Wheels are turning in the drive to get seat belts on school buses. A petition on the topic that gained more than 6,500 signatures in four weeks was presented to National MP Jacqui Dean on the steps of Parliament on Wednesday afternoon by its organiser, Philippa Cameron, and Federated Farmers of NZ Vice-President Karen Williams. […]
Infrastructure
Government agency thirsty for more water rules
A new government agency charged with improving national drinking water standards is trying to find more than 50,000 water suppliers, many of whom will be farmers supplying a handful of households. The new agency called ‘Taumata Arowai’ opened its doors on March 1. It wants to register water suppliers so they can be monitored and […]
A fish hook for rural connectivity with ‘copper retreat’
Rural folk may have felt pretty secure as they read media reports last month on moves by Chorus and Spark to begin dismantling ageing copper phone and broadband networks. After all, the reports made it clear that this ‘copper retreat’ is only allowed to happen in areas designated a specified fibre area, meaning access is […]
Maintaining roads is key step to traffic safety
By Rhea Dasent, Federated Farmers Regional Policy Advisor Federated Farmers supports road safety as a priority in its submission on the Regional Land Transport Plan for Hawke’s Bay. Ensuring road maintenance is adequately funded and actually carried out will complement the safety strategy. Many rural councils are falling further behind in essential maintenance of roads, which shortens the lifetime of […]
Wairoa rates review misses the mark
By Rhea Dasent, senior policy advisor for Federated Farmers Federated Farmers has a long history of submitting on Wairoa rates, so our ears pricked up when we saw the current Wairoa Rates Review. We were especially interested to read in the Council’s own words “This proposal would simplify the rating system and transfer rates from […]
Stalled boarding allowance a barrier to equitable education access
Federated Farmers intends ramping up political pressure for a long overdue increase to the school access barrier boarding allowance. This follows a Feds’ survey of farming families which revealed substantial costs and family disruption from the access barrier board allowance being totally outstripped by the fees that boarding schools charge. Average state boarding school fees […]
Looming crisis for transport – RTF
The trucking industry wants to see Labour engage better with the business community in its second term of Government, says Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett. “Solutions to the issues and opportunities that Covid-19 has thrown up lie in the knowledge and expertise held by New Zealand’s businesses, rather than its bureaucracy,” Leggett says. […]