Herewith – a challenge for PoO readers:
First, read the answer which Agriculture Minister Todd McClay provided in response to a patsy question from a party back-bencher last Thursday.
Read it two or three times, if need be.
The question (according to the Hansard record of Parliamentary proceedings) was –
Question No. 7—Agriculture
7. SUZE REDMAYNE (National—Rangitīkei) to the Minister of Agriculture: What is the Government doing to support the New Zealand red meat sector?
And here comes the reply from the Minister, who was given plenty of time to come up with a comprehensive list.
Hon TODD McCLAY (Minister of Agriculture): Agriculture is the backbone of our economy, and this week for National Lamb Day, we celebrated 143 years since the first shipment of lamb left New Zealand shores. The Government acknowledges the hard work and resilience of our farmers, processors, and exporters, whose dedication ensures that New Zealand’s red meat sector remains world leading and ready to grow. You see, our farmers are world best with food and fibre records set to reach $56.9 billion this year, with sheep and beef farmers alone contributing the equivalent of $3,300 for every Kiwi household. I’d like to invite all members of the House to join me in thanking sheep and beef farmers for their significant contribution to New Zealand.
Before proceeding, please acknowledge that (a) you have read the text which was recorded by Hansard and (b) you didn’t struggle to understand what McClay said.
Great.
Now that you have been informed by the Minister on the matter, your challenge is to tell us and fellow readers what the Government is doing to support the New Zealand red meat sector.
If you struggle, we suggest you contact Suze Redmayne, who obviously gleaned a great deal from what McClay told her.
We say this because she did not complain about the Minister’s remarkably uninformative reply.
Instead, she enthused:
Suze Redmayne: What else is the Government doing to make it easier to farm?
This time she was told the Government and its team of agricultural Ministers “are laser focused on getting costs down and returning more value to the farm gate”.
They are committed to supporting farmers, and they have begun reforming freshwater regulations “to ensure they are practical and deliver results”.
We’ve slashed red tape that burdens farmers and just adds cost to their businesses. We addressed land use changes, including rules around full farm to forest conversions. We’ve invested $400 million over four years in emissions reduction technology that will increase production, not decrease it. We’ve passed legislation to remove agriculture from the emissions trading scheme (ETS) so that we can work constructively with the rural community.
McClay was able to tell Redmayne how the Government is increasing farm-gate returns, too:
Last year we announced a partnership with the red meat sector to co-invest $8 million in the Taste Pure Nature campaign. This campaign aims to make New Zealand beef and lamb the number one imported meat choice in the Chinese market by focusing on the superior nutritional qualities of our high-quality grass-fed red meat. We’ve also concluded two high-quality trade deals with the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries last year, which will eliminate 99 percent of all tariffs over time, including sheep and beef meat exports.
Agricultural exports contribute the equivalent of $10,600 for every Kiwi, McClay enthused.
And then he demonstrated a grasp of economics which must make him a candidate for the Finance job, should anything untoward happen to the incumbent:
Without this contribution as a country, we would be poorer.
We look forward to an analysis of McClay’s grasp of his portfolio from the economics commentariat…
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
Read it two or three times, if need be.
The question (according to the Hansard record of Parliamentary proceedings) was –
Question No. 7—Agriculture
7. SUZE REDMAYNE (National—Rangitīkei) to the Minister of Agriculture: What is the Government doing to support the New Zealand red meat sector?
And here comes the reply from the Minister, who was given plenty of time to come up with a comprehensive list.
Hon TODD McCLAY (Minister of Agriculture): Agriculture is the backbone of our economy, and this week for National Lamb Day, we celebrated 143 years since the first shipment of lamb left New Zealand shores. The Government acknowledges the hard work and resilience of our farmers, processors, and exporters, whose dedication ensures that New Zealand’s red meat sector remains world leading and ready to grow. You see, our farmers are world best with food and fibre records set to reach $56.9 billion this year, with sheep and beef farmers alone contributing the equivalent of $3,300 for every Kiwi household. I’d like to invite all members of the House to join me in thanking sheep and beef farmers for their significant contribution to New Zealand.
Before proceeding, please acknowledge that (a) you have read the text which was recorded by Hansard and (b) you didn’t struggle to understand what McClay said.
Great.
Now that you have been informed by the Minister on the matter, your challenge is to tell us and fellow readers what the Government is doing to support the New Zealand red meat sector.
If you struggle, we suggest you contact Suze Redmayne, who obviously gleaned a great deal from what McClay told her.
We say this because she did not complain about the Minister’s remarkably uninformative reply.
Instead, she enthused:
Suze Redmayne: What else is the Government doing to make it easier to farm?
This time she was told the Government and its team of agricultural Ministers “are laser focused on getting costs down and returning more value to the farm gate”.
They are committed to supporting farmers, and they have begun reforming freshwater regulations “to ensure they are practical and deliver results”.
We’ve slashed red tape that burdens farmers and just adds cost to their businesses. We addressed land use changes, including rules around full farm to forest conversions. We’ve invested $400 million over four years in emissions reduction technology that will increase production, not decrease it. We’ve passed legislation to remove agriculture from the emissions trading scheme (ETS) so that we can work constructively with the rural community.
McClay was able to tell Redmayne how the Government is increasing farm-gate returns, too:
Last year we announced a partnership with the red meat sector to co-invest $8 million in the Taste Pure Nature campaign. This campaign aims to make New Zealand beef and lamb the number one imported meat choice in the Chinese market by focusing on the superior nutritional qualities of our high-quality grass-fed red meat. We’ve also concluded two high-quality trade deals with the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries last year, which will eliminate 99 percent of all tariffs over time, including sheep and beef meat exports.
Agricultural exports contribute the equivalent of $10,600 for every Kiwi, McClay enthused.
And then he demonstrated a grasp of economics which must make him a candidate for the Finance job, should anything untoward happen to the incumbent:
Without this contribution as a country, we would be poorer.
We look forward to an analysis of McClay’s grasp of his portfolio from the economics commentariat…
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
Many people just don't get a subtle message like this one. It needs to be socked to them a bit harder. Our politicians are ignoramuses who are sitting on their hands asking dumb questions in Parliament for huge rewards. We need more accountability.
MC
I totally agree. Question Time is a very frustrating watch. It's disappointing that we no longer have "sensible individualism". We do have "wacky individualism", which is not just a frustrating watch but a cringeworthy watch. Mainly from The Greens and TMP. I just don't feel most of these politicians are intellectually qualified enough, so they rely on the bureaucrats tp produce this limited information that they then read out and smugly sit down again.
Ignorant and possibly dumb are the traits of parties which seek to form another Left -leaning government in 2026.
But , be very afraid of these MPs - 100% radical activists. They have made a farce of proper government in a democracy - which they seek to destroy.
Judging from the general calibre of MPs today, Parliament is the best gravy train in NZ. These people ( with notable exceptions) make the laws - without any competence to do so. A terrifying scenario.
Unsurprisingly the media seems intent on demonising farming and farmers with the moronic idea that methane and carbon emissions from livestock and farming operations somehow feedback into atmospheric physics, when in fact there are either other more productive sources, or said gases have little impact anyway. Of even more concern to me is the funding that is being fed into research to reduce such emissions from livestock; research that is based on poorly-thought out premises based on totally discredited climate models. Our farmers need support and praise, not blame and obloquy. Where is the overwhelming government support? Nowhere in sight.
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