Farmers hammered yet again

The ACC Minister’s being short on the truth when she claims that ACC levies will “remain the same or decrease for 2003/2004,” says National’s Agriculture spokesman, David Carter.

“She’s obviously forgotten about the rural sector, which comes as no surprise with this Government. Farmers are in fact facing a staggering 12.4% hike in levies, on top of a 15% increase last year.

“The Government will be hard-pressed to justify this big jump. Figures National has obtained show that accidents within the farming sector have remained stable over the past year and there has been no increase in on-farm fatalities.

“When Labour renationalised accident insurance, it guaranteed rates wouldn’t increase. Some farmers are now paying 60% more than they were under the previous competitive model established by National.

“This callous disregard for farmers shown by the ACC Minister will not be forgotten,” says Mr Carter.

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