Tuesday, 20 June 2023 15:14

Clear as mud

Written by  The Hound

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.

More like this

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Drill baby, drill!

OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.

Trop de Paris!

OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

A reliable, no-fuss workhorse

Showcased with a T7.245 at the recent National Fieldays, New Holland has expanded its T7 tractor range offering in New…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is…

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter