Groundswell stands by claims

Earlier this month, Groundswell emissions spokesman Steve Cranston released a statement claiming that, "Government and industry leaders have been quietly looking at alternative emission pricing options to the HWEN scheme for the past few months and now appear ready to pull the pin on HWEN".

Cranston went on to claim that Climate Change Minister James Shaw “has finally conceded the He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) agricultural emissions scheme is terminally flawed and will scrap it”.

Cranston called on both Shaw and the members of the HWEN Partnership to confirm whether HWEN is dead and what alternatives they are now considering.

However, Shaw has denied Groundswell’s claim saying there are “no plans to scrap the He Waka Eke Noa agricultural emissions scheme”. However, he did not respond to claims that discussions about other options had been taking place.

“How can the minister claim full confidence in the current HWEN proposal if he won’t refute that meetings took place to discuss alternative options,” Cranston told Rural News.

Meanwhile, He Waka Eke Noa chair Michael Ahie has also rejected Groundswell’s claim saying it remained on course.

“The 11 primary sector and Māori agribusiness partners committed to the system they recommended for pricing agricultural emissions,” he says. “We know there is some unfounded speculation and conjecture out there about the process, however farmers, growers and all New Zealanders can be confident He Waka Eke Noa is on track.”

Ahie says HWEN has had “positive and encouraging discussions with the Government” and all remain committed to the process underway.

Earlier this year, HWEN recommended a farm-level, split-gas levy with built-in incentives to reduce emissions and recognise carbon sequestration from 2025. However, questions were raised about the viability of HWEN’s proposals when the Climate Change Commission in a report to the Government on its recommendations said farmers should not be paid for carbon absorption (sequestration) for on-farm vegetation.

Cranston told Rural News that Groundswell stood by its information that the minister has been having conversations with industry leaders about scrapping the current HWEN proposal in favour of a completely new alternative. “Much of the commentary has missed the key point here,” he says. “We never stated that HWEN was scrapped, we said the minister was set to scrap it.”

Cranston says neither Shaw nor industry have denied having conversations about developing an alternative option.

"That is telling."

Meanwhile, Groundswell has again criticised HWEN partners – including Beef+Lamb NZ and DairyNZ – over their credibility with, and poor advocacy on behalf of, the farming sector.

“The fact is that industry leaders were consistently telling farmers that there were only two options, HWEN or the ETS backstop,” Cranston says.

“It is now clear that they knew all along that other options were in play but continued to threaten farmers with the ETS backstop in an attempt to get HWEN over the line. This brings the credibility of our industry leadership into question.”