ETS agriculture regulations presumptive and premature

Federated Farmers submission on regulations for exemptions and thresholds for calculating agricultural emissions, has reminded senior politicians there is no ‘review provision’ in the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Act 2009.

“A number of very senior Ministers have assured farmers, the media and the general public that the entry of agriculture, New Zealand’s most important industry, will be reviewed in 2011 and 2014 but those are empty words,” says Don Nicolson, Federated Farmers President.

“Federated Farmers would like to know exactly when an amendment will be introduced into Parliament, giving surety to our farm sector.

“If the Government was carrying through on what Minister’s have said in the media, then why has Federated Farmers and other interested parties been given less than a calendar month to comment on complex draft regulations for agriculture’s intended entry?

“This is why Federated Farmers submission has told the Government to shelve this headlong rush into regulation, if it intends to stand by its own media comments. Under current legislation, mandatory reporting is due 1 January 2012, so why the haste now?

“Frankly, the Government and its minions on the ETS have increasingly resorted to the five most dangerous words in the English language – ‘trust us, we're the Government’.

“Yet in recent weeks we’ve seen the annual impact on households range from the Prime Minister’s $3 per week ($265 million) to the Hon Gerry Brownlee’s reported $7 per week ($618 million). It puts in sharp relief the Hon Nick Smith’s claim that the ETS will directly cost $350 million or is it $378 million, which the Minister of Finance put into the Budget?

“Last week, the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon David Carter, said the ETS ‘will only’ cost the average dairy and sheep/beef farm, $3,900 and $1,475 per annum respectively. This week his Ministry has magically slashed those figures to $3,300 and $1,200 respectively.

“The fluidity of these numbers gives us no confidence anyone in Government knows the real cost of the ETS. The Government cannot get its own spin coordinated.

“But when anyone points out these contradictions they are besmirched as a ‘climate change denier’. As if the Ice-Age never took place.

“Based on the rushed nature of this regulatory consultation, there’s more than enough time to undertake the ‘2011 review’ we’ve all been promised. Time aplenty before regulation for exemptions and thresholds is needed,” Mr Nicolson concluded.

For a copy of the submission please click here.