M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
Get vaccinated - that's the message from the National Secretary of the Meat Workers Union to his members.
Daryl Carran says the union is quite clear that, as the meat industry is an essential industry, workers should be vaccinated.
He says while there is no mandatory requirement for this now, the idea of a mandatory health declaration to this effect would not be a bad thing.
Carran's come as the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) works on the details of requiring vaccinations within the primary sector workforce in situations where it will help to safeguard market access. MPI is currently having discussions with industry to frame up what this might mean in practice.
There's currently no legal requirement for mandatory vaccinations for market access purposes.
Carran says, from what he's heard, vaccination rates for meat industry workers varies from region to region.
"The further north in the country you go it would appear the vaccination rates are lower," he told Rural News.
Carran says he'd like to see a significant lift in vaccination rates for Maori and Pasifika workers who form the majority of the workforce in the industry in the North Island.
"Having a mandatory vaccination policy is not a bad thing when you have people working shoulder to shoulder in quite adverse climatic conditions within large or even small factories," he adds.
One of the concerns around Covid vaccinations that Carran raises is being talked about right across the primary sector: That is the risk of NZ products being rejected by a key market - such as China - because workers in a plant are not vaccinated, or worse that there is an outbreak of Covid in a plant.
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
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