National’s bid to regain the rural vote

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

The bipartisan, partnership approach to reducing New Zealand’s agricultural emissions has gone for the forseeable future with National’s declaration this week that it would push out the pricing of farming emissions, potentially until 2030.

Along with a pledge to never put farming into the Emissions Trading Scheme, a ban on wholesale conversion of quality farmland to exotic forestry, and making it easier for farmers to earn carbon credits from forestry, riparian planting and wetland restoration, it’s no wonder the policy announcement on Monday was welcomed by the farming sector.

Leader Christopher Luxon said farmers don’t have the technology to reduce emissions, so there should not be charges for them.

He also laid the blame for “no consensus or partnership” at the feet of the Government for not accepting the industry-led He Waka Eke Noa plan last year.

Luxon said he had no confidence that approach would come up with a pricing system by 2025, which is the Government’s deadline for a solution — or else to start pricing agriculture emissions under the ETS.

National’s move could ensure this effort will miss its deadline by effectively stymying it as the parties await the outcome of the election.

It’s a high-risk strategy for the National Party as it seeks to claim back rural support it has lost to the Act Party (votes that could still help it form the next government), which will come at the cost of some support from swing voters who want New Zealand to act on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

That’s why National is stressing that it will still meet New Zealand’s climate change targets, “by super-charging renewable energy and unlocking new technology to reduce agricultural emissions”.

The route to the latter was laid out the day before with its “Harnessing Biotech Plan”, whereby National would end the effective ban on gene editing and genetic modication if it wins the election in October.

Only the Green Party is dead-set against this; Labour is “open to changes”, but “taking a careful approach to get the balance right for the security of our exports and the economy,” Environment Minister David Parker said on Sunday — which is much the same as what he said in 2019 when New Zealand’s top scientific body joined calls for an overhaul of our 2003 genetic engineering laws.

National’s announcement was also timed for just ahead of Fieldays, the largest agricultural event in the country which starts today. Christopher Luxon, Chris Hipkins and Act’s David Seymour will all be attending along with a host of MPs.