Don Nicolson made his final conference address as Federated Farmers president a vintage one.
Farming is the sunrise is worth reading in full. It highlights the contribution farming makes to the country, deals with some issues and also gives praise where it’s due:
I wish to acknowledge and publicly thank our Minister, the Hon David Carter.
At times I will admit there has been tension. As a lobby group we want things ‘our way’ while the Minister has to negotiate a byzantine Yes Ministerworld.
I’ve known the Minister for a number of years and he is an honourable man and a fine farmer.
I can honestly say that we agree many more times with the Minister than we disagree
We share the same view that agriculture is the sunrise and I value what he says and does for us all. He has pushed water storage up the political agenda and is leading the re-merger of MAF with the Ministry of Fisheries.
With 71 percent of New Zealand’s merchandise trade behind it, this Ministry for Primary Industries is the policy partner we seek. One that will have the swagger in Government to get what we need to build a future for New Zealand and all New Zealanders.
Can I also thank Tim Groser who is doing frankly an outstanding job on the trade front as well as Kate Wilkinson, who is realigning the Department of Conservation while looking hard at things that block sensible outcomes.
And of course, there is the dynamic duo of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance.
These two see agriculture as the sunrise. As the key to prosperity while unlocking the door to related industries and exports. Given pastoral imagery is used to sell New Zealand as a tourist destination, farming I can say, is a tourism ace too.
There are still outstanding issues and of course, the notion that the world’s gaze is on New Zealand single handily saving the planet by slashing a fraction off the 0.2 percent of the global emissions attributed to us.
At this point I can almost see Phil Goff re-tweeting his gibe that we’re the “Nats in blue gumboots”. At the time he said that, John Hartnell was meeting with Christchurch City Council for a combined Farmy Army and Student Volunteer Army effort in that battered city.
Mr Goff, it was an ill-timed, insensitive and frankly rude. Federated Farmers has not only invested huge amounts of resources in Christchurch and Canterbury, but meat and fibre farmers, meat processors and meat company workers have donated $325,000 to Christchurch in recent weeks.
Federated Farmers has been far more effective on agricultural issues than the opposition because we are apolitical. Or as our CEO Conor English rightly puts it, “we don’t care who is in power so long as they agree with us!”
I know Phil Goff and I like him but sir, you are a much better person than those comments.
Labour will one day form government so we must keep the lines of communication open as we did speaking at its 2009 conference in this city. As well as being the only major business organisation to participate in its shadow banking enquiry.
Today’s Opposition is tomorrow’s Government and we must play with a straight bat.
In case the message that Feds is apolitical, was missed here it is again:
Federated Farmers has been far more effective on agricultural issues than the opposition because we are apolitical. Or as our CEO Conor English rightly puts it, “we don’t care who is in power so long as they agree with us!”
That is how any lobby group should be. Working on behalf of and advocating for its members with all parties; doing its best to get governments, local and central, and other peole and agencies to agree with them – and accepting that won’t always be the case.
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