Jamie Mackay on why the rural sector hates the Government

Jamie Mackay writes:

Would it be unkind to say you’ve got to go back to the days of David Lange and Rogernomics to find a government so reviled by the rural sector?

And it’s rather ironic that Labour finds itself in a unique electoral situation because of the support it garnered from the provinces in the 2020 election. A case of be careful what you vote for. A perfect storm of Covid, an empathetic PM, fear of the unknown, the fear of the Greens and a totally dysfunctional National Party, combined to produce the first majority government in MMP history.

The Government’s recent response to He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) and the resultant modelling was an abrupt wake up call to rural New Zealand and those self-same provinces that swept Jacinda Ardern into power.  …

And we may never see the likes of 50,000 Kiwi farmers again if we lose 20 per cent of our sheep and beef production and six per cent of dairy. The numbers being modelled are frightening, even if they’re only half correct. …

So, apparently, we’re staring down the barrel of a 24 per cent drop in sheep and beef revenue. That’s nearly $3 billion a year. That pays for a heck of a lot of health and education. It will be the death knell for provincial NZ. We will become the pine plantation of the South Pacific. That’ll be good for tourism (and hay fever)! A dumping ground for wealthy offshore polluters who want to offset their emissions.

Take the President of Federated Farmers, Andrew Hoggard’s, recent comments on India’s dairy industry and the resultant ‘carbon leakage’ if we reduce production and less efficient nations take up the slack.

India’s currently at 23 per cent of world milk production, with ambitions to keep growing at six per cent per annum to be at 43 per cent in 20 to 30 years. They’ve got a carbon footprint per litre of milk that’s about 10 times ours. And when questioned on what sustainability meant to them, they said: “a full belly”.

Hoggard, quite rightly, questioned whether New Zealand’s place in the world is “cutting our own production, cutting our own throats, or is it about taking our know-how and can-do attitude to other agricultural systems in the world?”

The past two years have been the most divisive of my lifetime. We’re all rowing in separate directions. I think it’s called being up the creek without a paddle.

Mackay is right that there is huge anger in the provinces.