Displaying items by tag: JACINDA ARDERN

Democracy by stealth – that’s how a highly-respected dairy industry leader Ben Allomes is describing the present Government’s consultation with farmers over agricultural emissions and other issues.

A dairy industry leader is calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to take the pressure off farmers and give them more time to properly understand and digest the huge raft of changes that the Government is trying to push through before next year's election.

OPINION: It seems that the high level of farmer anger over the Government's emissions pricing plan is finally reaching levy-paying bodies.

The battle lines are being drawn between the small, isolated northern Hawke's Bay farming town of Wairoa, pop. 8000, against the big guns of Jacinda Ardern and what they see as her anti-farming government and its plans to unfairly tax agricultural emissions. Peter Burke reports...

OPINION: This old mutt notes that at the recent release of the Government's response to agricultural emissions, there was only the PM, Ag Minister, Climate Change Minister and local Labour MP - a non-descript, little man with a beard - fronting up to media.

Confusion and outright anger reign across rural New Zealand as farmers and communities try to get to the bottom of the Labour Government’s proposal to effectively make a large number of sheep and beef farmers unprofitable in its quest to get them to pay for their agricultural emissions.

OPINION: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used a hay bale for a podium while announcing the latest consultation documents on the Government's emissions policy.

OPINION: Talkback radio was just one forum running hot with angry takes on the decision to tax farmers for livestock farts last week. The anger, and support for farmers, went much wider than rural communities.

OPINION: If the recent bloodbath the left suffered in the local election lurch to the right wasn't a clear enough sign that Labour are out of touch with the electorate, then the Government's farm emissions policy announcement is surely the final proof.

The Government has released a proposal to reduce agriculture emissions for consultation which includes farmers paying a core levy from 2025.