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Todd Talks |
It was great to be back at Mystery Creek for Fieldays last week. The rural community were pretty vocal about their disappointment with the Labour government.
With international tourists still locked out, our primary industries are key to keeping our export income growing. There is a forecast 3.4 per cent export revenue growth expected by next June, but it's hard to see how any growth can be possible when farmers and orchardists can't get the staff required to operate at full capacity.
There were 9000 unused MIQ rooms since January, and my colleague Joseph Mooney is running a petition to grant 12.5 per cent of these for RSE staff. You can find this be visiting: www.national.org.nz/backing-our-farmers.
The most popular stands at Fieldays last week were those promoting utes, with increased interest from farmers before government implements tax on the importation of petrol or diesel utes.
How can you operate a farm or orchard without this traditional rural workhorse? There is no realistic electric alternative, yet this government will hurt farmers and tradies with charges of more than $5,000 in import penalties.
The Prime Minister claims that few utes are used for legitimate purposes, and the Greens are so out of touch with life outside Auckland that one of their MPs tweeted that utes are marketed as status symbols for men who want to feel more masculine.
What a gross insult to the men and women who drive utes for work on farms, in orchards, crossing rivers, moving firewood, towing boats and transporting livestock.
Until low-emission alternatives are available for the rural and trade markets, it is simply unfair to penalise ute drivers, and National will repeal Labour's car tax.
