The plan by New Zealand’s left-wing government to tax livestock farts plus burps to spare the environment from emissions of methane and nitrous oxide is still angering the nation’s farmers who see it as a war on their livelihoods.
Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the former president of the International Union of Socialist Youth, announced the “world first” levy on the nation’s six million cows and 26 million sheep as a step towards tackling climate change earlier this year, as Breitbart News reported.
The country is a net exporter of meat and farmers fear the stealth tax is designed to drive them out of business.
Previously, agriculture has been exempt from the government’s carbon emissions trading schemes, even as governments elsewhere in the world examine ways to cut down on meat consumption in a globalist drive towards vegan alternatives.
Farmers across the South Pacific island nation are demanding Ardern’s government ditch the punitive tax, which they warn will make food more costly and put livelihoods at risk.
The latest changes outlined Wednesday include allowing farmers to use on-farm forestry to offset their carbon emissions, and a promise to keep emissions pricing low, AFP reports. Ardern released a statement that said in part:
Our shared goal is supporting farmers to grow their exports, reduce emissions, and maintain our agricultural sector’s international competitive edge.
With or without the government’s proposals, New Zealand needs to be at the front of the queue to stay competitive in a market that is demanding sustainably produced products.
The prime minister hopes her cabinet will make a final decision on pricing for the agricultural emissions scheme in early 2023 with a five-year pricing scheme due to start from 2025.
The head of New Zealand’s leading agriculture advocacy group responded by saying the amended plans still stink and criticised the government’s “unrealistic timelines.”
File/New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern talks to reporters on a farm visit to announce the government’s proposals to tackle climate change by reducing agricultural emissions and enhance exports on October 11, 2022 in Tauherenikau, near Wellington, New Zealand. (Lynn Grieveson/Getty)
“Everyone else is talking about food security and working with farmers to develop practical on-farm solutions,” Andrew Hoggard, president of New Zealand’s Federated Farmers, said in a statement.
“Only New Zealand is taking the punitive step of taxing efficient, unsubsidised food production, even if it comes at huge costs.”
While Ardern wants “an emission reduction system set up that lasts”, Hoggard accused her government of making “vague promises of an obscure future review with unknown terms of reference.”
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