Climate Activists Dressed As Lawyers Would Sacrifice Farmers To The Climate Gods
"This is a courtroom stunt by climate activists dressed as lawyers. They would sacrifice our rural lifeblood at the altar of climate ideology.
"The clear goal of this challenge is to place more restrictions on Kiwi farmers. It's the same tired approach we saw from Labour and the Greens.
"Shutting farms down or burying them in regulation won't save the climate. It will just shift food production offshore, cost us jobs, and make food more expensive.
"New Zealand farmers are the most emissions-efficient food producers on the planet. We need to back them, which is what ACT is doing in government.
"This government is right to back off from costly, unworkable policies that punish rural New Zealand. The idea that New Zealand – responsible for just 0.17% of global emissions – should wreck its economy to impress international activists is absurd.
"ACT is committed to climate policies that are practical, not performative. We will back Kiwi innovation, not regulation for its own sake. We'll support farmers, not sue them. We know that when farmers do well, all New Zealanders are better off."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Government Must Come Clean On Plans To Restrict Public Sector Collective Bargaining
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is calling on the Government to come clean on plans to undermine the rights of public sector workers, after Judith Collins hinted the Government was looking at options to restrict collective bargaining and the right to strike. In comments made on Radio NZ this morning, the Public Service Minister suggested the Government was exploring "a lot of options" for public sector workers when it comes to collective bargaining. "The PSA is seeking an urgent assurance the Minister will not be restricting the fundamental right of workers to collective bargaining and the right to withdraw their labour," PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said."The right to strike is a cornerstone of our democratic workplace relations system and the Government must come clean on any options they are looking at that could undermine this right." This Government has already demonstrated a pattern of undermining workers' rights without proper notice or consultation. It removed pay equity rights with no warning, changed the law to financially penalise workers for taking partial strike action, and Minister Collins has already deployed replacement labour during the Defence Force strike. "We're seeing a concerning escalation in this Government's anti-worker agenda," Fitzsimons said. "The timing of these comments comes as bargaining is underway in health and the public sector and the Government is offering below-inflation pay offers. "This is the same Government that recently increased board directors' pay by 80%. If the Government wants to avoid public sector strike action then it should negotiate in good faith and offer fair pay increases that recognise the rising cost of living and the valuable work our members do." The PSA is seeking an urgent meeting with Minister Collins to discuss these concerning comments and the Government's intentions regarding public sector workers' rights. "We call on Minister Collins to clarify exactly what options the Government is considering and to rule out any moves to restrict the right to strike," said Fitzsimons. "The right to strike is protected under international law and is a fundamental principle of free and democratic societies, for workers in both the private and public sectors. Any attempt to restrict this right would be a backward step for working New Zealanders." Transcript from RNZ interview: COLLINS: "...we're fully aware that the unions have said that they are going to continue strikes and they want to have strikes that we'll see across the public sector and that's probably more political than it is in the interests of their members because don't forget these partial strikes bring about a partial drop in wages as well. DANN: "… do we just need to cut to the chase and get back to arbitration and leave it to an independent panel to make the call and then move on?" COLLINS: "Well I think there's going to be a lot of options that we're looking at as a government as to how to move away from this basically yearly attack on students and also what we're seeing with the..."
1News
9 hours ago
- 1News
Iwi anger at law change which would strip customary rights in harbour
Coastal iwi could soon be stripped of their customary rights over Aotea Harbour, west of Hamilton, as the Government presses ahead with its plan to amend the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act. The legislative move would overturn recent decisions in the High Court to award customary marine title to iwi. In November 2024, the court recognised Ngāti Te Wehi and Ngāti Whakamarurangi's customary marine title over the harbour and protected its customary rights. But the Government wants to toughen up the test for customary marine title and its proposed law change would overturn the court's decision. Aotea Harbour (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT Negotiated by New Zealand First as part of the coalition agreement, the party's deputy leader Shane Jones said the courts have made the test too easy. "The law from time to time needs to be refined when it falls into the hands of adventurous jurists," said Jones. However, Ngāti Te Wehi has vowed to fight on. 'We'll keep fighting, mō ake, ake, ake tonu (for as long as it takes),' said iwi claimant Miki Apiti. He said iwi members 'were up in arms in joy' at the court ruling at the time, but now it could all be for nothing. And fellow claimant lawyer Harry Clatworthy said a significant amount of time and effort has gone into their case. 'To make all these kaumātua who have spent hundreds of hours of time and effort, and three weeks in court, to possibly go back, and at a base level to tell them their customary rights don't exist after living here for 800 years, it's shocking.' ADVERTISEMENT 'Important to get this right' Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said he understands the frustration. 'But we believe it's very important to get this right, because it affects the whole of New Zealand and everybody has an interest on what goes on in the coastline,' he said. Māori currently need to prove they have exclusively 'used and occupied' an area of coastline from 1840 to the present day without substantial interruption. 'What the new test does,' said Clatworthy, 'it makes it easier for the Attorney-General or Crown to say there was substantial interruption to the use and occupation of the harbour.' Goldsmith argued that everybody in the country has an interest in the coastline and that they are working on getting the 'balance right'. Under existing law there are already protections in place for the general public allowing for public access and recreational fishing and Apiti said the iwi has 'never, ever' stopped anyone from entering the harbour. ADVERTISEMENT Claimant Miki Apiti and lawyer Harry Clatworthy (Source: 1News) Clatworthy added: 'For the Crown to tell them their rights don't exist because people have fished the area, because boats have driven through the area – something they have no ability to stop – is wrong.' 'Every inlet is a wāhi tapu' - Aotea Harbour steeped in significance Apiti said the area is of particular importance to Ngāti Te Wehi. 'This is where our tūpuna lived… this used to be an old pā site, pā tuwatawata, around this particular area, until the, I would say, the late 1800s. Then they shifted from here,' he said. He pointed out other areas where there were pā sites, as well as the place where the korotangi bird artefact – a sacred taonga that is said to have been brought over on Tainui waka – was found. He added the ancestral waka Aotea, which the harbour is named for, is buried in the sand dunes of Oioroa at the northern entrance to the harbour. ADVERTISEMENT 'You might as well say every inlet is a wāhi tapu to us,' Apiti said. Today, Aotea Harbour is surrounded by a substantial amount of Māori freehold land and has four marae on its shores. The Government intends to pass the legislation by the end of October.
NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- NZ Herald
NZ woman detained in US may be released this week, says father
'We got messages all the way through – yes, they're at the airport, they're on the plane, they're taking off – and then she went to go back across into the US, and then I got a frantic call to say that she's being detained and they're about to take my phone off me and they're locking me up for the night.' He started to get properly concerned when he heard they had flown Shaw and Isaac to Texas, to the nearest detainment centre which accommodates families. The children on the way to Canada, excited to see their grandparents. Photo / Supplied The conditions had been difficult for them both. Her friend Victoria Besancon previously told RNZ the detention facility was 'very similar to a prison'. 'She is in a locked room with five bunk beds, she is allowed to walk around the facility from 8am to 8pm, but outside of that she is locked in a cell with other families.' But Price said among the detainees, they were the lucky ones. His daughter spoke English as a first language and had access to good lawyers – even if the logistics involved in contacting them were a little complicated. Her lawyer Minda Thorward told RNZ: 'I cannot call her, she can only call me, and then I have to be available to receive the call and press one to allow the call to come through. So communication is a little bit of an issue.' Besancon has been appointed power of attorney, making logistics a little easier. The past week had brought a big increase in media coverage and pressure from Washington state officials, and staff from the New Zealand embassy had made contact with Shaw, after learning of her case from reports in the media. Besancon said it was making a difference. 'They started really changing the way they've been speaking with her legal representation.' And Price said they were feeling optimistic. 'There's a 90% chance that she's going to be out Thursday, which is our Friday, 3pm. She's so confident that she's already booked a flight back to Seattle.' If that did not go to plan, a court date was locked in for August 29, in which Shaw would have the opportunity to fight for her release in front of a judge. Family and friends are pleading for the release of a Kiwi mother of three and her 6-year-old son after they were detained by US immigration. Photo / Supplied Meanwhile, her other two children, aged 8 and 10, were enjoying sunny Whangaparāoa, although they were anxious for their mum, Price said. 'Ah, the young fella, it's just water off a duck's back, but my granddaughter is – she won't outright say it – but you know, you can tell by their actions and their concern and questions.' He said the children would be staying with him until there was someone to meet them at the other end. - RNZ
