Farmers must be sick of Wellington’s wonky ideas – Editorial

The Government suggested children collecting eggs is a great concern for farming families. But is it? Photo / NZME

What came first? The chicken or this Government’s fear about children unlawfully collecting eggs?

In what could easily have been a scene from Yes Minister or The Thick of It, Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden this week announced she will address the great concerns around regulations governing children working on farms.

But are there any concerns from the farmers themselves?

Even if you are an urban-dwelling New Zealander, you likely have spent time on a farm and have family or friends who live and work on the land.

Without putting too fine a point on it, farmers are known to enjoy a good moan over a cuppa, often about the weather but always about the Government and over-regulation. But think to yourself, how many farmers have you met who have told you one of their biggest issues is their children might be breaking the law by collecting eggs or feeding the goats?

A seemingly bemused David Birkett, the Federated Farmers’ health and safety spokesman, said he hasn’t heard any complaints from the rural sector.

But yet van Velden announced the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) would conduct consultation on a possible change to regulations that governed health and safety requirements for farm workers aged under 15.

The Workplace Relations Minister spoke as though she has never set foot on a farm.

“Kids every day now might pick up eggs, they might be docking tails, they might even be going into the milking sheds,” she said.

Yes, parents often ask – or rather tell – their kids to help out with running the farm, particularly if it’s a family-run business with a tight budget for extra hands.

“We’ll be consulting with farmers and the agriculture sector on the thresholds for light chores children can do on farms, like collecting eggs, feeding small animals and watering plants, while ensuring safety is not compromised.”

Van Velden went on to explain she was unaware of any safety concerns associated with children collecting eggs but claimed some in rural communities thought it was illegal under the current rules.

Does the Government really need to get involved here? And what happened to the Act Party being for less government intervention in people’s lives?

Labour’s workplace relations spokeswoman Jan Tinetti described it as “regulation for the sake of regulation“.

“We should be really focusing on the big risks in the agriculture sector ... [we] shouldn’t really be looking at a problem that isn’t existing.”

Quite right.

Coming from a farming area, Labour MP Kieran McAnulty couldn’t see any issue with children collecting eggs.

“I think it’s pretty common knowledge if an egg is covered in poo, you don’t lick it. Wash your hands afterwards,” McAnulty said, no doubt with a smirk.

All van Velden has done is give farming families yet another valid reason to whinge about the wonky ideas that permeate out of Wellington and wonder: are these serious people?

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