Author Archives: david

WE MAY now be into the third decade of the 21st century, but unfortunately much of NZ’s rural broadband and mobile coverage remains at third world levels. That is unacceptable in a modern, first-world country like New Zealand. How is … Continue reading →

CLIMATE CHANGE Commission chair Rod Carr’s foolish and ham-fisted comment comparing NZ’s farming sector to the country’s defunct whaling industry was an appalling way for him to kick off the consultation period of his organisation’s draft carbon emissions budget. It … Continue reading →

IT will be interesting to see if the Government, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern claimed on election night would govern for every New Zealander, will make much needed changes to its freshwater rules after recent feedback. Late last year, the … Continue reading →

THERE IS no doubt that 2020 has been a challenging year for New Zealand and the world. However, despite this, our country’s farmers have soldiered on doing what they do best – farming! The country’s farmers stepped up during the … Continue reading →

PRIME MINISTER Jacinda Ardern delivered a ‘nice’ speech at last week’s Primary Industry Conference, organised and run by Federated Farmers. Unfortunately, over the past term of government, the country has got used to the PM giving nice speeches, but not … Continue reading →

IT’S TIME for some real and fast action around allowing more seasonal workers into the country to help power NZ’s all-important agricultural and horticultural sectors. There are no more excuses for the hopeless lack of activity in this area, from … Continue reading →

ALMOST INVARIABLY every general election is described as the most important one ever. The fact is every election is important! Under our electoral MMP system it is too hard to predict with any certainty the final make-up of the next … Continue reading →

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER David Parker has had a long and tempestuous relationship with the farming sector. His latest fight with farmers has come about due to the new freshwater regulations that recently came into force – particularly the new rules around … Continue reading →

WHAT IS it with the current Government and its infatuation with setting up committees and producing endless reports? In the past three years, in the primary sector alone we’ve seen committees established and reports produced on the future of the … Continue reading →

It hasn’t been perfect, but we are one of the luckiest countries in the world thanks to him and his team. NO ONE can doubt the great job that Dr Ashley Bloomfield has done in protecting New Zealanders from Covid … Continue reading →