Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor must categorically rule out his punitive fertiliser tax and tell the farming sector that he is not thinking of any other silly ideas that will increase the price of food and put farmers out of business, National’s Agriculture and Trade spokesman Todd McClay says.

“Mr O’Connor has said that he has worked on a fertiliser tax which would see some South Island farmers paying the Labour government as much $17,000 more in tax each year.

“This week he has failed to clarify his position and said that while industry leaders had told him that a new tax would harm the productivity of Kiwi farmers, he refused to rule it out.

“Farmers have been hit extremely hard over the last 6 years by expensive rules and regulations imposed by the Labour Government. Farm inflation is at an all-time high and is only matched by significant increases in the cost of food.

“At a time when Kiwis up and down the country are finding it hard to pay their bills and put food on the table, the Labour Government should be finding ways to get costs down, not dream up new taxes.

“National will help farmers stay in business. Our ‘Getting back to Farming’ policy will reduce costly bureaucracy and remove the bottlenecks that are holding the primary sector back.

“A fertiliser tax is a ridiculous idea. A National government would repeal any new tax that the Labour Government imposes on farmers and will reduce the cost of living for Kiwi households.”

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