Media Release

Feds Looks at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Policy on Offer

September 21, 2017


With only a day or two to go, and likely half the votes cast already, Federated Farmers has done a run through of the policies on offer for rural Kiwis in this election.

“We’ve tried to step back, take a look at what’s been proposed, and what hasn’t, put our ‘apolitical’ hat firmly on our heads and try to figure out who is offering the best deals for farmers in this General Election,” Federated Farmers president Katie Milne says.

Back in June, Feds released its 2017 Election Manifesto.  

“Since then we’ve been keeping track of an avalanche of election promises.  Not an easy task given that a number of policies were released quite late in the piece compared to previous election campaigns.  So, we’ve tried to match up what we asked for, with the policies that are now on the table.”

This is how we rate the policies suggested by various political parties.

We’ve looked at the policies we think have merit, and will help rural farming businesses grow, and we’ve looked at the ones which will hinder business growth and have the potential to undermine entire rural communities.  

The Good …

Biosecurity
We asked for greater investment in border protection. National, Labour and NZ First have all put forward policies which will strengthen our biosecurity systems.  “Biosecurity is one of the top three concerns for farmers, we are very relieved to see these three parties rate its importance highly.”

Trade
A continuing focus on developing and maintaining export markets is key to New Zealand’s economic survival.  We need the ‘new’ Trans Pacific Partnership, and we need to continue our efforts to upgrade existing trade deals.

The two largest parties have expressed a commitment to free trade but, while National has committed to confirming the TPP 11, Labour says it will seek to renegotiate the TPP-11 in order for it to be able to ban overseas investment in property. Which Feds believes is very risky.   NZ First opposes the TPP and wants to focus on bilateral deals.  While we agree with negotiating more bilateral deals, the TPP is currently still the best game in town.

“We produce the world’s finest food, and we need to get the world’s best customers to buy it. Our commitment to international trade must continue,” Katie says.

Internet Access
Good progress continues to be made on extending broadband through the Ultra Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband initiatives.  All parties seem keen on this investment to continue. Big ticks all round.

Rural Security
Good to see National commit to continuing the work that’s being done on strengthening rural policing.  “We asked for this in our manifesto, and it’s good to see we’ve been heard.”

Science
National’s promise to nearly triple the coffers of the Sustainable Farming Fund (similar to the Green Party) and a commitment to doubling the value of New Zealand’s Agritech Industry is great. “All major parties have policies to bolster research and development, which is all good by us.”

The Bad …

Skills Shortages & Immigration
An issue that should be about skills shortages, not the political football around immigration it has become. None of the parties have policies which take immigration seriously enough. “This issue is a political hot potato, and because of that, we are not dealing with our industry’s desperate need for good staff,” Katie says.

There’s a glimmer of common sense in the debate thanks to Labour’s idea of adjusting the Skilled Migrant requirements according to urban and rural need.  The Opportunities Party says it will change visa rules to attract high skilled migrants, which is good, and the ACT Party says it will oppose new restrictions on immigration, which is at least better than making new ones. And while National’s policy is currently unhelpful for dairy farmers, they have committed to a process to develop industry specific solutions.

RMA Reform
There isn’t much for farming in any of the debate about RMA reform.  Most parties seem committed to reform that will help expedite urban development but little or no recognition of the need to make the RMA work better in the rural setting.

And The Ugly ….

Water
“Whichever way you want to look at it, targeting only those farmers who use irrigation in the way proposed is unfair,” Katie says.

“We’ve spoken to Labour about its water tax policy, we’ve expressed our concerns and we will continue to do that. We understand what they are trying to do, but we believe they don’t appreciate that irrigation is not just used by dairy farmers, and is not the evil polluter they’ve been convinced it is and a water tax simply won’t solve the problems.”

The National government has developed and encouraged a targeted catchment approach to managing freshwater, and this needs to continue. Meanwhile, the Maori Party supports Fed Farmers’ call for the end of the use of Water Conservation Orders to manage water ways.

Climate Change
The policies of the Greens and Labour are not good news for agriculture. We initially thought that the Greens policy wasn’t as bad as Labour’s, (because they talked about scrapping the Emissions Trading Scheme) but on reflection it’s a toss-up as to who has the worst policy.

“Putting agriculture into the ETS or imposing hefty carbon charges might reduce NZ emissions but it will impose significant cost on farmers and force them to cut production and revenue, and therefore NZ’s export returns.

“What both parties fail to look at in this regard is the global context. It forces us into scenarios that potentially reduce production from New Zealand, resulting in a need for increased production elsewhere, from a less carbon efficient competitor.”

New Zealand is already setting the benchmark for low emissions food production.

Workplace Relations
The Labour Party’s innocuously described “Fair Pay Agreements’ sounds like code for a time warp back to the ‘70s. Anybody still remember strikes? Strikes in the agricultural services industries – like meat processing plants, transport and communications – would be enough to cripple very significant slices of the primary sector. Collective bargaining is still part of the landscape, the difference with Fair Pay Agreements is that entire industries will negotiate pay and conditions at the same time. That means that when there is a strike, it’s not just one employer, but an entire industry.

“Dairy companies can’t go on strike without it having a very immediate impact on every dairy farmer, because of the highly perishable nature of the product.  In the meat sector, the instability of ongoing and unresolvable industrial action, impacts on our international markets, very rapidly.  It makes us look unreliable, and they go elsewhere to buy.”


ENDS
Katie Milne, 027 424 4546