Govt passing the cap around primary industry

The Government is going cap-in-hand to the primary sector seeking support to help eradicate the rapidly-spreading cattle disease Mycoplasma Bovis, National’s Primary Industries spokesperson Nathan Guy says.

“It’s my understanding that the Ministry for Primary Industries is canvassing the dairy and red meat industry for contributions to fund the response and eradication of this disease.

“In Parliament yesterday the Minister Damien O’Connor couldn’t say how much money the Government is prepared to contribute to fully eradicate Mycoplasma Bovis.

“Knowing how tight the Government’s finances are because of its other big-spending commitments – and even with financial contributions from industry – Mr O’Connor has an uphill battle convincing his Cabinet colleagues how critical funding of over $100 million actually is,” Mr Guy says.

With the Minister confirming in Parliament that 23 properties are infected, 38 are restricted and a whopping 1500 are considered ‘trace’ properties, National’s Biosecurity Spokesperson Barbara Kuriger says New Zealand farmers deserve clarity and transparency from the Government around its plans to trace and eradicate the disease.

“Farmers are already dealing with challenging conditions, given the worsening droughts in many of our regions, now the uncertainty around the Government’s plans to contain Mycoplasma Bovis is adding unfair stress to the rural sector.

“Farmers deserve to know what plans are in place to contain the spread, and the Minister needs to be more open with the information he has received.

“Damien O’Connor has confirmed that he is regularly updated by MPI on the spread of the disease so if this Government truly believes in openness and transparency, then he should share that information with our farmers.

“It is crucial that we know what plans are in place to contain and eradicate Mycoplasma Bovis. Farmers need timelines to work with but all they have is a vague indication from the MPI that it is working towards a deadline in May. This simply isn’t good enough,” Mrs Kuriger says.

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