Northland Drought-like Conditions Concerns Peters
Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
17 JANUARY
2017
Northland Drought-like Conditions Concerns Peters
Northland MP, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, has invited the Minister for Primary Industries, Hon Nathan Guy, to see how dry Northland has turned.
“Virtually all of Northland is much drier than normal at this time of the year, with much of the region now running soil moisture deficits of 130mm plus,” says Mr Peters.
“This is why I wrote to the Minister yesterday inviting him to see for himself. With dairy prices not much above break-even and beef prices sliding, drought is the last thing Northland needs.
“While there’s not much we can do to make it rain, the government can fund advisory services through the Northland Rural Support Trust while IRD can show flexibility around filing and income equalisation.
“New Zealand First is further committed to bringing in Agricultural Debt Mediation as a step in receivership while looking to rein-in the god-like powers these receivers have.
“In the long term for Northland, water storage is the way forward because we do not want for rain here, just the means to store and use it.
“Until irrigation comes forward 98.7% of Northland’s farmland is reliant upon the sky to deliver water but drought concerns here are mounting,” Mr Peters said.
ENDS