Groundswell NZ to meet with CCC
Government officials will finally meet with the leaders of Groundswell NZ next month – but there won’t be a cabinet minister in sight. Members of the Climate Change Commission will travel to the South Island to meet with Laurie Paterson and Bryce McKenzie.
McKenzie said they would meet with a Groundswell member in Canterbury to find out what was happening there before coming to Southland.
‘‘I think it’s encouraging that they’re coming to see what is happening out in the country,’’ he said.
On top of the list of topics to discuss will be the Government’s draft agricultural emissions pricing proposal, He Waka Eke Noa, which will tax farmers for the emissions created on their farms.
Groundswell NZ presented a petition opposing a tax on food production, with 106,000 signatures, to Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri and Deputy Leader of the House Kieran McAnulty at Parliament last week.
McKenzie is a member of the Pomahaka Water Care Group, which aims to improve water quality in the Pomahaka Catchment. It aims to fence and riparian plant 100km of the Pomahaka river. ‘‘I’ll be showing them some of the stuff we’ve been doing on the Pomahaka, and I want to show them some reasonably flat farmland that is going into trees and the implications of what that does to rural communities,’’ he said.
Groundswell NZ had several zoom meetings with the Commission, including with Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment of New Zealand, Simon Upton.
‘‘We’re in a good position to be able to tell them what is going on around the country and we asked them to come and have a look, so they are,’’ McKenzie said.
Climate change Commission chief executive Jo Hendy said the commission currently had staff engaging around New Zealand as it developed its advice on the direction of the Government’s next emissions reduction plan. ‘‘Part of this will involve a couple of our staff travelling to Southland on a number of engagements, including taking up an offer Groundswell made in a previous meeting to visit a farm in Southland and look at some of the work they have been doing,’’ she said.
‘‘Engagement is at the core of what we do. We take a nationwide view and seek a variety of voices as we are developing our advice to help us understand different context and perspectives.’’