Andrew Kirton: It takes political courage to tackle climate change

OPINION

This week’s farm program pricing announcement is the most significant change to agriculture in 40 years.

It is difficult to accuse the Ardern administration of lacking political courage.

Compared to
the sudden abolition of farm subsidies by Roger Douglas in 1984, this government bent over backwards to support farmers throughout this journey.

When I was too young to understand what an agricultural subsidy was, I certainly remember the consequences of removing them. I know what it feels like when things happen too quickly.

The Muldoon government introduced more than 30 agricultural subsidies, including minimum prices, fertilizer subsidies, low-interest loans, tax incentives and debt forgiveness.

Muldoon argued that farm support was “targeted devaluation”, allowing him to keep the value of the dollar high.

By the time my parents bought their King Country dairy farm in 1982, those subsidies had been rolled into farm values.

A few months after the 1984 elections, the subsidies disappeared. Often, there was little warning: cuts announced one day took effect the next.

It was a terrible shock. There was no consultation. And certainly not working with industry to co-create a solution like the He Waka Eke Noa plan.

The value of many farms – including ours – halved overnight.

At the same time, mortgage interest soared to 20%, with overdraft rates approaching 30%. Banks stopped lending to many farmers, making agricultural improvements impossible.

Our family got by, just, partly spared by the stable prices of fresh milk. But that was too much for some, especially sheep and beef farmers. Hundreds were forced to sell. Others silently suffered from depression. Some killed themselves in desperation.

In retrospect, few would argue that the high dollar, high subsidy model should have been retained. Agriculture is doing better now.

But the appalling way the cuts were implemented caused unnecessary suffering.

This experience partly explains why it took 20 years of proposals, counter-proposals and protests to come to this. We now have a firm plan to reduce emissions that is also fairly fair to farmers.

An indication that the government is on the right track is the fact that agricultural lobbies and conservationists are unhappy.

The plan involves a bit of stick, upsetting the farm lobby; and lots of carrots, upsetting the environmental lobby.

Farmers will have to pay for every kilo of methane from 2025, but will be paid generously for every kilo they reduce. Nitrogen will be treated separately.

While some of the reactions were ridiculously hyperbolic, no one can complain that they didn’t see this coming.

From the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, via the climate conferences in Copenhagen and Paris, to the “pet” tax debates of the 2000s, this proposal was elephantine in its gestation.

The final plan is also very close to what National itself was arguing for until very recently. Which is why it was disappointing to see National rush out to tell everyone how “shocking” the plan was.

Given how important certainty is to farmers, they deserve to be told what National will do instead to meet our international climate agreements.

As it stands, National’s plan to price farm programming is a bit murky. They say they will align with what the industry wants. But the agricultural sector itself cannot agree. And given the various factions and informal groupings of Groundswell and Federated Farmers, it is unlikely that they will ever do so.

The confusion and lack of consensus will annoy the large number of farmers committed to environmental responsibility. I know farmers who don’t want to be portrayed as climate change ostriches and find the behavior of federated farmers and, in particular, Groundswell a bit embarrassing.

On the other hand, even if farmers do not like the Labor Party’s proposal, they will recognize that to tackle climate change, some political courage is ultimately needed.

Andrew Kirton was Labor general secretary from 2016 to 2018. He now works in government relations for Trans-Tasman firm Anacta Consulting. He is married to a Labor MP.