Editorial: Sensible move
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty has announced he is selling his infamous ute for charity.
“The time has come to upgrade,” he said in a tweet this morning.
The red 1997 Mazda B2500 ute was a feature of McAnulty’s 2020 campaign for the Wairarapa parliamentary seat.
The ute became the subject of minor controversy after McAnulty won the Wairarapa seat, with National MP Chris Bishop calling for McAnulty to give it up after the announcement of a Climate Change Emergency in December 2020.
I am selling my ute for charity.
— Kieran McAnulty MP (@Kieran_McAnulty) September 19, 2021
The time has come to upgrade.
437,000kms. It is pretty slow these days. It hasn't had a back door for years.
All proceeds going to the Rural Support Trusts in Wairarapa, Tararua District and Central Hawke's Bay.https://t.co/Gg71Y5C0WY pic.twitter.com/uWQxQRIiY8
The ute became controversial again after the Government announced its Clean Car Discount Scheme – dubbed by many as the ‘ute tax’ – when photos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern driving the ute during the 2020 election campaign resurfaced.
The ute is being sold on Trade Me with an opening bid of $2,000 already placed.
In his tweet, McAnulty said that all proceeds from the sale of the ute will go to Rural Support Trusts in the Wairarapa, Tararua District and Central Hawke’s Bay.
Morrinsville-based agribusiness leader Geoff Maber has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the King’s Birthday Honours, recognising a lifetime of service to agribusiness, the rural sector and the wider community.
Retired agribusiness professor and commentator Keith Woodford says it's a great honour to receive the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit title in the King's Birthday Honours List.
The Environment Court has directed Waikato Regional Council to make 20 specific changes to finalise a landmark plan to improve water quality in the Waikato and Waipā rivers.
The Government has announced it is backing a new initiative designed to grow grassroots rural wellbeing leaders.
Waikato vet Katrina Roberts came from Australia in 2002 as a veterinary student and never left.
The Government has announced a new rural scholarship designed to back emerging primary sector leaders.

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