The trigger for my decision to take the time to type the following letter is this: The day after attending the Guns n' Roses concert in Wellington, I dragged my partner to the Beehive for a tour as I have always been very interested in politics.
Upon arriving at parliament building we were greeted by a friendly security guard who asked us what we did for a living, we proudly replied that we are sheep and beef farmers - and his reaction to this information was appalling.
He shook his head and stated, "Oh don't get me started on you farmers! I like CLEAN drinking water!"
Needless to say that my partner and I where disgusted. But it was a response that for me, summed up the continually expanding divide between those who live in towns and cities and those of us who choose the land for their home and career.
So I am writing to you to express how disappointed I am at the total lack of respect aimed at farmers in recent years from the residential public of New Zealand; the majority of whom I feel quite safe in assuming have never set foot on any sort of sheep and beef farm in their lives.
To be blunt, it is feeling increasingly like farmers are being bullied. 'Dirty water', blame the farmers; casually ignore the fact that towns and cities produce more pollution than what the hundreds of thousands of acres of farmed land in this country ever would, or could! 'Meat is expensive to purchase at the supermarket', blame the farmers; they are greedy.
Never mind that they are at the bottom of the supply chain and in many cases, such as mine, cannot afford to buy their own product once it leaves their farm and becomes property of the meat works and supermarket chains.
When a farmer has an accident and is injured, or sadly killed, in a four-wheeler accident; all of a sudden we need a group of people with no doubt have considerably less experience than ourselves in operating such vehicles on hill country to puff out their chests and force us into policies and procedures which are impractical, unnecessary and in some cases costly.
Never mind that hundreds of people are killed on our roads each year, yet I don't have to put on a helmet when I get into my car... do you?
As farmers we respect our animals, and those few who don't are not successful. As farmers we respect our safety, we must, we work in remote parts of this great country and compromising on safe practices is not an option.
That is to say; we DO NOT need a mob of suit wearing manicured 'know-it-alls' to tell us how to be take care of ourselves on our properties.
Farmers have an abundance of common sense, and those who don't do not last long in the job. We respect our environment, and those who do not fail as farmers as we work outside all day, every day. And most importantly, and the driving factor behind this letter, we respect our water resources.
We must, the health and wellbeing of our stock depends on good quality and readily available drinking water, and again, those who do not fail in job.
It is time for someone to stand up for us farmers and say Enough is Enough to those pointing their uninformed fingers every time the slightest opportunity presents itself.
I am aware that we have a representative in parliament by the name of Nathan Guy. But not once have I seen or heard of him standing up and shaking his fists on behalf of our industry.
I do not wish to launch a personal attack, I'm sure he is a nice person, but he very clearly does not have the strength of character for that particular position. Farmers are a resilient bunch of people; we work hard in all sorts of weather conditions, we are mentally and physically strong, and we need a representative who also embodies these characteristics. Someone who isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves and back us during times of scrutiny.
Someone who will stand up and present the facts to the public, someone who can draw attention to what we do for this country every single day, whatever the weather or public holiday!
It concerns me that during a National government this industry has been copping such a battering.
National is...was... the farmers' party. But unfortunately this no longer seems to be the case. I will vote for you this election Mr. English, but my vote will be driven by the devastating consequences a Labour lead government would have on the industry I love, not because I feel that National will do great things for me, my Dad, my employers and all my farming friends.
Wouldn't it be nice if on the 23rd September I could tick the blue box, not because it's the best of a few bad options, but because I believe in the party and the future it can create for me?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate that you are a busy man.
All the best for the upcoming election.
Katie Kenyon is a shepherd from Porangahau, Central Hawkes Bay.
