Most New Zealanders agree that our national freshwater regulations are overly restrictive and should be repealed, a new survey shows.
The poll of 1000 randomly selected New Zealanders found half of those surveyed backed a repeal of the previous Labour Government’s rules for winter grazing and stock exclusion.
“Federated Farmers have led the charge against these heavy-handed, one-size-fits-none regulations from day one,” the organisation’s vice president and freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst says.
“Farmers care a lot about freshwater quality and the environment, and we want to see improvements, but these rules were never going to work.
“The Government needs to work with farmers to ensure rules are practical, cost-effective, and will actually achieve the result we all want to see.”
That means taking a localised approach where rules are put in place to address the unique challenges of each catchment and the priorities of the local community, Hurst says.
“Federated Farmers has undertaken a number of polls over the last few years using an independent market research firm. This allows us to get a much better understanding of what the public think on agricultural issues.
“Time and again we have found that, rather than a so-called rural-urban divide, most Kiwis actually agree with Federated Farmers’ policy positions on things like water, climate and over-regulation of farming.
“It is good for farmers to know the public is on their side, but this data also provides confidence for politicians to realise most Kiwis support what they are doing in unwinding these rules,” Hurst says.
The poll, conducted by Curia Market Research from 5-7 May, asked if the new Government should repeal the freshwater rules.
Half of all respondents agreed with repealing the rules, while 29% opposed and 22% were unsure.
People who party-voted National, ACT and NZ First were most supportive, but even among Labour voters support for repeal was at 32%, and among Greens at 24%.
The survey also probed whether New Zealanders believed the concept of Te Mana o te Wai, and a requirement to involve tangata whenua in managing freshwater, should be withdrawn.
Of those surveyed 46% supported removing these requirements, 31% opposed, and 24% were unsure.
Hurst says the results don’t surprise him and he believes there are a number of factors driving public sentiment.
“In these challenging economic times, I think there is a real recognition from the public of the importance of agriculture to New Zealand,” Hurst says.
“At $57 billion of export earnings, farming is the economic powerhouse and earns us the income our country needs to pay our way in the world.
“When farmers are doing well, the rest of the country seem to do pretty well too – but farmers have been struggling lately.
“A big part of that is the needless red tape and compliance costs that have sucked the confidence out of the sector and dried up investment in the sector.
“Those chickens are now coming home to roost as farmers produce less and can’t afford to spend any money. It flows through to the rest of the economy.”
Hurst says most farmers care deeply about the land and waterways.
“I’ve never met a farmer who didn’t care about the environment and making improvements over time. We want to do the right thing.
“Sure, there will be some bad apples or laggards, and we need rules to push them along – but don’t use that as an excuse to punish the vast majority.
“We need to make sure we’re taking a balanced and measured approach that protects the environment while still allowing farmers to farm.
“The environment is important but so is creating jobs and growing our economy. Families need to be able to put food on the table.”
He says the poll results may also reflect a general feeling of frustration with Government overreach in many aspects of New Zealanders lives.
“You need to move at a pace that people can keep up with and afford,” Hurst says.
“It’s not like farmers haven’t been investing huge amounts of money to improve environmental outcomes on their properties.
“We’re seeing similar costs pushed down on councils who are being forced to accelerate infrastructure investment. That cost is showing up in peoples rates bills.”
Hurst says the poll results show the coalition Government has the support of most New Zealanders as they look to wind back some of the Labour Government’s poorly-thought-through regulation.
“My message to farmers struggling with huge compliance costs, drought, and inflation is to hang in there.
“Federated Farmers have got your back and we’re working hard to cut through some of the red tape that has sucked the joy, and profits, out of farming.”
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
