Tuesday, 21 September 2021 15:30

Dirty tricks?

Written by  The Hound

OPINION: An email from Fed Farmers' president Andrew Hoggard to Ag Minister Damien O'Connor saying some unkind things about the Groundswell movement - before its big countrywide protest in July - was recently released to a media outfit under an Official Information Act (OIA) request.

This has put Feds in a bad light and helped drive a wedge between it and Groundswell.

The Hound suggests this was a deliberate, Machiavellian move by O'Connor to foster ag sector infighting and take the heat off his government's imposition of numerous anti-farming regulations.

It turns out that O'Connor (and PM Ardern) refused to release other communications about Groundswell in the same OIA request, "to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation..."

More like this

A Good Start

OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of times, but your old mate reckons he would’ve still been sweating on getting it right when cutting down a pine in front of the cameras, as he did above Queenstown during a recent pre-Budget announcement around extra funding for wilding pine control efforts.

Editorial: A Sensible Decision

OPINION: For thousands of Southland farmers, this week would have tipped them into the non-compliant category when it comes to following regional freshwater plan rules. But the Government has stepped in to give them the clarity they deserve.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

Look Beyond Features

Technology adoption on New Zealand dairy farms has accelerated rapidly over the past decade.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A Good Start

OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of…

Smith V Fonterra

OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter