Mackenzie dairying ‘a no-go’

There should not be dairying conversions in the Mackenzie Basin, the National Party’s spokesperson for agriculture Todd Muller said in Timaru yesterday.

Speaking to about 50 people about the Government’s proposed freshwater reforms, Muller’s comments came on the same day it was announced a consent has been granted by an independent commissioner allowing water to flow through six pivot irrigators at Simons Pass Station, south of Lake Pu¯ kaki.

The farm is undergoing a $100 million-plus dairy conversion that has attracted a Greenpeace protest and court action.

During the question and answer session touching on a range of environmental topics, Muller was queried about whether he would support dairying in the Mackenzie Basin, and he replied he was against it.

‘‘Part of the challenge of where we found ourselves in the early 2000s, there wasn’t enough sensible constraints around expansion, and I think dairying conversion in the Mackenzie Basin was the last mile.

‘‘I think the Mackenzie Basin is a unique, iconic landscape and there are other places where you can have dairying. It should be a no-go in the Mackenzie Basin,’’ he said.

Muller reiterated he was not necessarily against high country farmers using strategic irrigation.

‘‘We shouldn’t forget the value of water to unleash economic and environmental outcomes that are positive, particularly when it comes to irrigation and water storage.’’

In particular, Muller expressed concern about the Government’s freshwater reforms, which he saw as potentially damaging to the rural community.

‘‘There is a visceral sense there has been an onslaught of compliance and policy objectives that don’t have farming interests at heart,’’ he said.

‘‘I think where it comes from is a fundamental philosophy held by the Labour Party that the New Zealand economy must diversify from its historic dependence on agriculture.’’

The Government announced its National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management and the rewritten National Policy Statement in September, which aim to improve water quality for rivers, lakes and wetlands within five years and fix them within a generation

Muller said he thought many of the rules stemmed from Environment Minister David Parker’s view that ‘‘not only does he think the economy needs to change, he’s also has a fundamental view that this country’s environmental story has been severely eroded by farming in New Zealand’’.

There were countless stories of good practices that farmers have engaged in the last decade, Muller said, and there was a need to get those out to the public.

‘‘My view on the urban/rural divide is that it is a difference in terms of shared experience. When we talk freshwater in a rural context, you have a lived experience of the challenge of adjusting your business to suit the new environmental regulations from the regional councils.’’

‘‘. . . there are other places where you can have dairying.’’ Todd Muller MP