An abridged version of this letter was published in the Timaru Herald:
The Green Party Candidate for Rangitata, Gerrie Ligtenberg states that a moratorium on dairy expansion is the first step against the irrigation and farm lobbyists (November 15). This statement is not only out of step with the Greens published policy on agriculture and water quality but it also sets Ligtenberg up for a fight that she does not need to take on.
Many farmers have already put in the work and spent a lot of money towards ensuring they're carrying out best practises on their farms. If you want the remainder of farmers to clean up their act, then you have to be prepared to meet and engage with them.
The lobby groups like Federated Farmers and Irrigation NZ are already doing an excellent job of engaging with farmers and sharing industry expertise. I was fortunate enough to attend an Irrigation NZ workshop in Ashburton last year and I was very impressed with both the level of expertise and professionalism that Andrew Curtis and his team bring to the industry.
In terms of our region we already have several forums where stakeholders have the ability to work together towards achieving some positive and constructive outcomes around water quality. To name two, there's the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and the South Canterbury Water Enhancement Group. These forums will deliver results if they maintain the support of the stakeholders and that's why they have my full support.
No political party supports dirty dairying or polluted rivers and neither do the lobby groups. United Future feels as strongly as the Greens do around cleaning up our waterways. The difference, I'd suggest, is that we want to work with farmers instead of fight against them.
For further information on United Future and our policies, go to the United Future web site:
www.unitedfuture.org.nz