Speeches from 14 Nov 2019, March to Parliament
Lincoln Grant Speech
I am Lincoln Grant, we farm a 600 ha hill country farm at Pahiatua. If we blanketed the farm in pines, the Government would pay us about $400,000 for doing nothing. The minister is saying this is not a subsidy. The revamped ETS averaging scheme is a Government backed subsidy. I understand investors don't claim the the one billion trees planting subsidy because there is a stand down period before tapping into the ETS.
Sully Alsop Speech
It took me about a minute to get up here to speak to you today. And something amazing
happened in that one minute. Something truly remarkable that happens every minute of every
hour of every day in NZ. Something that you are all a part of. In that one obscure minute NZ
exported another 5 and a half tonnes of pastoral agricultural product generating more than
$100,000 for NZ.
Kerry Worsnop Speech
We are here, many of us, as custodians of this incredible land. Our lives are deeply connected
to it, it is our home, it is often our businesses, it is our identity as a nation.
My name is Kerry Worsnop and in June of this year I began a petition asking for this
Government to reject legislation incentivising the Blanket afforestation of farmland.
I’m going to tell you why.
Eve McCallum Speech
We are real people, we are families, and we are intergenerational custodians of our land.
This is not just about us; it is about our children, and their children
We matter and we are not being listened to
Andrew Hollis Speech
Who am I…I’m a geologist, I have been studying the Earth and its systems for years. For me the
spectre of human caused climate change reared its head in 1990. NZ has been heading down a pathway with closed eyes and closed minds with regards to the climate. The latest is the Paris Accords where we will apparently beggar ourselves to kowtow to the UN.
It also seems that farmers will bear the brunt of changes to tax rules to try and pay for our
commitments.
Mike Butterick Speech
Why are we here?
Because we are not being listened to. All we have ever asked for is a fair go. This should never have degenerated into an ‘us versus them’, we have always advocated for the right tree in the right place.
This is about the policy settings that are distorting the natural market and providing a competitive advantage to carbon farmers. We have never stated that we won’t do anything; in fact we have been for a long time.
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