Political Points
OPINION: Staying on Plan Change 1, NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones took to social media to gain some political points.
OPINION: Every time politicians come up with an investment scheme where they're going to have a crack at 'picking winners' with our money, the Hound cringes.
We've been down the road that Labour's 'Future Fund' promises to take us; one where the geniuses in the Beehive, half of whom can't remember how many rentals or shares they own, throw darts at a list of 'promising investment ideas'.
Your old mate isn't alone in fearing this approach.
One economist said the problem wasn't a shortage of capital in NZ but a poor investment climate and unstable policymaking that deters foreign investors.
Another said Labour's scheme amounted to "bureaucrats picking winners" while crowding out private investors.
Many of our MPs would struggle to walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone play real-life Monopoly with our money!
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson says his party – NZ First - isn’t opposed to the “trade element” of a free trade deal with India.
The managing director of a company seeking to build a solar farm in Canterbury says receiving fast-track approval is a “really positive outcome”.
Retiring MP and dairy farmer Mark Cameron is blasting the Green Party for proposing to ban the use of synthetic fertiliser and cutting cow numbers.
A huge reduction in ACC claims from on-farm accidents over the last five years is due to thousands of small, practical decisions being made in sheds, yards, paddocks and around kitchen tables across the country, says Safer Farms ambassador Lindy Nelson.
Wayne and Ange Moxham of Horowhenua have just been named as Fonterra's top organic performer for milksolids. As well as providing organic milk to Fonterra, the couple also sell Udderly Organic milk to more than 100 outlets in the region and are embarking on another exciting venture producing organic gelato. Reporter Peter Burke went along to see their farming operation.
Certainty and a clear understanding of the needs of rural communities is a critical outcome in the series of government reforms that are taking place at present.

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