Relationship between Labour and rural sector broke down ‘too much’, Hipkins says

Labour leader Chris Hipkins speaks at the Fieldays Advocacy Hub next to Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford. (Image: BusinessDesk)

Riley Kennedy

Tue, 18 Jun 2024

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says his party’s relationship with the rural sector broke down “too much” towards the end of its time in government.Having won multiple rural seats in the 2020 election, Labour lost almost all of them in 2023 when the party left government after six years with 26.9% of the vote.It had been a controversial period in rural politics due to a raft of new environmental regulations, including the now defunct He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN), which sector representatives argued added to the cost and complexity of fa...

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