Farmers help feed 40 million people
New Zealand’s ‘‘clean and green’’ brand is intricately connected to our tourism sector as well as the value of our exports so we must get this right. I would suggest that we have the equation wrong at the moment and are pursing unsustainable economic development at a significant cost to the environment, which ironically puts our future economic stability at risk. The Green Party want to help farmers transition to more sustainable and profitable land management.
DAVID BENNETT
This Government is investing over $400 million on freshwater cleanups. During the previous Government, supported by the Greens, just $29m was spent. All parties wish to have the cleanest rivers possible and National is taking constructive steps to make that happen. The Government announced a new National Policy Statement (NPS) on Freshwater Management which will deliver cleaner lakes and rivers with ambitious new targets for improving their recreational and ecological health.
The cost of meeting these new water quality improvements is $2 billion, which will fall on farmers to fence waterways and reticulate stock water, councils in improving their wastewater and storm water infrastructure, and taxpayers. So, it’s in situations like that we balance environment and economic outcomes to achieve the best interests for New Zealand.
Farming leaders have pledged to assist with improving the swimmability of our rivers. They care deeply about the natural resources also. It is important to recognise the environmental improvements that farmers have made in recent times. In the last five years it’s estimated that farmers have spent over $1b of their own money towards environmental measures on farm, with around 98 per cent of dairy waterways fenced off. Our farmers are some of the most efficient and environmentally sustainable in the world.
Our country of four million feeds 40 million people around the world. We are spending more than $20m a year on world leading research about reducing agricultural emissions and we are a leading member of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas emission, which we have contributed $65m to. National is working to find the balance between decreasing our emissions and increasing primary production. Labour, on the other hand, is advocating bringing the agricultural sector into the ETS which will impose even more cost on farmers everywhere.
PITA PARAONE
I certainly see (protecting our rivers and lakes from polluters) as not only aspirational but also viable. However the viability of it will depend on how and what processes are put in place to achieve this aim. I think that the Green proposal places too much responsibility on the rural sector for the state of many of our rivers.
Too much blame is being put on one sector of the community when in fact we all have a responsibility. This is why NZ First would take account of the views of key stakeholders when making environmental policy. NZ First wants to make sure that a balance is struck between economic progress and appropriate environmental goals and of which the State must take the lead. Ensuring that both rural and urban interests work together. Make developers responsible to their communities to avoid, remedy and mitigate adverse environmental effects.
Replace the Emissions Trading Scheme with a Carbon Budget framework. Advocate for government at all levels to work with industry to address pollution. Provide and promote conservation authorities with the necessary resources and legislative framework to ensure the protection of the only environment we have.
Where water is being bottled by commercial interests we have proposed, for almost the past 18 months, a royalty be charged per litre taken and that a proportion of that royalty be returned to the region from where the water is taken from to assist with the quality standard of our waterways.