What's next for Groundswell NZ?

Monday, 19 July 2021

Bryce McKenzie, left, and Laurie Paterson are the men behind the Groundswell NZ organisation pushing back against government rules affecting farmers.

Watch this space.

That’s the message from Groundswell NZ founding member Bryce McKenzie following the group’s nationwide protests on Friday, when thousands of farmers, tradies and contractors gridlocked towns and cities.

There were 57 protests held around the country to protest against the Government’s new farming regulations, which the group say are unworkable.

At the protests, the group put the Government on notice, giving it a month to listen to farmers and work towards an acceptable outcome, or further action would be taken.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke during an APEC Informal Leaders' Retreat on Friday, and then went on social media to talk about the nationwide Groundswell NZ protests.

“We’ve given the Government a month, so we have to honour that, so we can’t start making plans until after August 15,’’ he said.

“There is work going on in the background, and we have people working on a few things.’’

Tractors in Auckland's Queen St on Friday as part of Groundswell NZ’s 'Howl of a Protest'.

On Friday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern went on social media to talk about the protests.

It was important that the country stuck to the commitments it had made on freshwater and climate change, which would help New Zealand maintain the value of its exports, she said.

“My commitment is that we will keep working together … we’ll keep listening on things like the pressure on our borders around workers, we’ve given already an allocation to dairy farmworkers, and today you would have seen that we announced an extension for our workforce who are already here, our essential work visa holders.

“…and so we will keep working together, no matter how big the challenges are. That is my commitment,’’ she said.

McKenzie said the Government has not been working with farmers.

“She can’t possibly be working with farmers – if she was, Friday would not have happened, it’s absolutely that simple.’’

However, Groundswell apologised for the banners that supporters displayed on Friday that carried racist or derogatory slogans.

“We apologise for that. Obviously we have no control over that but some of our co-ordinators have said that if they had seen them early enough they would have asked them to take them down, or not take part in the protest,’’ he said.

Groundswell NZ is not opposed to improving freshwater quality or sustainable land use, but it wants the Government to scrap its freshwater policies and leave regional councils and catchment groups to work on improving freshwater.

It also wants the Government’s National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity, and the mapping of significant natural areas to be scrapped, as well as the new fuel tax on utes, because farmers and tradespeople do not have an alternative low-emission vehicle to use for work purposes.