increase font size
OPINION: Your old mate notes that the Dutch Pro-Farmer Party recently swept the elections in the country, very much upsetting the status quo.
The surprise victory is widely seen as a protest vote against Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government and some of his policies, including a goal to slash nitrogen emissions.
The Farmer Citizen Movement - known by its Dutch acronym BBB - won 15 seats in the 75-seat upper house of the Dutch national parliament, level with the bloc formed by left-of-centre Labour and Green parties.
This will now compound problems for Rutte in his attempts to drastically slash pollution from the country's agriculture, industry and transport sectors to protect vulnerable natural habitats.
The BBB's electoral success underscore a deep-rooted resentment of mainstream politics in The Netherlands that spreads far beyond the party's farming power base.
Perhaps NZ politicians should take note!
OPINION: This old mutt well remembers the wailing, whining and gnashing of teeth by former West Coast MP and Labour Agriculture Minister Damian O’Connor when Chineseowned Yili took over the troubled dairy company Westland Milk a few years back.
OPINION: Your canine crusader gets a little fed up with the some in media, union hacks, opposition politicians and hard-core lefty whiners who claim the answer to all the country’s current financial woes is to tax the rich even more.
OPINION: Readers of this column will know that your old mate has been a long-time critic of $55 million of taxpayers’ money handed out to ‘favoured’ media outlets via the Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF) through NZ on Air by the previous government.
OPINION: The Hound reckons school teachers like nothing better than to complain constantly about how tough things are for them and that their generous holidays are all spent ‘marking school work and preparing for next term ahead’.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.
OPINION: This old mutt well remembers the wailing, whining and gnashing of teeth by former West Coast MP and Labour…
OPINION: Your canine crusader gets a little fed up with the some in media, union hacks, opposition politicians and hard-core…
