Expert tips election tension on food, fibre
New Zealand can expect food and fibre to be a campaign battle ground at next year’s general election, consultants KPMG say.
In its latest issue of Agri Agenda, timed for the start of New Zealand’s biggest agricultural event, Fieldays, KPMG’s global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot said 2023 was shaping up to be a difficult year.
“As we move into Election 2023, we can expect battlegrounds to appear around areas of political tension,” he wrote in Agri Agenda.
“It is reasonable to expect our food and fibre sector will become a campaign battleground given existing tensions in the sector (particularly in relation to climate policy) which brings with it the risk of entrenching divisions amongst farmers and growers across the country and between urban and rural communities,” Proudfoot said.
“We have seen the consequences of a fragmenting society here in New Zealand this year, particularly in the occupation of the Parliamentary grounds and the subsequent riots.
“New Zealand is not immune to the societal pressures that are encouraging people around the world to look for candidates offering MAGA (‘Make Anything Great Again’) promises and solutions.”