National’s inaction on water helps Labour whack farmers

National’s weakness and inaction on water has allowed Labour to fill a political void, whacking farmers and growers while they’re at it, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“National could have pre-empted Labour’s announcement with a water policy that protected both the environment and farmers. Instead, their complacency has led to farmers being threatened with punitive, politically-determined charges that will flow on to consumers too.

“National needs to move away from first-come first-served water use to a system of tradeable use rights. Turning water use into a property right would mean farmers retain their current access to water, but they’ll also have an incentive to conserve it because they’ll have the option of selling their excess quota," says ACT candidate for Tauranga, Stuart Pedersen.

“That’s what their own Land and Water Forum recommended in 2014, giving National no excuse for inaction.

“Only ACT has been strong on this issue, in fact, David outlined our policy on this two and a half years ago.”

ENDS

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