Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says National's agriculture policy will take the country backwards, not forwards.
He says the changes being proposed around environmental issues will put NZ's export growth at risk. "NZ relies on its sustainability credentials for its exports and this policy puts that in jeopardy," he says.
O'Connor says many of the policies in the document are not new but have simply been rolled into a document. He adds that the reason central government has taken a lead in setting national environmental standards was to remove any ambiguity and inconsistency at a local level.
The ACT Party's spokesperson on Primary Industries, Mark Cameron, gave the National policy a 6 out of 10 rating. He claims it says the right things but has too much compromise and a glaring omission of policy on He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) and protecting property rights from Significant Natural Areas (SNAs).
"ACT has the policy that will bring about real change for farmers. They can't just water down Labour and the Greens' anti-farming policies. They need to be scrapped entirely," he says.
Cameron says doubling the RSE cap is nice, but ACT believes the sensible policy change would be to remove the cap on the number of RSEs completely, like Australia's scheme.
"It's good they have adopted ACT's position on live animal exports. It is a $500m industry that the country needs, and I have a Member's Bill ready to go," he says.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…