Mystery Creek is best known as the home of Fieldays, but it became a political stage on Wednesday night as more than 200 farmers gathered for a debate on the issues facing rural New Zealand.
Beers, burgers and Silver Fern Farms lamb chops fresh off the barbecue drew farmers to the Hamilton event centre, where the major parties' rural spokespeople squared off over issues including tax, trade and the legislation governing the country's dairy industry.
Organised by Federated Farmers, DairyNZ and Beef & Lamb NZ (BLNZ) and moderated by Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis-Allan, the debate comes before the November 7 general election.
Three of the five MPs on stage held agricultural portfolios during the coalition Government's term.
BLNZ chair Kate Acland said the sector needed enduring policy from the Government and one that struck a balance between the environment and economic outcomes.
“We need one that prioritises relationships in trade and investment in science, innovation and people.”
A different Labour
Labour’s Jo Luxton front-footed her party’s fractured relationship with the sector after it left Government three years ago, saying she asked leader Chris Hipkins for the portfolio.
Her party had spent the past three years engaging with the sector.
“Chris Hipkins, as our Prime Minister, and me as the Agriculture Minister, we will be a very different Labour Party than we were three years ago. We’ve listened, we’ve acted, and we’ve learned.”
Nearer and DIRA
One of the first clashes of the debate came over NZ First's policy on the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA), known as Use It or Lose It, which would give qualifying manufacturers investing in new value-added dairy production access to up to 500 million litres of milk from Fonterra Co-operative Group per year for 10 years.
The party has been critical of the co-op's sale of its consumer business to Lactalis. Its agriculture spokesperson, Mark Patterson, is a farmer from Otago who held the rural communities portfolio in the coalition Government.
Patterson told the debate it had been 25 years since the Government had allowed Fonterra to form and, with it divesting Mainland Group, his party was putting “a bit of competitive tension back in the market”.
He described Fonterra as a “government construct”.
National’s Todd McClay made the point that it wasn’t the co-op that made the decision to divest; it was its farmer shareholders.
He said there was plenty of competition for farmers’ milk among processors in South Waikato.
“There are people who have Fonterra shares, that choose to go to the other milk companies and supply their milk and they’ll move back again … we do need competition but what I’m not sure we need is politicians setting the price.”
Act’s Andrew Hoggard, a Fonterra supplier, said competition has increased, but many smaller players have consolidated.
“We are not going to have any position where we are telling Kiwi farmers how their companies need to be run; it is best left to Kiwi farmers … not having a bunch of politicians destroy those companies.”
Fertiliser
According to the Green Party's manifesto, it wants to phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and act to reduce stocking rates on a catchment basis to improve the health of rivers and drinking water and reduce climate pollution.
Steve Abel, the Greens' rural spokesperson, said it wasn't a ban on fertiliser; rather, they wanted to lower the cap on fertiliser, currently at 190kg per hectare per year for dairy farming, to 125kg – about the current average use.
“There is no intention to do anything else with any other uses of nitrogen fertiliser.”
The Greens would phase it out over time rather than “switch it off overnight”, he said, but acknowledged there was no confirmed timeframe.
Tax and trade
Labour is campaigning on a capital gains tax on commercial and residential investment property with the money being ringfenced for health spending.
Luxton said it did not include “the family farm and it does not include your home” but did not give a firm answer on whether corporate-owned farms would be included.
This week, Dutch environmental group Both ENDS lodged a complaint with the European Commission, through the Single Entry Point, arguing NZ had broken two commitments in its free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union.
Asked whether the Greens knew the complaint was coming, Abel said they didn’t, but it had been planned for some time that there was a risk of one.
McClay said NZ was within its obligations and it took them seriously.
“We will be Net Zero by 2050. We’re only asking farmers to do what they need to, not more.”
On the Indian FTA, McClay said while it wasn’t perfect, it was a better deal than most other countries had got.
“We didn’t get enough dairy, but for most other sectors you will have an opportunity to go up there and beat the Australians.”
Patterson said if it were simply a free trade deal then NZ First would be fully supportive of it, but it wasn’t.
“The tariff on wool is like 3% so that’s not a game changer.”
Act’s Hoggard described the $35 billion target NZ had agreed to promote private-sector investment into India as “aspirational”.
“We’re going to have to do things that are a bit weird to get free trade in the future because everyone can send stuff to us without too many barriers.
"What do we have to offer them?”