Luxon talks farming, politics
Christopher Luxon was in trueblue National territory last Tuesday.
Donning leather Chelsea boots and trousers flecked with mud from an earlier farm visit, he arrived at the dairy operation Danielle Hovmand runs north of Morrinsville in a crown limo that sat rather incongruously amongst the rows of utes.
Although Luxon’s background is more firmly in the business wing of the party, he was received amicably by the 50 or so Waikato farmers who had gathered to hear how the National party with Luxon at the helm would win an election and restore their confidence in the Government.
He wasn’t here to win votes, those were likely safe, but more so to demonstrate that in National farmers still had a voice at the table.
Luxon was first given a brief tour of Hovmand’s milking shed.
Running a 270 strong herd on the sandy soils of south Hauraki Hovmand, who won the Dairy Industry Share Farmer Award for the Auckland-Hauraki region, told Luxon her life as a contract farmer was interesting, but also had some downsides.
‘‘One massive thing every farmer is feeling is the cost of inflation and how that influences the sustainability of the progression through the industry,’’ Hovmand said.
She told of increasing power bills and that ‘‘in April last year a tonne of urea cost amount $400, and now it’s $1100’’.
It was a difficult balancing act she explained, between the rising price of farm inputs like fertiliser, and the farm gate milk price which was liable to fluctuate.
Luxon was quick to say that Hovmand’s story was a parable of what was happening in the Beehive as he saw it too.
‘‘We are totally and utterly going in the wrong direction at the moment . . . Essentially, getting to your issue about cost of living and why that’s a real challenge, we’re having all these surface level, band-aid type economic conversations about the symptoms, without tackling the problems.’’
The problems as Luxon identified them were three-fold; a high spending, top-heavy government ‘‘that has delivered worse outcomes on the economy, housing, health, education and crime.’’
Not dwelling on criticism, Luxon turned to praise.
Telling the crowd that they had ‘‘got us through the GFC (Global Financial Crisis), you got us through Covid, and we are going to need you to get us through a recession again. There is no single sector that offers the growth opportunity or that can advance our economy as much as agriculture . . .
‘‘If we just grow this sector by 2% each year we generate $37 billion by 2050 ... You need to be valued as a result.’’
Well versed in such business parlance, Luxon said that if elected ‘‘strategic’’ issues like immigration would be looked at, something Hovmand said was a pressing concern on farms.
‘‘We don’t even need skilled workers, we just need people who are going to show up and learn.’’
Not quite on electioneering
‘‘We don’t even need skilled workers, we just need people who are going to show up and learn. ’’ Christopher Luxon
footing just yet, Luxon told Hovmand when she asked if changes to Kiwisaver might be made so it could be withdrawn for purchases of cattle – like a share-milker might do – he told her that the party’s agriculture spokesperson Todd McClay, who was on hand, would consider the idea.
Luxon also broached agricultural research and development as something his party would place a renewed emphasis on, telling those gathered that while New Zealand is innovative it isn’t especially good at commercialising technological success.