• 2tapry@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Great summary. Looking forward to part 2.

    Living amongst the Southland Dairy community, I can honestly say I cannot believe the influence that they reign on Local Councils (regional and district) as well. They have repeatedly come up with schemes that delay any meaningful change and often claim best practice changes without actually measuring outcomes.

    • SamC@lemmy.nzOP
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, it is interesting the amount of influence agriculture has in this country. As it shows in the article, agriculture is a large part of our exports… but it’s not actually that big in terms of our total economy.

    • Dave@lemmy.nzM
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      1 year ago

      I’m guessing it’s something like if you implement something, farmers and corporates will complain to the media about how much it’s going to increase the price of food. Food price increases impact the average Labour voter more than the average National voter.

    • 2tapry@lemmy.nz
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      1 year ago

      Labour/Greens have tried so hard, but those in the industry simply won’t pay for their pollution. Time for some draconian action or NZ agriculture’s value on the world stage will plummet (or perhaps that should be is plummeting) . I bet they will have their hand out then too…

    • SamC@lemmy.nzOP
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      1 year ago

      I can’t help thinking after reading this that HWEN was really a mistake. Fair enough to consult at length with industry, but to effectively let them run the consultation process itself was taking it too far. In the end, the industry exists within the regulatory framework of NZ, and it has to adapt to that.

      I really think Labour would have been better off in the long run taking a harder line with the industry (while still showing they are listening), dealing with the blowback, but at least getting something across the line. I guess hindsight is 20/20 though.