Dear John

Labour has hit Southland farmers hard in the past six years.

It has introduced more than 20 new or amended regulations that directly affect the ability of businesses in our agricultural sector to operate, since 2017.

Many of these new rules are simply unworkable - you know it - we know it, but Labour just has no idea.

Labour has also threatened to close 20 percent of sheep and beef farms by 2030 with its proposed emissions pricing scheme.

This Government does not understand rural people, or the farming sector in Southland, or anywhere else in New Zealand.

It has overridden local councils and imposed one-size-fits-all rules with massive compliance costs for farmers, often for limited or no environmental gain. 

Labour has used rules and regulation to try and run farming from Wellington.

This all ends under National. 

We will cut Labour’s red tape to ensure farming regulations in Southland and across the country are fit for purpose while actually protecting the environment. 

We’ll return the management of local issues to local councils. And we’ll ensure rural communities have the tools they need to continue to provide New Zealand, and the world, with high quality, low-carbon food and fibre.

National supports practical environmentalism. National believes regulation should target environmental outcomes without telling farmers how to run their businesses.

National will:

Deliver smarter rules for the future

• Introduce a 2-for-1 rule – for every new agriculture regulation, two must be removed.
• Establish a Rural Regulation Review Panel to consider all regulations affecting farmers.
• Require new rules to be assessed for their costs to farmers with findings published.

Supercharge the rural economy

• Double the RSE worker cap from 19,000 to 38,000 and create a path to residency through the Accredited Employer Work Visa.
• Ban foreign farm-to-forest conversions for carbon farming
• Allow normal rural activities on Highly Productive Land.

Get Wellington out of farming

• Replace one-size-fits-all rules with local decision-making.
• Focus environmental protection on areas of high environmental value.
• Improve stock exclusion rules.

For full policy details, click here. 

Finally, as always, I’m here to help.

Please contact me at my Invercargill office on Ph- 03 218 5060, or email me at: [email protected] 

Kind regards,

Penny Simmonds
http://pennysimmonds.national.org.nz/