Reviewing on-farm regulations will be a top priority for New Zealand’s new agriculture ministers, with changes to freshwater rules expected by Christmas.
The National Party’s Todd McClay was appointed as Minister of Agriculture last week, supported by associate ministers Nicola Grigg (National), Andrew Hoggard (ACT) and Mark Patterson (New Zealand First).
Hoggard and Patterson are both immediate past presidents of Federated Farmers and active farmers.
McClay said the three coalition parties had similar policies when it came to the primary sector, and he expected them to work well together.
“We want to focus on outcomes, not rules,” he said, adding that he planned to establish a Rural Rule Review panel within his first 100 days in office, and wanted to “deal with the freshwater rules forced on farmers” by Christmas.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
New Minister of Agriculture Todd McClay says he’s delighted with his new role but feels the weight of its responsibility, because of how important the primary industry is to New Zealand’s economy. [File photo]
“I’m keen to roll the sleeves up and do what farmers do – get on with it.”
McClay is also Minister of Forestry, Minister for Hunting and Fishing, Minister for Trade and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs.
His fellow National MP and Associate Minister of Agriculture (Horticulture) Nicola Grigg is also Minister of State for Trade and Minister for Women, and the two are expected to work closely with Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds, Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka, Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts and Associate Minister of Climate Change Nicola Willis.
Iain McGregor/The Press/Stuff
Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg, who comes from a farming background, is one of three associate ministers of agriculture.
ACT Party MP Andrew Hoggard will be doing a lot of juggling as Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Food Safety, Associate Minister of Agriculture (Animal Welfare, Skills) and Associate Minister for the Environment, while keeping an eye on his phone to help if anything goes wrong on the farm.
He believed people underestimated the importance of biosafety: “Our country’s economy is based around exporting to the world, so we have to maintain biosecurity.”
One of the first issues Hoggard wants to tackle is developing a foot-and-mouth disease response plan.
He also wants to look at the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare to make sure “we maintain world-leading standards, but in a way that’s practical”.
David White/Stuff
Minister for Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard says his staff will be hanging out for the parliamentary break so he can cover for them when they take leave.
But his environmental portfolio was likely to take up most of his time in the coming months, he said.
“I think that’s what’s on top of most farmers’ minds.”
New Zealand First’s Mark Patterson farms beef and sheep at Lawrence and Waitahuna.
He felt honoured and humbled to be named Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture, he said.
His first thought when he found out was that he wanted to visit the flood-damaged East Coast communities to make sure they were getting the help they needed, he said.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Minister for Rural Communities Mark Patterson says New Zealand First, ACT and the National Party are agreed that they want to tackle “overbearing, bureaucratic and unworkable” regulations. [File photo]
Patterson would be going over every cabinet paper with a rural lens to ensure rural communities weren’t being overlooked, he said.
In his agricultural role, he said he wanted to focus on “doing the basics well”.
“The goal is to get farmers thinking about farming rather than politics as they have been doing.”
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford welcomed the ministerial announcement.
“Our expectation of the new Minister for Agriculture is that he gets to work right away because there’s a lot that needs to be done to restore farmer confidence,” he said.
Langford felt McClay had taken the time to listen to farmers and to understand the frustrations and pressures they were feeling.
“You can see that when you look at the agricultural policy platform he put together for National. He really hit the nail on the head.”
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Richard McIntyre, from Federated Farmers, says many farmers are struggling to make a profit as a result of higher on-farm costs, China’s economic slowdown, and climate change policy. [First published November 2, 2023]
Langford believes Hoggard and Patterson – with their long grassroots histories with Federated Farmers – and Nicola Grigg – who comes from a well-respected Canterbury farming family – with McClay would make a great team.
“I’m really looking forward to working with them to sort out the regulatory mess farmers are currently living with. We need to put in place some practical rules that will actually work for farmers.”
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel agreed.
“DairyNZ is advocating for changes to the Climate Change Response Act, freshwater policy, workforce legislation and the Resource Management Act (RMA) – and it’s reassuring to see some of these coming through in the coalition agreements.”
The agreements showed sensible planned changes to the RMA, National Policy Statement for Freshwater and a review of methane targets, in line with dairy and primary sector requests, and were a positive step forward for the farming community, he said.
“We congratulate Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his team, and look forward to meeting with the new government and its Ministers to discuss important issues related to farming.”
