Urban-rural divide
Canty farmer’s son speaks out
The National Party would have us believe a lot of things. Unfortunately, some of those things they would have us believe ($11.7 billion hole, anyone?) have crossed the line from political twist to alternative fact.
So, on the phone with my father the other day, I was only marginally surprised to hear him say: ‘‘Under Labour you won’t get any inheritance, son.’’
Hmmm. Inheritance tax is a big issue for farmers. Many, like my father, are multi-generational. ‘‘The farm can stay in the family’’ is the understandable view. Farms have huge capital and low margins. An inheritance tax could easily be unaffordable to those taking over.
A farm is more than a business, it’s a home. A base. A special place in the culture of the family. My mother and father host family Christmas every year on the farm. If Dad lost it, it would be talked about for generations. So an inheritance tax is a big issue. But not a relevant one.
‘‘Labour aren’t talking about an inheritance tax, Dad.’’
‘‘Yes, they are. They announced it this week.’’
‘‘I have been following this pretty close. They haven’t.’’ ‘‘Well they did.’’ ‘‘Ahh, no … I have an article in front of me. It’s from yesterday. It says: ‘Jacinda Ardern has refuted National leader Bill English’s suggestions Labour is looking at an inheritance tax – and says any attempt to say so is ‘‘scaremongering’’.’’’ ‘‘Oh, well. I already voted.’’ When spread in rural communities, such a lie works to reassure farmers that National is their party. But that is true. Right? Historically, it is. My folks remember how National’s Muldoon thought big, made money cheap and encouraged farmers to borrow to invest. And they remember watching neighbours and friends lose their farms on the back of the Lange Labour Government’s floating of the currency, removing all agricultural subsidies and relinquishing control of interest rates. These policies devastated farming communities. It was a disaster. And it was Labour’s fault!
The farmers haven’t forgotten – National won’t let them. ‘They’ll do it again, you know.’
Of course, the Labour Party of 1983 is not the Labour Party of 2017. But now, with their ‘discriminatory’ water tax, Labour have shown their true colours. They’re forcing a rural/urban divide. They only want to punish farmers, the backbone of the economy. And don’t even mention the Greens… They want to ban farming altogether. That’s the alluring story National want us to believe.
New Zealanders respect their farmers. When I first moved to the city I found little of the rural resentment I had been told was there. But it has grown under National as concerns over intensification, neither new nor controversial, have become more urgent. When polled earlier this year Kiwis came back with clear majorities in favour of a water tax even if it meant an increase to consumer costs. They just want clean rivers.
If, as the evidence rolled in, Government had taken serious steps to mitigate New Zealand’s freshwater crisis, this wouldn’t be an election issue. If the dairy industry hadn’t fought tooth and nail against environmental regulation, then a ‘‘radical’’ water tax would not have been proposed.
And now, as farmers throw their pitchforks in the air at the behest of National, urban Kiwis roll their eyes. They know we are a farming nation. They also know the perception of New Zealand being ‘‘100% Clean and Green’’ is everybody’s economic asset. This perception is fading. We know it, they know it, and Al Jazeera ran a slick documentary this month on the disconnect.
Sure, a water levy might not be the best approach. Establishing environmental standards and enforcing them, supporting farmers into systems that adhere to those standards, going right for the problem by targeting nitrogen, these are policies long overdue. These are Green Party policies.
A water levy is a populist policy, the result of Government ignoring public sentiment. No one was talking water levy last election, but plenty worried about water and New Zealand’s clean brand two elections ago. The Crown Research Institute Niwa, for one. The longer we sit on our hands, the more the resentment grows.
My message to my father and the rest of rural New Zealand is this: a National victory may add to growing resentment, in which case expect the opposition to demand harsher policy. This narrative of town versus country is propagated by one party alone. By accepting it you are laying down a gauntlet against an enemy that you are creating. An enemy you cannot beat.
My father won’t vote based solely on the water levy. Running a sheep and beef farm, irrigation is not his concern. But the rural community is his team, these are his peers and their fears are his fears.
‘‘It sets a bad precedent, Rupert.’’ You’re right Dad, but this Government set it.
Rupert Morris grew up on a North Canterbury sheep and beef farm. Having lived between city and country since his teenage years, he is now in Dunedin working on a Masters of Science Communication.