New Zealand agriculture will pay

David Carter - National Agriculture Spokesperson

The Government is ignoring the country’s key agriculture sector groups in its blind rush to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, says National’s Agriculture spokesman, David Carter.

“Not one of the six submitters to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee today showed support for the Climate Change Response Bill.

“Federated Farmers and Meat New Zealand, among others, all argued that ratification would compromise the competitiveness of New Zealand agriculture. We cannot afford to hand a competitive advantage to non-ratifying countries, especially our main agricultural rivals.

“We know that the United States and Australia are refusing to ratify Kyoto. We know that New Zealand farmers’ costs will rise because of Kyoto. And we know that we must compete vigorously with the U.S. and Australia for many of our export markets.

“All submitters today acknowledged the need for a global solution to atmospheric warming. But until such an agreement is in place, it’s foolish to put New Zealand agriculture in jeopardy.

“Our agriculture sector is sending a clear message to the Government that Kyoto ratification will put our agricultural export revenue at risk. I urge it to listen,” says Mr Carter.

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