Farmers fight emissions methane plan
Up to 25pc loss of agricultural food production feared from move
Aconvoy of about 20 tractors, utes and cars converged on central Te Puke last week as part of a nationwide rural protest against the Government's livestock emissions plan.
The ‘We're Not Going to Take It' protests, organised by Groundswell, were held in dozens of towns and cities — but the number of protesters has been called “embarrassing” with only one tractor seen on the streets of Wellington.
In Te Puke, the convoy began at Te Puke Sports Club and travelled to the town centre via Jellicoe St, doing a lap of the CBD.
Vehicles carried signs such as “no farms, no food”, “support our great NZ farmers”, “clean out the wasp nest in Wellington” and “no bowing to the New World Order”.
Later in the day, a convoy including more than a dozen vehicles drove through Mount Maunganui.
Te Puke protest participant Dave Mitchell said he was not part of the Groundswell movement but felt, for his children and grandchildren, he needed to make a stand.
“It's not just rural — it's going to affect towns.”
He said as a result of Government policies he believed up to a quarter of agricultural food production could be lost.
“What that means for rural towns that rely on farms for their income [is] . . . businesses are going to close because there won't be that production anymore.
“The worst part about it, and the kicker and the irony, is that 20-25 per cent we stop producing will be produced in a country with a worse pollution record than we have, so we are not helping the environment, we are actually making it worse.”
In Wellington, about 100 protesters gathered on Parliament's lawn.
Agriculture minister Damien O'connor said he thought the size of the crowd was “embarrassing”, given it was likely smaller than organisers expected, the NZ Herald reported. He went to meet with any aggrieved farmers.
The protest was sparked by a Government proposal that would mean farmers paying for agricultural emissions in some form by 2025.
The Government has said its proposal is pragmatic and included many recommendations of the He Waka Eke Noa Partnership of agriculture sector groups for farm-level emissions pricing, with modifications based on Climate Change Commission advice.
Farming lobby groups say it goes too far and will only push emissions offshore, while environmental groups say it does not go far enough.
The Government has committed to a 24-47 per cent reduction in methane emissions from agriculture and landfills by 2050 (compared to 2017 levels), alongside a net-zero emissions target.