Farmers call for ETS to be axed, and re-started
Farmers creating the cash keeping the economy afloat are tired of being blamed for generating half the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, a farming leader says.
"I've had a gutsful, an absolute gutsful, of having our efforts thrown back in our face," Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson said yesterday.
"Let's scrap the emissions trading scheme (ETS) and start with a blank piece of paper," he said.
"Trying to amend it is a growing disaster. The MMP horse trading is absolute nonsense and the National Government is being bent out of shape over it.
"No other country on earth is as fixated with emissions trading as we are. It's obsessional"
Labour had backed its version of an ETS "with messianic zeal", and the Government was now re-engineering Labour's work.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright was "crushingly wrong" in saying farm emissions would be subsidised by taxpayers under the ETS, he said.
"Who exactly is subsidising whom?" Mr Nicolson said.
It was farmers, manufacturers and tourism operators creating greenhouse gas emissions who earned the money that paid for teachers, doctors and other services.
Farmers faced a battle for the hearts and minds of urban New Zealand over access to water and the effects of "dirty dairying" on water quality, he said.
Parliament's select committee report on amending the ETS was a tragedy, when all farmers wanted was to be exempted from the scheme, in line with Australian colleagues.
Mr Nicolson said taxpayers on this side of the Tasman did not yet realise the ETS was another tax, and an artificially-created market totally dependent on international treaties and domestic legislation.
He conceded there was a 12 percent growth in agriculture emissions between 1990 and 2007 -- but that was half that of the 24 percent rise notched up by the wider economy, including 74 percent for transport and 120 percent for electricity.
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Comments
Farmers need to get a grip
Agriculture makes up 5% of the nations GDP, and much of that value is added after the products have left the farm gate. Tourism is fast catching up in value (if it hasn't already) and if you add foreign students its well ahead. And lets not forget all the non-agricultural exporters who together make up nearly half of our foreign currency earnings. Can someone please explain to me how farmers are 'keeping the economy afloat'? Is this a mantra that has been repeated so loud and long by these people that it has been widely accepted as the truth and never challenged.
Chris and farmers
It is very simple Chris.
Farming is part of the Rural economy which provides 85 % or there abouts, of our overseas ijncome.
This income is used to import items which the largely urban population requires to maintain their standard of living.
Remember Chris, that thanks to Rogernomics and the over socialisation of NZ, we no longer have any significant export orientated manufacturing industries; thus most of what we desire must be imported.
Farmers make up about 15% of the countries population.
The urban favoured term GDP, is not worth the paper space that it occupies, it basically only represents how often the same dollar is recycled. The term you should be looking at is PRODUCTIVITY; a term for which the mainly urban unions have a pathological hatred.
The President of Fed. Farmers is correct, the ETS should be scrapped and a more practical economically viable solution drawn up.
Sadly we have been committed to this ecnvironmental nonsense by a past regime with a not very well hidden agenda; who were only interested in a WORLD GOVERNMENT by SOCIALISIM regime.
This mess is the price one pays for supporting opportunistic politicking and MMP.
I agree with the axing part,
I agree with the axing part, but not the re-started part.
ETS scheme
All farmers stop work and let the buggers starve
Maybe farmers stopping work
Maybe farmers stopping work is the answer. If all NZer's temporarily payed farmers to stop work so they could starve the govt. of tax, then I'm sure those politicians wanting to send our money to the UN would have 2nd thoughts. It'd be a damn sight cheaper for NZer's to do that than waste money on the climate change con in perpetuity.
Nick Smith should be axed
Nick Smith should be axed from government.
As should anyone who tries to deceive and defraud a soceity into economic ruin for this complete con called 'climate change'.
John Key is as guilty of this treason for supporting this United Nations one-world government tyrannical directive.
They question he should ask himself - is Helen Clark still running NZ or is he going to have a stab at it sometime?
ETS
clark has got her UN job and al gore has got his millions so why we are pursuing this ETS nonsense is beyond comprehension!
just an additional tax
we should be cutting taxes not increasing!
the country really needs to
the country really needs to start asking some real question on Key and co's true intent. Are they collaborators in economic demise where UN salvation is the only option for us?
Lets review:
NOT ONE INITIATIVE IS BIASED TO ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
ALL are BIASED TO TAXATION OVER A SOCIETY IN DEEP DEBT - go an check the numbers if you aren't aware.
However, even the government's home heating programme is a complete con. You pay over the odds for then a discounted scheme...when, guess what, the ole tax hungry government are planning on bumping up the power n heating costs anyway through the emissions con anyway...so you pay to be taxed more.
But, why exactly do we need home heating if we've supposedly got global warming?
Can anyone point to a piece of action that this government has changed to enable positive prosperity?
Answer: No
Whats the real plan Mr Key
Well put Simon And, please
Well put Simon
And, please Prime Minister what is your real plan ?
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