Damien O’Connor Criticises Budget 2026 as ‘Miserable’ for Rural New Zealand
A miserable budget that didn’t deliver much for anyone.
He says a big part of tracking down the spread of M.bovis was reliance on the NAIT system, but lack of farmer compliance slowed this process.
“There will be changes to the system and recommendations have been put forward. MPI needs to act quickly in situations like this,” he told Rural News.
“In future we have to ensure there is compliance with NAIT at every level and ruthlessly enforce those requirements because the costs to the taxpayer and industry have been huge in terms of M.bovis.”
O’Connor sees no issues with NZ’s trading partners over M bovis. They value the way NZ is upfront in dealing with the issue.
