Farmer vote
OPINION: The coalition Government, already under the pump thanks to poor polling numbers, is facing the ire of its traditional support base – dairy and red meat farmers.
Tractors, utes and SUVs carrying placards and New Zealand flags descended on the city from as far as Pukekohe and Wellsford around midday as part of Groundswell’s nationwide protest.
The large crowd prompted organisers to switch the gathering from Victoria Park to the Domain.
Addressing the crowd, Groundswell Auckland official Scotty Bright called on the Government “to undo the legislation”.
Bright read out a statement that was also read out at other Groundswell protest venues around the country.
He says the Government’s proposed emissions tax is the “worst assault on NZ farmers and rural community in a generation”.
He claims the proposed tax will rip out 20% of sheep and beef sector properties and 6% of dairy properties.
“The farmers left will be under immense pressure and strain on their mental health and managing their family businesses.
“The flow-on effect will be less money to spend on our local shops and services.”
Bright claimed that the Government’s own documents showed that taxing farmers will reduce NZ export income, increase food costs for Kiwis, reduce farmers income and negatively impact on rural support service and rural communities.
“All of this extra stress on our farmers, when NZ agriculture contributes less than 0.25% of global emissions.
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Tractors parked in front of Auckland War Memorial Museum for the protest at Auckland Domain. |
“They also acknowledge that this will result in food reduction which will be picked up by overseas countries with less sustainable farming systems [than] NZ, leading to emissions leakage and increased global warming.”
Bright accused the Government to being “just interested in being moral crusaders on the international stage”.
“It is the only country in the world who wants to tax agricultural emissions.
“They know their proposal will drive farmers out of business and off the land and want to do it anyway.”
Bright says farmers are not prepared to take this.
He says Groundswell supports reducing agricultural emissions but they should be through “environmental actions on-farm and not through an emissions tax”.
