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Scoop
11-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Speech: Hon Andrew Hoggard To Federated Farmers At Fieldays
ACT MP Hon Andrew Hoggard Federated Farmers Rural Advocacy Hub Speaking Engagement Wednesday 11 June, 11:30 am Good morning, everyone. It's great to be back, and thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. I'd like to start by acknowledging the significant effort that's gone into organising this year's Fieldays Rural Advocacy Hub. These events don't happen without a lot of hard work behind the scenes, and it shows. I also want to acknowledge Federated Farmers and the many other farmer-led organisations who work tirelessly to support and advocate for the sector. As a dairy farmer and a former President of Federated Farmers, I know firsthand how important your work is. Whether it's in the regions or on the national stage, you give voice to rural communities, bring practical solutions to the table, and stand up for the interests of farmers and growers across New Zealand. This Government is firmly committed to backing you—by reducing costs, cutting unnecessary red tape, and strengthening frontline support. When I spoke at Fieldays last year, interest rates were a massive challenge for rural New Zealand. Make no mistake, that was Wellington's fault. It was the hangover from a Labour-led pandemic response that pumped out easy money without a productivity boost to match. Now we've reined in waste, got inflation back to the target range, and farmers are finally seeing real interest rates relief. We need to do more to cut the waste in Wellington, because the less resource the Government sucks up, the more is left over for people like you out in the real world trying to grow things. Over the past year, we've made real progress on red tape. We've started delivering on our promise to fix the resource management system and reduce the regulatory burden. Amending intensive winter grazing and stock exclusion rules. Pausing the rollout of freshwater farm plans while we make them more practical and affordable, and halting the identification of new Significant Natural Areas. Right now, we're consulting on a package of proposals aimed at streamlining or removing regulations that are holding the primary sector back. Most critically, we are consulting on changes to the NPS Freshwater 2020. There are several options being put forward. Now, if I remove my Minister hat and put on my ACT Party hat, we need to be bold. By that I mean Te Mana o te Wai needs to go. Worrying about the Paris Accord, whilst still a concern, is a sideshow compared to the hard calls we need to make with regards to RMA reform and the NPS Freshwater. Make no mistake, as a Party we have no interest in taxing the most carbon efficient farmers in the world, having methane targets far in excess of what is needed to play our part, sending billions offshore to be carbon neutral, or turning the lights off in homes or businesses through misguided energy policies. But if you ask me what area of policy scares me the most for the future of New Zealand farming, it is resource management and freshwater policy. Te Mana o te Wai has caused confusion amongst councils, and I see that if left in place its current trajectory will likely lead towards co-governance for regional councils, not just in policy but consenting as well, and policies that are based on vague spiritual concepts, not clear and simple water science balanced with societal needs. This debate will undoubtedly be noisy, but farming groups need to advocate strongly for clear unambiguous language in the NPS, individual farmers need to submit on what they are seeing and the stress this concept has caused many of them with regards to consenting. At the Treaty Principles Bill second reading debate many coalition party MPs stated that the Bill was too general, too broad-brushed, and that we should just focus on ensuring that we don't have unclear language and vague concepts in future bills and policies. Well I would suggest that this NPS Freshwater is a good test for those statements. You will see plenty of MPs here for the next few days playing farmer dress up, make sure you let them know you expect them to keep their word. Now, while I'm being a staunch ACT MP I also want to give a shout out to the Regulatory Standards Bill, for many of you undoubtedly are thinking, why should I care about something that sounds that boring. Real simple. If this Bill had been in place during my Feds presidency it would have made the job so much easier, as it would have highlighted some of the more impractical and stupid regulations that were dreamed up. Even if it didn't make the politicians think twice, at least the system would have shone a spotlight on the issues. We are so lucky that Bernadette Hunt got on the Hosking show and was able to show up some of the more daft parts of the winter grazing regs and they got changed within days, but they shouldn't have got that far. That's what the Regulatory Standards Bill will hopefully show up. But also, government doesn't just take away your hard-earned dollars through its fiscal policies. It also can take away your property rights through its regulatory policies, so this Bill will ensure that if those property rights are taken away then compensation should be forthcoming. This whole concept has complete distaste from the Left, and some lukewarm reception from everyone else but ACT. So, if more protection for property rights is something you want to see, make sure you put your case forward for it. Okay, back to being a Minister, if I can just highlight some of the other Government work that is going on that is relevant for farming. In the health and safety space, we've got Brooke van Velden leading reforms to get rid of over compliance, reduce paperwork, and make WorkSafe helpful, not harmful. I'm especially pleased about her work to protect landowners from liability when they allow recreational activities like horse trekking, hunting, or hiking on their land. It's about a shift from fear to freedom, opening up land for maximum enjoyment and enhancing the Kiwi way of life. We're also keen to empower farmers on the conservation front. I believe farmers are natural environmentalists. We live off the land, so we have every incentive to care for it. Many of us work to maintain stands of native bush or wetland on our land. For too long, the approach has been to punish this work, with councils looking at your land and saying, ' that looks pretty, in fact that natural area looks 'significant' and you're going to lose your property rights over that. ' It's all stick and no carrot. I think farmers deserve real credit for their contributions to biodiversity, and I'll have more to say about that at the Beef + Lamb stall tomorrow. In this year's Budget, we announced a 20% funding increase to tackle the spread of wilding pines—a major win for our landscapes and productive land. Another important change in this year's Budget is Investment Boost—a major new tax incentive to encourage business investment, support economic growth, and lift wages. If you're a farmer, tradie, manufacturer, or run any business, this matters to you. When you invest in new equipment, machinery, tools, vehicles, or technology—you'll now be able to deduct 20% of that cost immediately from your taxable income. It's a straightforward way to help reduce your tax bill and support decisions that lift productivity and grow your business. To put it simply, we're backing your success. We want to see a thriving primary sector that's not weighed down by complexity, but supported to innovate, grow, and lead. I want to thank Federated Farmers, and many of you here, for the constructive role you've played in helping shape these changes. Your feedback is vital to making sure the final rules are workable, sensible, and fit for purpose. Thank you again for the chance to be here, and for everything you do to keep this sector moving forward. All the best for a successful and enjoyable Fieldays. Thank you.
Scoop
05-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Kilikiti Bats Bring Ara Campuses Together For Samoa Language Week
Press Release – Ara Institute of Canterbury Ltd The event is the vision of Aras Te Whatu Ora funded Pacific lead in Mental Health and Wellbeing, Greg Galovale, who wanted to involve trades students in a community project with a fitness focus. Samoan kilikiti pate (cricket bats) specially hand crafted and decorated by students will be at the centre of Gagana Samoa (Samoa Language Week) celebrations at Ara Institute of Canterbury. In a first for Ara, a tournament will take place bringing together teams from across the institute to play the Pacific nation's favourite sport. The event is the vision of Ara's Te Whatu Ora funded Pacific lead in Mental Health and Wellbeing, Greg Galovale, who wanted to involve trades students in a community project with a fitness focus. 'I was seeking to promote joinery in the Pacific space but also health, wellbeing and community,' Golavale said. 'Our Level 3 Pre-Trade joinery tutors Tim and Jody saw the prototype and got right behind the idea. The end result is fantastic!' he said. Kilikiti bats were also made, decorated and gifted to key community groups who participated in Moana Health workshops to launch Gagana Samoa on campus. The event followed the 2025 theme 'Ia malu lou sā. Folau i lagimā – a well-grounded self is a successful self.' The Wednesday kilikiti tournament will see teams from Ara's Woolston, City and Manawa (nursing) campuses line up alongside a team made up of the joinery students who crafted the bats. Joinery student Theresa Desouza said it had been a rewarding project and she was looking forward to the event. 'I've lived in a lot of different countries, so I grew up very multiculturally. This opportunity to engage in another culture and build community has been beautiful,' Desouza said. Student Advisor Pacific (Fautua ma So'oupu) Rev. Fitifiti Luatua visited the Woolston campus to share insights and first-hand experience of the game with the class. Fergus Gaughan said he'd enjoyed learning about the history of kilkiti and the stories behind the bat design. 'This project has also brought me back to why I started getting interested in woodworking. I enjoy working with raw timbers and shaping them. Being able to take something unrecognisable and turning it into art resonates with me,' he said. Joinery tutor Tim Melker said incorporating the project into coursework had been straightforward as the skills involved in making the three-sided bat were similar to aspects of furniture making. 'Our learners started with a square block. We used a jig and other machinery to cut off the bulk and then hand tools to fine tune it,' he said. 'But the standout aspect has been the cultural awareness we've gained through learning about the sport, having Rev share insights into the design of the bats and his experiences of playing in Samoa.' Tutor Jody Pehrson added the class had created a legacy item through the project and the energy in the workshop told its own story. 'The proof is in the engagement. Everyone has been focused on creating a bat worthy of the sport and now they want to go and play the game. We've all learned a lot,' he said. Once the bats left the hands of the trades learners, they were decorated and embellished by a team led by third-year Bachelor of Design (Applied Visual Art) student Lydia Iosefo. 'I do a lot of stencil work in my study, so this drew on that with some traditional patterning,' Iosefo said. 'As a bonus, this will count towards my professional practice hours which tests our ability to work with clients and deliver projects on deadline.' Golavale said he was pleased the project had resonated with all those involved and he was looking forward to the inaugural kilikiti tournament – rain or shine. 'If the weather doesn't play ball we'll head to the Whareora. We'll be ready for some fun and expect plenty of banter,' he said.
Scoop
05-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Kilikiti Bats Bring Ara Campuses Together For Samoa Language Week
Press Release – Ara Institute of Canterbury Ltd The event is the vision of Aras Te Whatu Ora funded Pacific lead in Mental Health and Wellbeing, Greg Galovale, who wanted to involve trades students in a community project with a fitness focus. Samoan kilikiti pate (cricket bats) specially hand crafted and decorated by students will be at the centre of Gagana Samoa (Samoa Language Week) celebrations at Ara Institute of Canterbury. In a first for Ara, a tournament will take place bringing together teams from across the institute to play the Pacific nation's favourite sport. The event is the vision of Ara's Te Whatu Ora funded Pacific lead in Mental Health and Wellbeing, Greg Galovale, who wanted to involve trades students in a community project with a fitness focus. 'I was seeking to promote joinery in the Pacific space but also health, wellbeing and community,' Golavale said. 'Our Level 3 Pre-Trade joinery tutors Tim and Jody saw the prototype and got right behind the idea. The end result is fantastic!' he said. Kilikiti bats were also made, decorated and gifted to key community groups who participated in Moana Health workshops to launch Gagana Samoa on campus. The event followed the 2025 theme 'Ia malu lou sā. Folau i lagimā – a well-grounded self is a successful self.' The Wednesday kilikiti tournament will see teams from Ara's Woolston, City and Manawa (nursing) campuses line up alongside a team made up of the joinery students who crafted the bats. Joinery student Theresa Desouza said it had been a rewarding project and she was looking forward to the event. 'I've lived in a lot of different countries, so I grew up very multiculturally. This opportunity to engage in another culture and build community has been beautiful,' Desouza said. Student Advisor Pacific (Fautua ma So'oupu) Rev. Fitifiti Luatua visited the Woolston campus to share insights and first-hand experience of the game with the class. Fergus Gaughan said he'd enjoyed learning about the history of kilkiti and the stories behind the bat design. 'This project has also brought me back to why I started getting interested in woodworking. I enjoy working with raw timbers and shaping them. Being able to take something unrecognisable and turning it into art resonates with me,' he said. Joinery tutor Tim Melker said incorporating the project into coursework had been straightforward as the skills involved in making the three-sided bat were similar to aspects of furniture making. 'Our learners started with a square block. We used a jig and other machinery to cut off the bulk and then hand tools to fine tune it,' he said. 'But the standout aspect has been the cultural awareness we've gained through learning about the sport, having Rev share insights into the design of the bats and his experiences of playing in Samoa.' Tutor Jody Pehrson added the class had created a legacy item through the project and the energy in the workshop told its own story. 'The proof is in the engagement. Everyone has been focused on creating a bat worthy of the sport and now they want to go and play the game. We've all learned a lot,' he said. Once the bats left the hands of the trades learners, they were decorated and embellished by a team led by third-year Bachelor of Design (Applied Visual Art) student Lydia Iosefo. 'I do a lot of stencil work in my study, so this drew on that with some traditional patterning,' Iosefo said. 'As a bonus, this will count towards my professional practice hours which tests our ability to work with clients and deliver projects on deadline.' Golavale said he was pleased the project had resonated with all those involved and he was looking forward to the inaugural kilikiti tournament – rain or shine. 'If the weather doesn't play ball we'll head to the Whareora. We'll be ready for some fun and expect plenty of banter,' he said.
Straits Times
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
New Zealand parliament confirms unprecedented lengthy suspension of Indigenous lawmakers
FILE PHOTO: Police stand guard as protesters gather on the grounds of New Zealand Parliament, as they demonstrate against what they consider as government encroachment on freedoms, in Wellington, New Zealand, August 23, 2022. REUTERS/Lucy Craymer/File Photo WELLINGTON - New Zealand's parliament agreed on historically lengthy suspensions for three Indigenous lawmakers who last year performed a haka, a traditional Maori dance, disrupting the reading of a controversial bill. A parliamentary privileges committee in May recommended the suspension of the three Te Pati Maori parliamentarians for acting in "a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house." The three performed the haka last November ahead of a vote on a controversial bill that would have reinterpreted a 185-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori that still guides the country's policy and legislation. The government voted through the suspensions, which will see Te Pati Maori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi stood down from parliament for 21 days, and representative Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days. While the members are suspended, they will not be paid or be able to vote on legislation. Suspending lawmakers is rare in New Zealand's parliament with only three members suspended in the past 10 years, according to New Zealand parliamentary services. Before Thursday, the longest suspension was for three days, according to New Zealand representatives who spoke earlier in the day. Maipi-Clarke told parliament ahead of the vote that the suspension was an effort to stop Maori from making themselves heard in parliament. 'Are our voices too loud for this house? Is that the reason why we are being silenced? Are our voices shaking the core foundation of this house? The house we had no voice in building… We will never be silenced and we will never be lost,' she said. Judith Collins, who heads the privileges committee and serves as attorney-general, had previously told parliament that the haka forced the speaker to suspend proceedings for 30 minutes and that no permission had been sought to perform it. "It's not about the haka ... it is about following the rules of parliament that we are all obliged to follow and that we all pledged to follow," Collins said. The opposition Labour party called for a compromise and proposed censure instead of suspension. Labour considers the suspension to be 'inconsistent with the fundamental nature of this democracy,' Labour parliamentarian Duncan Webb said on Thursday. "This decision is wildly out of step with any other decision of the privileges committee," said Webb. The haka was traditionally a way for Maori to welcome visiting tribes or to invigorate warriors ahead of battle. It is now performed at important events as well as ahead of matches by New Zealand's rugby teams. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
New Zealand parliament confirms unprecedented lengthy suspension of Indigenous lawmakers
FILE PHOTO: Police stand guard as protesters gather on the grounds of New Zealand Parliament, as they demonstrate against what they consider as government encroachment on freedoms, in Wellington, New Zealand, August 23, 2022. REUTERS/Lucy Craymer/File Photo WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand's parliament agreed on historically lengthy suspensions for three Indigenous lawmakers who last year performed a haka, a traditional Maori dance, disrupting the reading of a controversial bill. A parliamentary privileges committee in May recommended the suspension of the three Te Pati Maori parliamentarians for acting in "a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house." The three performed the hakalast November ahead of a vote on a controversial bill that would have reinterpreted a 185-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori that still guides the country's policy and legislation. The government voted through the suspensions, which will see Te Pati Maori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi stood down from parliament for 21 days, and representative Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days. While the members are suspended, they will not be paid or be able to vote on legislation. Suspending lawmakers is rare in New Zealand's parliament with only three members suspended in the past 10 years, according to New Zealand parliamentary services. Before Thursday, the longest suspension was for three days, according to New Zealand representatives who spoke earlier in the day. Maipi-Clarke told parliament ahead of the vote that the suspension was an effort to stop Maori from making themselves heard in parliament. 'Are our voices too loud for this house? Is that the reason why we are being silenced? Are our voices shaking the core foundation of this house? The house we had no voice in building… We will never be silenced and we will never be lost,' she said. Judith Collins, who heads the privileges committee and serves as attorney-general, had previously told parliament that the haka forced the speaker to suspend proceedings for 30 minutes and that no permission had been sought to perform it. "It's not about the haka ... it is about following the rules of parliament that we are all obliged to follow and that we all pledged to follow," Collins said. The opposition Labour party called for a compromise and proposed censure instead of suspension. Labour considers the suspension to be 'inconsistent with the fundamental nature of this democracy,' Labour parliamentarian Duncan Webb said on Thursday. "This decision is wildly out of step with any other decision of the privileges committee," said Webb. The haka was traditionally a way for Maori to welcome visiting tribes or to invigorate warriors ahead of battle. It is now performed at important events as well as ahead of matches by New Zealand's rugby teams. (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
