Hello Hello hello. It is Wednesday the 21 Sept, as i write this portion of this month blog. And. Well there is our dear leader ,Jacinda . At the UN conference in New York. All the World leaders are there and she is in her element . All smiles and flashy teeth, Hands waving . The theme .Climate change and Food security. Here back in NZ she is busy planting up good NZ farm land yes Both Govts are guilty, so a change to the slick speaking Luxton is not going to stop it. Industry Off setting via land use change to pine trees are getting paid 50% of the establishment cost via Govt and Rate payer contributions. And it is obvious that there are serious environmental risks to infrastructure and housing during times of high rainfall and drought. For naught. Then there is food security. All that farmland not now producing food and fiber, take into account the dairy industry constraints vis N limits, and good horticulture land going into housing. Govt is of the opinion that the rest of the world will supply the loss of NZ production. Yep sure can import dodgy food alright, just remember the berry’s, New World imports as their Pam,s Brand.. Health warning . Boil first. Hepatitis A. And to add insult to injury it appears they were frozen 2 years ago. I was always told that only freeze for 12 months. Then this morning I open a can of Pam,s peaches. Made in South Africa. Now we can see why Govt doesn’t care whether the fruit and berry’s here in NZ are picked or not. A $600 million export loss. for the Meat Industry. Labour shortages and immigration stuff ups. (Rural News pg 1 Sept 27 2022.) Unable to process valuable co-products. Seems to be a world wide project. Destroy Food producers. Take Sir Lanka. Going organic. Holland. Dutch farmers facing draconian N Limits. But they pretty soon got to the real issue. The Dutch Govt is letting in 100,000,s of immigrants. And they need to be housed. Limited land. Now the Govt is to take under its version of the Public Works Act. Australia is proposing a methane tax on it’s farmers. European Govts up to the same nonsense. despite the WCCC and the UN prattling on about food security. Oh my god. The perfect storm is racing down on us. Had to have a quite giggle. Early in the piece of my terms in Horizons Regional Council, i pretty quickly recognised this above scenario and said to any body who would listen. Plant a garden. You are gonna need it. Our Local Palmerston North Radio Station some months ago very early on in the spring ran a “Plant a Garden” theme. And TV NZ has very recently placed emphasis on such. So. PLANT A GARDEN. Bugger the lawn . You are gonna need FOOD. Few chooks in a cage.
To rub salt into the wound there was that drop kick Dr Mike (Kill) Joy prattling on, on TV 1 soon after, about .Yes Dairy Cows . Anti Food production. So the poor old consumer is going to pay alot more for food . Unless they wake up ,AND Fast. NZ needs a complete change in direction and to the right really fast. I,m not sure ACT is the party, maybe Winne or should it be a whole new party run by industry leaders. Excluding the puppets from Dairy NZ. Beef and Lamb. and of course Fed Farmers. The issue of course is the the people driving this have worked their way into every decision making body through out Govt and industry. These are the people that must be identified and excluded. Those of us who have been at the coal face have run up against them. But the average rate payer voter would not no them.
Well the Govt has released it’s Emission’s trading scheme. And true to form the Ag Industry reps are bleating foul. Do you think the rest of us are dumb. This was the only out come sought, If you had listened to Fed,s, Beef and Lamb ,and Dairy NZ front men over the past years on this issue and you would have got the picture. There was Damien O’Conner on TV during the past week defending the scheme and stating clearly ,this is what farmers asked for. So who’s tit is he/they pulling. But to TV3 and the AM show. They are really starting come to grips with this issue and the costs to the NZ economy and how is the country to pay its way, and what will it mean for us. The population. Tried some time ago to enlighten the then front man Duncan Gardener on the out come sought via the show’s email , feed back at the am show. Treaty Settlements. Radical Maori want it back. Or as much as possible. Got ignored.
Maybe our Climate Change Commission Chair, Dr Rod Carr has the answer? pg 3 Farmers Weekly sept 26 2022. Although i doubt it. He wants an end to exotic forestry as a off set for carbon emission’s. Plant and Pollute he says. Not wrong there. Shame it has taken so long for him to wake up. Well well . He wants to reform the ETS to reduce the ability of emitters to off set their emissions through carbon credits. . It had the broad support of political party’s attending the recent Climate Change and Business Conference in Auckland recently. Even the Green Party??????. Well lets face it. Offsetting is out of control, Up to $20,000 per hec being paid by carbon farmers for hill country, and i mean hill country, not just that easy stuff over the East Coast. The Govt has been caught short thinking it could contain the Unite price simply by releasing more unites on to the market, whilst allowing foreign company,s and speculators into the market. Yeh Right. Either Govt Ministers on both sides of the House are either very dangerous people or just plain Dumb. I no the a for mentioned. And i have given the evidence in previous posts in this blog. Colin Jacobs., manager of investment bank, Lewis Tucker, (never heard of it) which administers 2 forestry entity’s concurs with Carr. NZ must start cutting its emissions rather than planting it,s way out of. States a more sustainable future is partnering with farmers to plant suitable areas. Will lead to a lower carbon price.
Add insult to injury for the Govts on both sides of the house. Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton has Just released a his report. How Much Forestry would be needed to Off Set Warming from Agriculture. None according to his report. Livestock emissions have remained constant since 2000. pg 4 Rural News oct 11 2022. States. “It is all tipped against Agriculture particularly Sheep and Beef, and it make’s no sense to Me”. Fuel emitters have access to offsetting while Agri has not. Now this chap carry’s weight although she did in my day. Thus my conclusion. Both Govt’s will ignore the criticism and box on. It will be the economy that will fail, meaning higher taxes, 45% or more on wealthy individuals, a land tax, and god only no’s what else, as those governing seek to suck the last $ out of its people. Maori Farmers are demanding exclusion from their ETS liabilities. We are seeing Waka Ka Toa’s new swimming pools popping up on highways and bye ways. Rate payers paying and unfair share of meeting infrastructure needs as recipients of Sustainable Land Use funding reduces their rating liability’s. And indeed what next may Maori radicle demand. No rates on Maori Land? Now you the long term reader of this blog must surely be becoming alarmed at where we are being led. Thus one must ask is the carbon market sustainable. A future Govt may indeed make significant changes to the ETS, and indeed decide that enough is enough and our people and our Health, Wealth and Social needs far outweigh our measly contribution to saving the planet. Insignificant. Symbolic. Nothing more other than satisfying radicle Maori demands.
There it is. pg 16 Farmers Weekly oct 03 2022. Massive honey stock piles as Manuka Buzz loses its buzzzzz. Jane Lorimer, a Waikato beekeeper and president of NZ Beekeeping is expecting alot of pain. Total stock of stored honey exceeds 1 yrs production. 35,000t ?. $85 kg honey now worth $25. Bank pressure ramping up. I have covered this in previous blogs. Only outcome when you consider the facts. Govt ministry’s interfering in the market place to achieve the desired out comes. Land Use Change. How many times do i have to say it. I note that the latest Bailys Real Estate book out, and believe me I cannot remember the last, has 3 Manuka property’s for sale. Just the tip of the bankruptcy berg. And no different to all the other scams pushed by ministry’s. Lets see. Goats, rabbits, fiches, deer, spring to mind, all dreamed up to suck $ out of dumb urban speculators, and to my mind a test run for Land Use Change, to see if or how many suckers would fall for it. What sought of media advertising would be required to drive such.
Are Carbon farms to follow. Most certainly. The big question is just how far can it expand before the bubble is burst.
Ground Swell have another protest day planned for this week. It is about time our urban cousins came out in support. Got my photo taken last time I attended.
Time for action. Pass this on. www.mikeplowman com. Help your self. Help your family, your community ,your country.