Simon Upton urges cross-party consensus on New Zealand environmental goals
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for cross-party consensus on the country's overarching environmental goals.
OPINION: Your canine crusader finds it ironic that the pompously self-proclaimed ‘champion’ of the provinces and ‘first citizen’ of regional NZ, Shane Jones, is single handedly destroying the regions.
Jones’ obsession with trees is seeing vast swathes of good farmland around NZ being planted in forests and resulting in the loss of people, infrastructure, jobs and services in rural communities up and down the country.
While in opposition Jones and his political master Winston Peters railled against foreign ownership – especially of farmland and meat companies.
However, as soon as Jones and Co put Jacinda into power they outlawed foreigners buying houses and farms but made it easier for overseas interests to buy land for forestry.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

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