Nobody Pays for Water, Kiwis are Being Brainwashed into Thinking they Do

Making farmers pay for the water they use is unfair, because nobody else pays for the water they use.

Federated Farmers is repeating, nobody in New Zealand pays for water. No household, no farm, no hairdresser … not even Coca Cola.

All we pay for in New Zealand is the right to access the water and to cover the cost of delivery of the water. But not the water.

"In this election campaign, politicians are attempting to brainwash Kiwis into thinking farmers are getting something for free that others pay for. They aren’t.

"Water. Nobody pays for it," Federated Farmers water spokesperson Chris Allen says.

Some families and business connected to town supply may pay a per litre charge for the reticulation and treatment of their water, others pay through rates.

Farmers pay for the cost of getting the water to where they need it as well.

"This is why farmers feel so targeted by the water and environmental taxes proposed by opposition parties in the election campaign. This is why we’ve seen so many farmers be outspoken about the effect that the policies will have on their families.

"This is not a royalty on users of water, or even commercial users of water, this is a tax on farmers who irrigate. The policy quite explicitly excludes large commercial users of water who are within the boundaries of a town or city.

"Multinational companies such as Coca Cola and international breweries will be exempt while farming families pay. Is it any wonder that farmers feel targeted?"

The rhetoric floating around at the moment doesn’t acknowledge the significant progress farmers are making on freshwater management.

"We are owning our role in addressing the impact that population, and farming, has had on water quality. We live here too.

"in the last decade, significant time, resources and money have gone into innovative and extensive environmental solutions, and this will continue," Chris says.

Farmers have collectively spent more than a billion dollars on reducing their impact on the environment in a range of ways. These include fencing streams, planting riparian strips and improving the efficiencies of their water use, effluent management and emissions output.

"A tax on irrigated water will be a kick in the guts for healthy food production."

ENDS

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