt on productive land. Insurable costs, such as replacing fences, have not been targeted by the fund.”
“Four months on and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has received 168 applications for support, with a total monetary value of $8,029,535.
“To put the number of applications into perspective there are over 550 properties in the ArcGIS survey database, suffering varying degrees of damage.
Grigg says that the criteria set for the fund requires 51% of income to be from the primary industries, meaning lifestyle blocks listed in the database were ineligible.
She claims that some listed in the database as sheep or beef farms have other income streams, including tourism and rental properties which exclude them from applying because they don’t meet the 51% threshold.
“In my view, that absolutely stinks. The Government set a criteria that was very difficult for highly-stressed, overworked and exhausted farmers to meet,” she says.
She says that while MPI has accepted 82 applications, they’re only paying $1,428,964 to those farmers and have declined a further 38 applications on the ground they don’t meet the eligibility criteria.
“And therein lies the problem – the eligibility criteria is far too strict and, therefore, discounts hundreds of affected farmers and landowners. The monetary value of the applications alone indicates the Government is way off target.”
Grigg says that O’Connor needs to instruct MPI to loosen its eligibility criteria and get the money to the farmers most in need.
The Commerce Commission says connectivity options for rural New Zealanders are front-of-mind as it begins a formal investigation into the future of the copper network.
Grand Finalists have been selected, all regional finals have concluded, and the journey towards the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is underway.
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
Regional councils are welcoming the certainty for councils in today’s Resource Management Act (RMA) announcement by the Government.
ASB says the decision to sign on to the AgriZeroNZ joint venture came out of a wish to be a part of the solution.
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.