DairyNZ had been advocating for a “fair and equitable” solution to pricing agricultural emissions and wanted to make it clear to farmers that the proposed levy was not a “money collecting exercise,” van der Poel said.
“This is simply putting in place a levy to actually fund R&D to find mitigations, which is the long-term strategy and to incentivise behavioural change – nothing more, nothing less.”
Mackay asked what would happen if the Government said agriculture would go into the Emissions Trading Scheme if its current recommendations weren’t accepted.
“We’ve been quite clear – no deal is better than a bad deal,” van der Poel said.
“If we agree to something that we know to be suboptimal, we will be stuck with it.
“So, yes there is a risk in walking away …. but there is also a risk in agreeing to something that we know is not fit for purpose.”
As for the future, DairyNZ would stick to its word regardless of which government was in power, van der Poel said.
“We’ve got to find a solution that’s supported by both major parties … and the industry of course, so all parties have to agree that this is fair and equitable.”
The deadline for submissions closed last Friday and the Government was currently reviewing them all, van der Poel said.
DairyNZ would now keep working on behalf of farmers, through its capacity as an industry good body and part of the He Waka Eke Noa Partnership, to try and get the Government back to the original agreement decided on by all parties on May 31, he said.
