The former MP for Northland has been a farmer for more than 30 years and is a vehement supporter of the agricultural sector. “New Zealand’s farming and rural communities are being hung out to dry,” Matt says.
“Under the government’s proposals released this week, farming will become uneconomic, food producers will be forced off the land and rural communities destroyed. The current reduction targets cannot be achieved without farmers dramatically reducing stock numbers and cutting food production – and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what that means for New Zealand – reduced food production, fewer exports, more imports, less income, struggling economy.”
The 10 per cent methane reduction target asks more from farmers than any other sector of the economy, and is driven by ideology – not science.
Matt pledges that DemocracyNZ, which was born out of the rural sector as much as anything, will work to scrap the climate change target for our farmers, and will support farmer-led solutions to create a workable emissions scheme that promotes our efficiency to world markets.
Matt singled out the current National Party leadership for its muted opposition to government proposals, highlighting that the party has lost touch with its previously strong rural base and instead fallen victim to Labour-Green’s ill-conceived and ideologically-driven climate agenda.
“The National Party fails to understand that it is disingenuous to criticise the government’s proposal when National’s own plan would cause equal hardship to rural communities. It is hypocrisy to attack the government on a proposal National would largely replicate,” Matt says.
Dairy, agriculture and forestry, along with a flourishing food and beverage industry, make up our country’s top tier export earners. But to sustain that, farming must be supportive and good food-producing land protected from being used for carbon farming.
“The farming and rural community can be at the vanguard of that change and stand up against questionable ideology. If National won’t stand up for farmers, we certainly will.”
“Politics has changed over the last three years. It’s no longer about being on the left or on the right. It’s about what’s good for this country. The global agenda followed by our current government will bankrupt our future and we are the only party trying to stop that from happening. DemocracyNZ chooses evidence over ideology,” Matt says.