What is the ‘Howl of a Protest’ about? Today, farmers from Kaitaia to Southland took to the streets to protest seven specific Government policies and regulations regarding freshwater management. Per Groundswell NZ, these seven policies are:
1) The National Policy Statement on Freshwater must be scrapped. Catchment groups and Regional Councils should have jurisdiction over freshwater guidelines.
2) Regulations for Significant Natural Areas such as wetlands and landscapes, must be abandoned or re-written immediately, with funding redirected to proven systems like the QEII National Trust.
3) The National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity should be scrapped. This policy punishes the landowners who have already been proactive in conservation, turns biodiversity into a liability, and wastes millions of dollars.
4) Seasonal rural workers from overseas should be prioritised through MIQ: we urgently need rural contractors, horticulturalists, dairy farmers and fruit-pickers.
5) The NZ Emissions Trading Scheme is seeing large areas of farmland incentivised into pines and a significant cost-burden borne by the world’s most emissions-efficient farmers.
6) The Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill applicable to our high-country farmers, goes over and above existing council regulations.
7) The Government’s Clean Car Package rebate scheme must be scrapped immediately. Utes have no electric alternatives and they are an essential vehicle to New Zealand’s economic heavy-lifters.
As one Farmer stated, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”