David Carter
National Party Agriculture Spokesman

18 December 2006

Labour's hectare tax two faced

The Labour Government has been duplicitous through the actions of its own SOE, Landcorp, which is this country's biggest deforester, says National's Agriculture spokesman, David Carter.

He is commenting on the Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change document released today.

"Landcorp was obviously in the know because it has been rapidly getting rid of trees for pastures over the past couple of years.

"Labour's threat to impose a $13,000 per hectare tax on converting forests to agriculture is two-faced.

"Landcorp has been rushing headlong into deforestation, now Labour wants to slap a tax on farmers who want to do the same thing.

"The announcement today will be a huge incentive for farmers to tear down trees and woodlots immediately.

"Why leave the trees standing, when the only thing farmers will get in the future is a tax of $13,000/ha, often far in excess of the underlying value of the land?"

ENDS

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