While Labour still rides the crest of the wave of the leadership change honeymoon and a surge in the polls, Labour this week announced their water policy….minus the most important rural vote killing details. Cost.
I don’t believe for a second they haven’t done the numbers on it, and they know it will get some pushback. They haven’t gone into too many details, mainly because they know it will hurt votes and have a negative effect on the regions economies.
The policy immediately got a slapping down by not only Steven Joyce and potential king maker Winston Peters, but also Federated Farmers and Horticulture New Zealand:
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said “A charge on irrigation water will make our primary exports less competitive and the cost of groceries will go up as meat, milk and cheese prices rise to meet farmers increased costs. It will also affect fruit and vegetables.”
Federated Farmers water spokesperson Chris Allen said the organisation believes royalties on irrigation water will drive up prices and put Kiwi products at a disadvantage to imports.
He said Federated Farmers welcomed the policy to employ young people to work on improving water quality, and would meet with Labour to consult on the royalties proposal and “talk them through all the downsides of what they’re proposing in a rational way”.
Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Mike Chapman said the policy was too light on detail. “Today’s statement does not provide sufficient detail about Labour’s intentions, which should be made clear prior to the election. We don’t feel it is enough to say that if Labour forms the next Government, there will be a conversation about water within the first 100 days.” – Newshub
That’s the trouble with this new catchphrase some politicians seem to be flogging, “having conversations”. Translation: We’ve already talked about it, set our goals, worked out our bottom line we will concede to, and we’ll tell them how we’ll ratfuck them later and let them think they’re part of the process in deciding that.
Labour will already have the details down in black and white, any “conversation” will merely be a PR exercise.