Rural Voters Fed Up With Rates Rip-Off
"At the same time, councils deserve an overhaul of their funding tools and other changes to central government policy," Feds local government spokesperson Sandra Faulkner says.
"Council rates hikes have climbed well above inflation for several decades, but the pressure on ratepayers has only worsened.
"When elections happen this October, voters should back candidates who commit to capping general rate increases at inflation - unless there's a genuinely extraordinary reason not to," Faulkner says.
She says rural ratepayers are fed up with footing the bill for urban-centric services they don't use and aren't connected to.
"It's time to scrap unfair rating differentials and shift towards targeted uniform charges and annual general charges to reduce reliance on property value-based rates."
Federated Farmers is also calling for legislation changes that would require binding referenda on any council commercial projects that cost more than $500 per rateable property.
"We're not talking about sewage treatment plants, bridges or other such essential infrastructure," Faulkner says.
"We're meaning commercial ventures like stadiums, conference centres and marinas that are beyond core council purposes and can destroy balance sheets.
"It's not to say these projects can't happen, but ratepayers should get to make the final call."
Councils could also save money by sticking to their lane and leaving climate policy to central government, Faulkner says.
"Councils should stop duplicating effort - and wasting ratepayer dollars - by setting climate policies.
"To do something positive for the environment, councils that haven't already should bring in a rates remission policy for land under QEII covenants, Significant Natural Areas and Outstanding Natural Landscapes.
"Given that public conservation values are protected by these mechanisms, farmers deserve rates relief," Faulkner says.
Federated Farmers supports RMA and local planning reform that reduces delays, costs and uncertainty, and utilises tools like farm plans rather than consents.
Significant Natural Area and environmental rules must be science-based and farmer-friendly.
Faulkner says central government also has a major role in the drive for council efficiency and fairness.
Federated Farmers believes road users, rather than property owners, should be paying for local roads and bridges - as is the case for State Highways.
"We're calling for 90% of local roading maintenance and renewal costs to come from fuel excise tax and road user charges, rather than rates. Currently, the average is only 53%.
"Property value rates are a particularly poor mechanism to fund roads for the same reason as general taxation: it doesn't tie those who use roads with those who pay for roads.
"This system also lacks logic. In areas with a lot of tourism or freight, for example, locals are left paying for roading networks that serve a wider regional or national purpose."
The 10% cost share left with ratepayers would lock in a district say on local road priorities.
Other steps from central government are also needed to relieve cost pressures on council, Faulkner says.
"Crown land should be rateable, the 30% cap on council uniform annual general charges should be scrapped, and the Beehive should stop unfunded mandates - piling extra responsibilities onto councils with no corresponding funding."
Faulkner says with council elections looming, now's a great chance to ask some tough questions of councillors seeking re-election - and those challenging them for seats - on how they'll lessen the rural rates burden.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
Carbon Forestry Rules Still Wide Open
Federated Farmers says a report back to Parliament on the so-called 'ban on carbon forestry' doesn't go far enough to stop the march of pines across New Zealand's productive farmland. "This is an incredibly disappointing result and many farmers will be feeling a total sense of betrayal," Federated Farmers forestry spokesperson Richard Dawkins says. "Despite widespread feedback during consultation, and clear cross-party support for action, massive loopholes remain in the Environment Select Committee's recommendations. "Their report sends a clear message to rural New Zealand that the march of permanent carbon farms across productive farmland won't be stopping any time soon." Dawkins says one silver lining is that the committee has listened to Federated Farmers' concerns about the need to tighten rules around the 'intent to plant' test. "We made a very strong case that simply purchasing seedlings before 4 December 2024, with no land to plant them on, should not count as a clear intent to plant. "The committee has recommended the Bill be redrafted to make it crystal clear to carbon foresters that if they had seedlings but no land, they won't be able to enter the ETS." Federated Farmers has been collecting information on those who have purchased land after December 4 with the intention of entering it into the ETS. This has been presented to the Minister. "If the select committee's recommendations are accepted, those carbon farmers who have been trying to skirt around the rules will need to make other plans." Dawkins is highly critical of other aspects of the select committee report saying recommended changes have totally missed the mark. "It's extremely disappointing that what's proposed continues to ban whole-farm conversions only on Land Use Capability (LUC) classes 1-5 land," Dawkins says. "That might sound good in a press release, but in reality only 12% of farm conversions were happening on that land anyway. Our productive hill country - the engine room of the agricultural industry - is still at risk of becoming a giant pollution-driven carbon farm." Dawkins says two-thirds of sheep and beef farms are on classes 6 and 7 land. "Those classes of land are still exempt from the 25% carbon credit restrictions, so the vast majority of our sheep and beef farms will still be at risk of full conversion to carbon forestry. "Once those farms are gone, they're gone for good." Dawkins says Federated Farmers has always supported the intent of these law changes, but what's proposed simply won't deliver any meaningful change. "Recommendations on the Bill allow a potential 'lottery' system for class 6 land, where 15,000ha of conversions each year will likely still occur on a first-come-first-served basis. "There are also no restrictions on classes 7 and 8 land - effectively making it open slather. If you're in the business of carbon forestry, business is going to be booming." Federated Farmers argue that every single farm in the country should be subject to the same 25% carbon credit limit, no matter its LUC rating. "Otherwise, the damage just shifts - it doesn't stop," Dawkins says. "Class 6 and 7 hill country is not 'marginal land' as it's often described by foresters. It's often productive breeding land that underpins New Zealand's entire red meat sector. "Sacrificing that land to carbon speculation isn't just short-sighted, it's economic self-sabotage that will rip the guts out of rural communities, not to mention the national economy." Federated Farmers will continue calling on the Government to strengthen the law, Dawkins says. He says the recommendations on the Bill are "smoke and mirrors and do little to prevent the continued undermining of our productive sector. "We support the Labour Party minority view from the select committee hearings that a thorough review of the ETS and carbon forestry should be undertaken. "This was one of our 12 key asks for rebuilding farmer confidence leading into the 2023 election."
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Desperate plea from struggling grain sector
Low product prices for arable farmers have prompted desperate calls for New Zealand farmers, mills and shoppers to take up local grain. Photo: ARNE DEDERT Maize harvest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round Low product prices for arable farmers have prompted desperate calls from the often overlooked sector for New Zealand farmers, mills and shoppers to take up local grain. Farmers of cereals like wheat, barley and oats have faced unstable prices and markets in recent years, competing with cheaper imports from Australia or European Union countries. Farmer confidence soared to its highest level in more than a decade in July but not for the arable sector, according to lobby group Federated Farmers. While it found 81 percent of dairy farmers were making a profit, 29 percent of arable farmers were making a loss. Nearly half the arable farming respondents said their mental health had been affected. Harvest volumes in the year to July were down 2 percent on last year across milling, malting and feed to 97,500 tonnes, according to the latest Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI) survey of 110 farms. However supply was matching demand, with the volumes of unsold stocks up to 187,600 tonnes. As farmers considered plantings for the 2026 harvest, volumes were expected to fall 7 percent to around 90,500 hectares, the survey showed. Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) general manager of business operations Ivan Lawrie said farmers' margins were "squeezed" as commodity prices had not kept up with the rising cost of production. "Well, it hasn't been a brilliant year and obviously that affects the mood. We've had some issues around a very wet harvest for most crops that affected yield and quality in some cases, and really the issue of profitability lingers on." He said historically, profitable times in dairy correlated to good prices in arable, but that was not currently happening. "There's certainly been an increase and/or maintenance of some of these feed products imported into the dairy industry. Obviously [Palm Kernel Expeller] being the leading one. "And while not all arable products are direct replacements for that... there are certainly things we could produce in New Zealand both on the dairy platforms and on arable platforms to let's say, reduce the reliance on imports." Lawrie said buying local grain would support farmers and rural communities, but there was more transparency too around traceability to New Zealand's highly efficient arable farms. "When we import product, we actually do not have the same level of information as to where the crops were grown and how they were grown." Lawrie said milling wheat particularly was under a lot of pressure, and levels of 100,000-120,000 tonnes was "not sustainable in the long-term." "So we need to increase probably at least double that volume of milling wheat grown and used by end users in New Zealand. "We are under a great danger of losing it if we don't have critical mass." He said FAR was developing a trademark to recognise when mills use 100 percent New Zealand grains in flour and bread making, set to launch later this year. Lawrie said most North Island flour mills predominantly used imported grain for making loaved bread. He said they chose to import rather than getting southern grain sent up via the "not fully reliable" ferry across the "very expensive" Cook Strait . But he said a solution to reduce the cost of freight could unlock the use of southern grain at northern flour mills. "We're looking at other options like can we boost coastal shipping in New Zealand to make more sensible bulk movement of grain. "Can the rail and ferry combinations be upgraded to improve movement of grain from from the South Island to the North, and also can we create infrastructure for storage consolidation, grain drying and improvement of facilities on port to be able to load grain onto ships, etcetera. "All of that is still to be done, and unfortunately we probably had better infrastructure for that 70 years ago than what we have on Wednesday." Lawrie said it was in talks with the government in the hopes of a collaborative approach between public and private sectors, but appreciated there was "not a lot of surplus". He said the world has seen in the past five years alone how cargo shipping routes and operations could be disrupted by conflicts or pandemics. "This becomes an issue that transcends just the pure transactions. It really does become, in turbulent times globally, a potential issue for our food security. "Ensuring that New Zealand has a backbone of producing its own staples for the ability to feed its own people is actually quite important." Last month, the Commerce Commission granted clearance for food manufacturing giant George Weston Foods NZ, trading as Mauri New Zealand, to buy South Canterbury's Farmers Mill. It was considered one of the few remaining mills using exclusively New Zealand grain, but the Commission said it was satisfied the acquisition was unlikely to substantially lessen competition in the New Zealand market. The arable sector employed around 11,300 people, earning $800 million domestically and $260m through exports. Bevan Lill, a Mid Canterbury arable farmer who was also part of Federated Farmers' arable industry group, said prices for contracted milling wheat had not changed in 15 years, falling behind the cost of production. He said these days, there was huge diversity among arable farms, as farmers looked to other crops or activities to generate revenue, and warned there would likely be some loss of arable. The forage seed industry was also considering the impact of low profitability in the arable sector. Dr Derek Woodfield, who had just retired as general manager of PGG Wrightson Seeds spoke at the Plant Breeders Forum in Ōtautahi Christchurch last week. He said since farmers farmed for either capital gains or profit, challenges in arable were expected to flow down to the seed sector. "Where I see a real risk for us is actually the viability of the arable sector in New Zealand," Woodfield said at the industry event. "There have been close to zero capital gain on those properties per hectare in the last 10-15 years. That is a risk for arable farmers. "So as the moratorium or whatever on dairy conversions comes off, are we going to see a lot of our arable industry transition into dairy?" Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Farmers won't need consent to pollute waterways as government undoes RMA rules
The government's changes mean thousands of farmers won't need resource consents to discharge pollutants into waterways. Photo: 123RF The government has taken what it is calling urgent action to save thousands of farmers from having to lodge resource consents to discharge pollutants into waterways. It said changes to the Resource Management Amendment (RMA) Bill meant farmers could carry on the routine work they had been doing for years without needing consent. Federated Farmers has welcomed the move, but critics called the environmental law changes a last-minute smash and grab that was being rammed through Parliament RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said last month Waikato Regional Council told the government that unless urgent changes were made to water discharge rules in the RMA, approximately 2800 Waikato farms would require resource consents for on-farm activities. "The Waikato region generates 20 percent of the nation's primary exports, with dairy farming supporting the employment of over 9000 Kiwis in the Waikato alone. If we don't act, the economic heart of New Zealand's primary sector could grind to a halt under what would effectively be a 'stop work' order," he said. Horizons Regional Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Tasman District Council and Environment Southland all requested further changes to water discharge rules as well. The amendment would broaden what water discharges could be allowed as a permitted activity. But Tom Kay, from the freshwater campaign group Choose Clean Water, said local councils would be stripped of the power to have any meaningful say over the future for their communities and environment. The changes would, among other things, prevent councils writing or changing plans and policy statements until 2027, give the minister the power to modify or remove provisions of a Regional Policy Statement or regional or district plan, and weaken restrictions on commercial fishing and farming industries, he said. "Despite claiming to be for the benefit of council efficiency, these changes effectively grind vital planning to a halt while allowing increasing pollution. Councils won't be able to move ahead with protecting things that are important for their communities-like drinking water sources or coastal fisheries-until the government says so." He said the government was doing what agricultural lobby groups Federated Farmers, Beef & Lamb and Dairy NZ had asked for in their submissions on the Bill. Federated Farmers applauded the changes, saying they would spare thousands of farmers from needing an unnecessary resource consent just to keep farming. "I'd love to say this is a practical and pragmatic change from the government - but it's actually just commonsense," its RMA reform spokesperson, Mark Hooper, said. Councils would still be able to require consent for genuinely high-risk activities but would not be forced to do so when something such as a farm plan was a better option, he said. The Bill was expected to pass into law by the end of next week. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
