Sowell says

The political left has never understood that, if you give the government enough power to create "social justice," you have given it enough power to create despotism. Millions of people around the world have paid with their lives for overlooking that simple fact.

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) September 23, 2019

Rural round-up

Trees don’t pay tax. Government’s Action for Healthy Waterways discussion document a massive subsidy for tree planting:

Environmental lobby group 50 Shades of Green says the government’s policy document on waterways will provide a massive subsidy for forestry.

Spokesman, Andy Scott said the problem was it would make sheep and beef farming less economic thereby encouraging farmers to walk away and sell their land for trees.

“Modelling suggesting 68% of dry stock farms in the Waikato/Waipa catchment would be converted to forestry as a direct result of the proposed regulations will send a chill through the entire sheep and beef industry,” Andy Scott said. . .

Time for a ‘cup of tea’ over trees policy:

Minister Jones Needs Assurance That His ‘Trees Fund Branching Out’ Doesn’t End up as a Knot According to 50 Shades of Green.

Conservation Group 50 Shades of Green supports Minister Jones in his efforts to put the right tree in the right place.

It also supports Iwi initiatives to regenerate native bush.

What it doesn’t support is easy access for foreign investors and carbon speculators to plant good farmland in trees for no other reason than to claim carbon credits. . .

https://twitter.com/Apiculture_NZ/status/1175884297544204288

Millions poured to ensure mānuka honey is a NZ only product  – Yvette McCullough:

The government is allocating nearly $6 million to a campaign to stop Australian beekeepers marketing their products as “mānuka” honey.

The Mānuka Honey Appellation Society is being granted $5.7 million through the Provincial Growth Fund, including a $1.7 million loan, to help in its bid to secure international property rights.

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones accused Australian honey producers of trying to steal what was indigenous to New Zealand. . .

#Exmoor #UKtrip2019 @newlandfarm pic.twitter.com/nTtZD8ws1k

— Gert van den Bosch (@gertvanden) September 24, 2019

Major dairy producer unveils $30m expansion:

When a group of dairy families opened Idaho Milk Products a decade ago, the company faced a murky future at best.

The $80 million facility began churning out cream and protein during a recession, at a time of painfully low milk prices.

“These dairy families risked everything,” Idaho Dairymen’s Association CEO Rick Naerebout said. “They rolled the dice, put everything on the line that their families had built for generations.”

Ten years and a $30 million plant expansion later, it looks like the gamble is paying off. . .

Welsh dairy farmers plan to blockade lorries of ‘cheap’ Irish beef :

Farmers in Wales are planning to disrupt Irish trucks carrying beef from entering Wales via the Port of Holyhead.

The blockade is planned for Friday 27 September.

According to North Wales Live, the protest is a result of farmer complaints that “prices are down £150-£200 (€170-€ 226) on this time last year, blaming the slump on imports” coupled with the uncertainty of Brexit.

Farmers are urged to make a stand against “rock-bottom beef prices and ‘subsidised’ Irish beef imports.”. . .

 

DHBs past use-by date

If you were wanting the best performance from a very large and complex organisation who would you want running it?

Would you want people with the skills and experience best suited to the task or a random group chosen by people who know little, if anything, about the requirements and those they are backing?

Health boards need the former but the system gives us the latter.

Otago University pro vice chancellor and Dean of Business, Professor Robin Gauld says it is clear the elected boards are not fit for purpose. . .

Boards have oversight for budgets worth billions of dollars and make key executive appointments, but all too often do not have the right skills, he said.

People voted in tend to be those with a high profile, often ex-mayors, MPs or sportspeople, who have name recognition.

The skills necessary are complex – everything from understanding medical IT, to how to deliver primary care, and financial skills – and the reality is that most candidates are unqualified, he said.

He wants more doctors on boards, but added it was just as important that they have the right skills.

Gauld believes the best solution is to scrap boards altogether. . .

He is right.

Churchill said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

That may be right for Government but it’s not for the governance of health boards which are well and truly past their use-by date.