Are they serious?
OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their fiscal fantasies.
OPINION: Your old mate notes that Conservation Minister and Green MP Eugene Sage was waxing lyrically about the recent legal protection of 11,800 hectares of new conservation land in the Mackenzie Basin.
Sage dubbed it a collaborative initiative between the Crown, iwi and landholders.
However, your canine crusader notes that one of the two landowners who agreed to transfer around 5000 ha of his land to the public conservation estate is Simon’s Pass Station owner Murray Valentine.
This is the same Murray Valentine who the Greens – and other environmental fundamentalists – have lambasted, castigated and abused for converting some of his land to a dairy farm.
One wonders if Valentine did not now have his successful dairy operation, would he have been able to afford to make such a generous contribution to the national conservation estate?
Relationships are key to opening new trading opportunities and dealing with some of the rules that countries impose that impede the free flow of trade.
Dawn Meats chief executive Niall Browne says their joint venture with Alliance Group will create “a dynamic industry competitor”.
Tributes have flowed following the death of former Prime Minister and political and business leader, Jim Bolger. He was 90.
A drop in methane targets announced by the Government this month has pleased farmers but there are concerns that without cross-party support, the targets would change once a Labour-led Government is voted into office.
Farmer shareholders of meat processor Alliance have voted in favour of a proposed $270 million joint venture investment by Irish company, Dawn Meats.
The former chair of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and farmer, Doug Leeder, says rural communities' biggest fear right now is the lack of long-term certainty over environmental regulations.