Listen to The Country: Budget 2025 with Labour leader Chris Hipkins
Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with Labour leader Chris Hipkins to ask him what his Budget would look like, and where his party's agriculture policy is.
On with the show:
Wayne Langford:
The president of Federated Farmers on the love-in with Labour.
Plus, he talks about the battle with Groundswell, NZ Farming and the Methane Science Accord.
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RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Planned return of live cattle export gets held up
Photo: RNZ Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the cogs of Cabinet. The Labour government banned the trade two years ago, after the Gulf Livestock 1 vessel en route to China capsized in 2020 during a typhoon, resulting in the deaths of two New Zealand crew members and more than 5800 cattle . National and Act campaigned during the last election to bring back the trade, and it was a condition of the coalition agreement . The Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) was drafting the Animal Welfare Act amendment to bring back the trade - worth $374 million in 2022 - despite opposition from animal welfare groups, veterinarians and tens of thousands of petitioners. Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard said the reinstatement was focused on the cattle trade, and it was working to lift industry standards. "What will come forward is for cattle only because that is where the market is for." Cabinet would approve the draft amendment before it was introduced to the House, while the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) developed updated regulations. Hoggard said it was working through the Cabinet approval process. "Hopefully soon. But there's a process I've got to go through and get Cabinet approval. So yeah, I'm working on that." In late April, aired in early May, Hoggard told RNZ he expected the legislation to go to Cabinet "soon" in the next month or so. But Hoggard said the PCO was facing a high workload of drafting legislation, which contributed to the current timeline . "There's quite a bit of challenge at the moment with the drafting of legislation. The lawyers are quite busy doing all sorts of things. So that's sort of added time to basically everyone's bills and pieces of work they're doing, just getting stuff done on time. "But I'm at the final stages now. I am hopeful that I'll be able to make some announcements shortly on this." Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson of New Zealand First said it was of high public interest and it was important they got it right . However, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said the government should stop wasting time and money and leave the ban in place. "I understand things have gone to Cabinet but have got stuck at Cabinet, that there is probably some disagreement amongst coalition parties about whether this can be reinstated or not," Boyack said. "I think things are getting a bit sticky for the government." She said the public did not want the trade reinstated due in part to reputational harm it might cause globally . "They have failed to listen to animal welfare experts and vets who have been very clear for a number of years, that there is actually no way to reinstate this with improved animal welfare. It just cannot be done. "So the fact that we've got delayed legislation, I think shows that they have run into trouble in terms of actually delivering on what they promised." Photo: Supplied / Summer Jayne / Taranaki Animal Save Boyack said gold standard animal welfare for livestock on ships for months at a time was "impossible". Green Party agriculture spokesperson Steve Abel agreed, saying shipping cattle for weeks in poor conditions was incompatible with animal welfare . But Hoggard said they had consulted with vets and animal welfare exports to ensure the highest animal welfare standards. He said he was confident they could ensure animal welfare, while boosting jobs and economic growth from the industry. It came as Australia was planning to phase out live exports of sheep by sea to end the trade by May 2028. MPI and the PCO declined to comment. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay (National) had nothing to add to Hoggard's comments. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every
Otago Daily Times
6 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
'Focused 100%' on economy, not passport: Luxon
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon denies the government has lost its focus, as calls intensify for the government to take action to help pull Auckland out of its economic slump. Earlier this month Auckland Business Chamber boss Simon Bridges called on the government to do more to stimulate the economy in the supercity. The latest Stats NZ data showed Auckland's 6.1% unemployment rate for the June 2025 quarter was the worst of all regions, ahead of the national rate of 5.2%. An article in the the Sunday Star-Times at the weekend said "many business leaders and political insiders, including those from traditional centre-right bases of support for National, are beginning to doubt whether" Luxon's coalition has an economic plan. Heart of the City boss Viv Beck said "Rome is burning for some of our small businesses", and Newmarket Business Association head Mark Knoff-Thomas said it was "ludicrous" the government was spending its time reordering words on passport covers instead of focusing on the economy. Mayor Wayne Brown wants a bed night levy, which the government is not keen on. "They'll cave in. They want to be elected…. They'll cave in on this, mate. This is a third of New Zealand. This is the city that decides who's the government." Luxon said the government was "not focused on passport changes" but would not be implementing a bed tax. "We're actually focused 100% on actually growing this economy … We inherited the big recession. We've had a massive post-Covid hangover," he said. We've had a lot of international challenges with respect to tariffs, and what that's done for sentiment and confidence, but I just say to you, we're also seeing a recovery in New Zealand." Luxon said South Island primary industries were "growing strongly" but "we know we've got work to do in our cities". He pointed to the government's fast-track scheme for big projects, capital investment write-offs for small businesses and making it easier to get things built. "It's really tough in Auckland and also in Wellington, you know? If you're in Christchurch, it's different, as I said before, but, you know, there's no doubt about it," Luxon said "We're open to continuing to look at what more we can do. We're pretty dynamic and agile. We keep adjusting and doing things to adjust to the circumstances that we're in." One recent poll saw Labour surge ahead of National, and Luxon neck-and-neck with Labour's Chris Hipkins as preferred prime minister. Another had National and Labour in a statistical, ditto for Luxon and Hipkins, with just 1 percentage point separating the parties and leaders. When Bridges led the National Party, it regularly polled in the 40s. He was rolled as leader in 2020 after a collapse in the party's support as Covid-19 spread the world. Luxon said he would "absolutely" be leading National into the 2026 election. "For me it's actually staying focused on what New Zealanders care about and that is actually us fixing this economy. "I appreciate it's been difficult, you know, we've had a very difficult, you know, a poor inheritance, but, you know, our job is to fix it for New Zealanders and that's what we're going to do every day."
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Christopher Luxon says he's 'focused 100%' on economy, not passports
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaking at Botany Downs Secondary College with Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo: Calvin Samuel / RNZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon denies the government has lost its focus, as calls intensify for the government to take action to help pull Auckland out of its economic slump. Earlier this month Auckland Business Chamber boss Simon Bridges called on the government to do more to stimulate the economy in the supercity. The latest Stats NZ data showed Auckland's 6.1 percent unemployment rate for the June 2025 quarter was the worst of all regions, ahead of the national rate of 5.2 percent. An article in the the Sunday Star-Times at the weekend said "many business leaders and political insiders, including those from traditional centre-right bases of support for National, are beginning to doubt whether" Luxon's coalition has an economic plan. Heart of the City boss Viv Beck said "Rome is burning for some of our small businesses", and Newmarket Business Association head Mark Knoff-Thomas said it was "ludicrous" the government was spending its time reordering words on passport covers instead of focusing on the economy. Mayor Wayne Brown wants a bed night levy , which the government is not keen on. "They'll cave in. They want to be elected…. They'll cave in on this, mate. This is a third of New Zealand. This is the city that decides who's the government." Luxon told RNZ's Morning Report the government was "not focused on passport changes" but would not be implementing a bed tax. "We're actually focused 100 percent on actually growing this economy … We inherited the big recession. We've had a massive post-Covid hangover," he said. We've had a lot of international challenges with respect to tariffs, and what that's done for sentiment and confidence, but I just say to you, we're also seeing a recovery in New Zealand." Luxon said South Island primary industries were "growing strongly" but "we know we've got work to do in our cities". He pointed to the government's fast-track scheme for big projects, capital investment write-offs for small businesses and making it easier to get things built. "It's really tough in Auckland and also in Wellington, you know? If you're in Christchurch, it's different, as I said before, but, you know, there's no doubt about it," Luxon said "We're open to continuing to look at what more we can do. We're pretty dynamic and agile. We keep adjusting and doing things to adjust to the circumstances that we're in." One recent poll saw Labour surge ahead of National, and Luxon neck-and-neck with Labour's Chris Hipkins as preferred prime minister. Another had National and Labour in a statistical, ditto for Luxon and Hipkins, with just 1 percentage point separating the parties and leaders. When Bridges led the National Party, it regularly polled in the 40s. He was rolled as leader in 2020 after a collapse in the party's support as Covid-19 spread the world. Luxon said he would "absolutely" be leading National into the 2026 election. "For me it's actually staying focused on what New Zealanders care about and that is actually us fixing this economy. "I appreciate it's been difficult, you know, we've had a very difficult, you know, a poor inheritance, but, you know, our job is to fix it for New Zealanders and that's what we're going to do every day." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
