Good Ol' Days
OPINION: NZ First knows its market and feeds it a constant diet of how ‘good’ the good old days were, promising to resurrect policies and icons of a bygone era.
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.
Strong support was given by the members of the coalition Government – National, ACT and NZ First.
Of course, the Labour Party, which did much of the heavy lifting in securing the deal under Damien O’Connor’s leadership, were also big supporters.
Surprisingly, so too were the Green Party – not well known for their support for commerce or commonsense – who back the deal.
However, the Maori Party voted against it.
Are the supposed guardians of all things Maori not aware of the huge reliance on the agricultural trade sector by Maori incorporations who stand to benefit hugely from better access to the EU?
Or of the special parts of the deal that specifically refer to and respect Maori customs?
There are none so blind who will not see.
Classified as an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act, the invasive weed velvetleaf can be resistant to many herbicides, making it difficult to control, while statistics note it has the potential to reduce yields by up to 70%.
Zespri's sales of kiwifruit for the 2025 season have broken all past records.
Trainee orchard manager Luke St John has won the Central Otago 2026 Young Grower regional title.
James Blair, an agronomist for AS Wilcox, has won the 2026 Pukekohe Young Grower regional title.
Fifty-eight selected individuals, companies, and start-ups will exhibit their ideas and cutting-edge solutions at the 2026 Fieldays Innovation Awards, with Amazon Web Services (AWS), who joins the programme in 2026 as overall sponsor.
A rare piece of New Zealand adventure history will be on display at this year’s Fieldays, with a pair of socks worn by the late Sir Edmund Hillary to take pride of place at the Norsewear site this June.

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