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.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the Government didn’t hold an inquiry into rural banking because the sector didn’t ask for one.
Speaking at the Rural Issues Debate last night in Hamilton, O’Connor backed Federated Farmers’ call for the next government to hold an independent inquiry into rural banking.
But he criticised Feds for not standing up to the banks earlier.
“I say, good on you Federated Farmers for stepping up for farmers.
“But this hasn’t been done before: Federated Farmers have never stood up and taken on the banks, as they should have.”
O’Connor says the farming sector is wary of talking on the banks because they all have mortgages.
“It’s very hard to take them on if you are beholden to them and they can be quite vindictive and vicious.”
In June, the Government announced that the Commerce Commission is to look into competition in the banking sector for personal banking services. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said then that record high profits had raised concerns the industry was not working well for New Zealanders.
O’Connor says the Government would have included rural banking into that inquiry had Federated Farmers asked for it.
“But if the sector isn’t saying there’s a problem, why would the Government overreach.”
O’Connor blasted National for planning to remove debt mediation legislation put in place by Labour.
But National ag spokesman Todd McClay claimed the Commerce Commission inquiry on the eve of the election was “to divert attention from high interest rates faced by homeowners and consumers”.
“If you were serious, this would have been done much earlier or you would have joined National when we called for an inquiry into banking in Parliament.”
NZ First candidate Mark Patterson says his party would go after banks and supermarkets.
Patterson says there should be an inquiry into rural banking.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
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.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
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