Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Government Moves to Allow the Importation of Manure

Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
29 MARCH 2017

Government Moves to Allow the Importation of Manure

New Zealand First says the Prime Minister must rein-in Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy, who has his officials developing an Import Health Standard for animal manure.

“Few things this National government does surprises me anymore, but allowing in European animal manure to grow mushrooms really does beat all,” says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland, Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“We’re not short of what comes out the back of farm animals and if this wasn’t so short-sighted and stupid it would almost be comedic. Our farmers are under siege from all and sundry on the question of animal excreta. They are trying to deal with it so why on earth import more of it from offshore?

“Minister Guy says the risk of exposing Kiwi farmers and growers to an outbreak of something economically crippling, like foot and mouth disease, is low. So why further raise the risk of an already leaky biosecurity system.

“The imported wastes of farm animals is as high a risk as you could possibly imagine.

“We’re doing this because a misguided Mr Guy believes: ‘as a country that operates under basic fair trading principles, the local production of any substance does not preclude the importation of similar substances which produce higher quality mushrooms with substantially better yields’.

“In short, this minister is arguing that another country’s farm animal scatology grows mushrooms faster than ours. That’s so ridiculous that the prime minister needs to get a handle on this minister and fast.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“You’d also expect in this era of user-pays that the importer would be footing the bill for this work. Unbelievably MPI is treating this as a high priority so taxpayers are paying for bureaucrats to develop. That is a wasteful scandal.

“Officials were even sent to a manure production plant in the Netherlands while more information was gathered and the "risk assessment" revisited. What hidden influences came to bear for this taxpayer-funded tour to Europe to take place?


“It’s time for farmers to tell Mr Guy and Mr English that this idea is just scatology,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.