Tuesday, 28 March 2023 11:55

Doesn't care

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: The Hound was astounded at the glib response from Greens leader James Shaw to a written parliamentary question from ACT MP Mark Cameron.

Shaw was asked if he was surprised that farmer confidence was at a record low in the latest Farm Confidence Survey and if he believed one of the top concerns of farmer respondents was "regulation and compliance costs - a catch-all for the wave of reform, regulation, red tape and costs swamping the sector?"

Shaw replied: "The agriculture sector contributes 50% of New Zealand's gross emissions. Approximately 94% of our nitrous oxide emissions and around 91% of our biogenic methane emissions are from agriculture."

Cameron actually thought Shaw's office had mistakenly submitted the wrong answer, but they clarified it is exactly what the Climate Change Minister intended to say.

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OPINION: Proponents of regenerative agriculture tend to be naturally aligned with a 'green mindset', so they will be nonplussed with their new mates in the US of A.

Levy Scrutiny

OPINION: Mike Chapman, former chief executive of levy-funded HortNZ, has thrown out a challenge to farmers and growers to put their levy-funded industry organisations under the same scrutiny as fertiliser, electricity, labour and freight.

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

Stuffed!

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

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