Speeches 2009
Farming forward
Released 02 Dec 2009
I am reminded of an Australian quote that refers, somewhat pointedly, to the state of the Kiwi economy and the Kiwi psyche. “Poverty in paradise is still poverty.” Read more »
Compensation for transmission infrastructure
Released 30 Nov 2009
While I think the scale of what landowners face is out there for us all to see, Federated Farmers does propose a positive way to resolve something that causes frustration for Transpower and unhappiness for a number of landowners. Read more »
Getting things right for farmers and New Zealand
Released 18 Nov 2009
Farmers know anything is possible. Farmers prove it every minute of the day. With our colleagues in fishing and in tourism, the land and the sea generate 70 percent of our country’s revenue and deliver 100 percent of the view. But they say a week is a long time in politics. New Zealand’s farmers, to some members of our society, seem to resemble latter-day versions of the Shakespearean character, Shylock. Read more »
A rural ambition for broadband
Released 12 Nov 2009
I appreciate being given the opportunity to discuss the way in which fast broadband, of the kind taken for granted in our cities, can be rolled out across New Zealand’s hinterland. Read more »
Reporting on politics and the environment
Released 06 Nov 2009
Being a humble sheep farmer from Southland, an area once seen as a region in terminal decline, I can testify to how perceptions can be formed but then so easily confounded. Read more »
New Zealand agriculture: one step forward, two steps back?
Released 30 Sep 2009
In the short to medium term, British and European farmers have nothing to fear from emissions policies. Yet they should be petrified in the longer term. Read more »
New Zealand is big!
Released 20 Sep 2009
New Zealand is big. Yes its not as big as Australia but our land mass is 67 percent the size of Germany’s, 72 percent of Japans and bigger than the United Kingdom. Our coast is longer than mainland USA and our economic zone of around 4.1 million square kilometers is the eight largest on the planet. Our skies give us abundant fresh water, our land fertile soils, and our total exclusive economic zone significant mineral resource. Read more »
The agricultural sector in New Zealand's economic future
Released 14 Sep 2009
We believe in the future of our country and wish to be an active part of that future. Yet to go forward, we need to first go back a little in history. Read more »
Misguided emissions policies, priorities and people
Released 11 Aug 2009
Before I give climate variation both barrels, I first wish to encourage you and your society’s vigilance on biosecurity and hope to engage your support too. Read more »
Chamber of Commerce address
Released 24 Jul 2009
On one cold morning in February 1978, a 12-year-old Southland boy milked two house cows by hand, ate some porridge and bacon and eggs for breakfast and then put on his new suit. It was going to be the biggest day of his life to date. A day when he crossed the divide between the small rural town of Dipton and that great, big city of Wellington - the hub of commerce, politics and the cardigan wearing public sector. Read more »
