“Environment Minister David Parker has continued to ignore farmers and is refusing to extend the November 1st deadline for Freshwater Farm Plans,” says ACT’s Primary Industries spokesperson Mark Cameron.

“ACT has repeatedly asked the Minister for an extension because the Government has failed to do its job and get them implemented in time. I sent the Minister a letter requesting one as recently as 15 September, he finally replied saying he would not allow one more than a month later. Less than two weeks before the November 1st deadline.

“As it stands tens of thousands of farmers will have to plant their crops without any guarantee of consents and risk not being able to graze them next year.

“Figures obtained by ACT from local councils show that there could be up to ten thousand farmers in this position, the prospect of local councils working through thousands of consents in a timely manner is a pipe dream. It also adds more costs on to farmers.

“Parker says he won’t be issuing an extension because he says the figures returned to us by local councils and mentioned in his own Regulatory Impact Statement are “far higher than the expected reality”.

“If he has data which supports this claim he should front up with it, if he doesn’t then he should accept the problem at hand and issue an extension.

“Farmers increasingly need operational certainty amongst a regulatory landscape that is making it harder and harder for them to plan with confidence. Instead, Labour lumps more regulatory burden on them and threatens them with extra taxes on their animals’ burps.

“ACT is the loudest voice in Parliament when it comes to standing up for the rights of rural New Zealand. As a dairy farmer myself, I know that farmers are best environmentalists around. We kept the economy going through COVID. It’s time the Government gave us a break.”

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