Mission impossible
Agriculture and Trade Minister Damien O'Connor is off to Europe soon to try and breathe some life into free trade talks between NZ and the UK, and NZ and the European Union.
A former Irish Prime Minister says even if the UK and EU manage to work out a deal over Brexit it will be very limited and cause a lot of disruption.
John Bruton, who is now the EU’s Ambassador to the USA, says under a deal or no deal, the extra time it will take for goods to clear customs between the UK and EU will lead to long lines of trucks queuing up at customs posts. He reckons the British people will quickly face major disruptions, higher prices for goods and an increase in the bureaucracy – all of which will annoy them.
Looking back on Britain’s involvement in the European Union, Bruton says the country saw itself as psychologically as being outside looking in, rather than actually being fully inside the union.
He believes this view was, to a degree, promoted by some sections of the British media and it was this scepticism of Europe that eventually led to the Brexit referendum and subsequently why the country decided to leave the EU.
“The basis of the argument for Britain leaving EU was that it would restore their sovereignty and they would become free again. But they never worked out in any great detail what they would do with their freedom and, to some extent, that is why they are now having difficulty negotiating the Brexit deal,” Bruton claims.
“They never worked out…the sort of relationship they would like to have with the European Union and that is the problem they still have today.”
Bruton says when the result of the Brexit referendum was known, no British politician wanted to appear in any way pro-European – they wanted a clean break.
He says the result is the fairly remote sort of trade agreement that is still being negotiated.
“They even talked about an Australian-type agreement, but without realising that Australia didn’t have an agreement with the EU, which could be code for no deal,” he says.
Bruton says one of his biggest worries about Britain leaving the EU is that this will lead to instability in the north of Ireland and that the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement will falter. He says there is a risk of instability in the north resulting from Brexit.
In the next days and weeks ahead, Britain and the EU will try and hammer out a deal before the end of the year – where a no deal is more than possible.
Bruton believes that secretly Boris Johnson may in fact want this. He says if there is a deal and it requires the support of the government, that could be a problem for Johnson to get everyone to agree.
A Chinese business leader says Chinese investors are unfairly viewed as potential security risks in New Zealand.
In the first of two articles focusing on electrification in New Zealand, Leo Argent talks with Mike Casey, operator of the 100% electric-operated Electric Cherries orchard and founder of advocacy group Rewiring Aotearoa.
A Foundation for Arable Research initiative which took a closer look at the efficiency of a key piece of machinery for arable farmers - their combine harvesters - has been recognised at the Primary Industry NZ Awards.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has reiterated New Zealand’s ‘China And’ policy, adding that it wasn’t about choosing one market over another but creating more options for exporters.
A long running trade dispute between New Zealand and Canada over dairy access has been resolved.
New Zealand Police is urging rural property owners to remain vigilant and ensure their property is secure.
OPINION: Spare a thought for the arable farmer, squeezed on one side by soft global prices and on the other…
OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts…