Damien O’Connor Criticises Budget 2026 as ‘Miserable’ for Rural New Zealand
A miserable budget that didn’t deliver much for anyone.
OPINION: The refusal of both Damien O'Connor and PM Jacinda Ardern to release some of the correspondence they received about Groundswell begs a question or two.
Who was this correspondence and why are the Government protecting them?
Your canine crusader suggests the Government - and especially O'Connor - has had a long, tetchy relationship with Feds and would have been happy to throw them under the bus for political gain.
According to a mate of yours truly, he reckons this correspondence will be from either Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ, or the Food and Fibre Partnership Group.
Funny this is that, at present, Groundswell seems more in touch with rural concerns than any of those three groups who are about as popular in farming circles as Ron Brierley would be at a kindergarten picnic!
In advance of the Budget, Finance Minister Nicola Willis put a clear damper on expectations and delivered accordingly.
Farmers should be cautiously optimistic as the 2026/27 season kicks off, says DairyNZ.
RaboResearch senior analyst Emma Higgins expects the 2026/27 dairy season to be another profitable one.
The new dairy season is kicking off with plenty of risks to the forecast farmgate price, both upside and downside, says ANZ agricultural economist Matt Dilly.
A potential showdown between the top two Federated Farmers leaders looms at the farmer lobby's annual meeting later this month.
FarmIQ Systems has developed a free land management app to help remove barriers to New Zealand farmers and growers adopting digital tools.

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