Tuesday, 20 June 2023 15:14

Clear as mud

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: Following Beef + Lamb NZ's rather testy annual meeting - and the ousting of former chair Andrew Morrison - the organisation decided to go on a charm offensive in an effort to get farmers back onside.

It has run a number of farmer meetings around the country to get feedback on key issues - including the widely unpopular HWEN.

However, B+LNZ's new 'open and transparent' mode appears to be about as murky as Michael Wood's share portfolio, with media banned from attending the meetings.

B+LNZ claims banning media from the meetings would encourage farmers to be more 'open' about their concerns.

However, as one appalled farmer told yours truly, the ban made B+LNZ "more like the Freemasons by the day".

He believes the reason media attendance was thwarted was because it would have recorded and reported the real discussion.

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