Friday, 03 July 2015 00:24

You sure?

Written by Rural News Group

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

The hound reckons Labour’s agriculture spokesman Damien O’Connor may be treading on thin ice in calling for Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings to take a pay cut due to poor performance of the dairy co-op.

O’Connor suggested Spierings should take a voluntary pay cut and that such a move would restore credibility with farmers and staff. However, a mate of yours truly wondered if O’Connor and his Labour colleagues would heed their own advice? The Hound’s confidant suggested that O’Connor, his struggling leader Andrew Little and the rest of the Labour caucus could also take a ‘voluntary’ pay cut for Labour’s continuing woeful performance. He suggests what is good enough for the goose (Fonterra) should be good enough for the gander (Labour).

More like this

Damien O’Connor: NZ united on global trade

When it comes to international trade, politicians from all sides of the aisle are united, says Labour's trade spokesman Damien O'Connor.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Drill baby, drill!

OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.

Featured

Dairy Leaders Gather at DEL Forum to Drive Sustainable Farming in New Zealand

This week, more than 100 farmers, policy makers, politicians and other industry influencers will gather at the annual Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) Forum to workshop positive environmental change for New Zealand dairy.

Strong Interim Results See Fonterra Boost Farmgate Milk Price to $9.70/kgMS

Fonterra says its interim results show continued momentum in its performance, with revenue of $13.9 billion in the first half of the 2026 financial year.

NZ Cheese Awards 2026: Whitestone Cheese Takes Top Honour with Monte Cristo

New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.

Purchased Maize Identified as Likely Source of Velvetleaf Incursion

Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.

Election 2026: Freshwater Protection at Centre of Fish & Game Manifesto

Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.

FAR Urges Maize Growers to Check Crop Maturity Early for Optimal Silage Quality

With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.