Government Mulling Plan Change 1 Intervention
The Government is looking at intervening on behalf of Waikato farmers who face new regulations around agricultural land use while Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms are underway.
OPINION: The Hound reckons any claims that Ag Minister Damien O’Connor is in the ‘wrong party’, will have been well and truly dispelled by comments he made at the recent Red Meat Sector Conference.
In a political discussion – held at the conference between O’Connor and National’s ag spokesman Todd McClay –the Minister told the audience of 300 meat industry people that we “probably don’t have enough tax in this country… we are going to have to contribute more!”
Apparently, O’Connor’s desire to tax New Zealanders more went down with this audience about as well as a fake meat burger!
The fact is that Labour wants more tax despite the fact it is now collecting $100 million more a day in tax than when they came to power in 2017!
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.

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