Barbara Stewart MP
New Zealand First List MP
based in Hamilton

9 NOVEMBER 2016

URGENT DEBATE ON WAIKATO’S ‘FARMERGEDDON’ REFUSED

New Zealand First remains deeply concerned at the massive cost of government policies on Waikato farming, so much so, it attempted to secure a parliamentary debate.

“When you read of a drystock farm facing costs of around $784,000 to comply with a council plan then something has gone seriously wrong,” says Barbara Stewart, a Waikato-based New Zealand First List MP.

“This is why we wanted a debate on the report commissioned by Waikato Federated Farmers. This report reveals the practical impact of this government’s policies on Waikato farming families.

“The Speaker, the Rt Hon David Carter, however refused our request saying: ‘there is no ministerial responsibility for a report released by Federated Farmers, nor for the actions of a local authority’.

“Waikato Regional Council is bringing in these rules in response to this government’s National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. Yet it also reveals the abject failure of National’s 2013 Resource Management Act reforms because they were meant to require more robust analysis by councils of plan impacts.

“Given it fell to farmers to commission this analysis for themselves, the end result is potentially ruinous for many farmers and the Waikato,” Mrs Stewart said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media