Charlie Pedersen: Election a time to educate our politicians

Charlie Pedersen

The lead-up to an election is one of the rare times for voters to get the attention of politicians aspiring to the Government benches.

For a few weeks, politicians are on a level playing field. It doesn't matter if they are Cabinet ministers, backbenchers or political wannabes, they all want your vote and are out trying to secure it.

At this time, we must all take every opportunity to educate those standing about the realities of our lives and livelihoods.

For the sake of a national economy which has agriculture at its heart, use any opportunity to deliver these 10 messages:

Recognise success

New and existing MPs and their advisers must know and acknowledge the importance of agriculture to the economy. Without this understanding, their decisions can put at risk our main bread-winner.

Keep up trade push

Efforts to break down barriers to trade are hugely important. Progress through the World Trade Organisation and occasional bilateral deals must continue. Removing restrictions to allow greater trading opportunities is needed for growing national prosperity.

Research, research

In 2004, New Zealand invested 1.17 per cent of its gross domestic product in research, compared with the OECD average of 2.26 per cent - a difference of $1.7 billion a year. The Government must encourage growth in research expenditure, especially in areas where the country has a competitive edge, the most obvious being agriculture.

Protect property rights

Farmers must retain the right to control who comes on to their land. No urban business would be expected to provide public access to the factory floor without strict controls.

No other business would be forced to expose itself or its production unit to opportunistic crimes.

Cut taxes

The tax take must decrease. A growing economy will always put money into Government coffers but penalising people who move into a higher tax bracket helps no one.

Slash red tape

The escalation in compliance costs must be stopped.

Regulation by central and local government has been growing at an alarming rate.

Since 1999, there have been 513 new laws and 1965 new regulations. More than 100 new acts and 403 new regulations came into being in 2004 alone.

Overhaul rating

A royal commission of inquiry is needed to look at alternative ways of funding local government. The rates rort must cease.

Farming families cannot continue to be asked to carry the unfair burden that the dependence on property value rates delivers.

People, not the land, use the services local government provides.

Fix flawed laws

The Government must amend the Resource Management Act to remove the Department of Conservation's ability to impose conservation controls on private land.

At the same time, it must require the public to compensate farmers for land set aside in the public interest.

Roading paid by users

The Government must stop stealing more than half of the petrol excise tax collected for roads from the road tax fund.

Short-term thinking caused the roading problems we now face.

Research, not regulation

There has been a lot of uninformed talk about agriculture being unsustainable.

A sustainable industry is one which is capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage. But a sustainable industry is also one which remains competitive in global markets.

Without a market, an industry will die. The Government must assist the sustainability of agriculture by investing in research to give improved technical and decision-making tools for farmers.

This type of help - rather than regulation - will ensure that agriculture remains sustainable in the future and achieves the best environmental outcomes.

* Charlie Pedersen is president of Federated Farmers.