Selwyn Times: July 03, 2019
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28 [Edition Wednesday datE] <strong>July</strong> 3 <strong>2019</strong><br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
2<br />
SELWYN RURAL LIFE<br />
SELWYN TIMES<br />
Proposed law good<br />
for rural communities<br />
Federated Farmers and Dairy NZ both<br />
support the Government’s decision to<br />
proceed with a Farm Debt Mediation Bill.<br />
The proposed legislation will require<br />
creditors to offer farmers who default<br />
on payments mediation before they take<br />
enforcement action and will allow farmers<br />
to initiate mediation.<br />
The legislation will apply to loans that are<br />
secured against farmland, farm machinery,<br />
livestock and harvested crops and wool.<br />
“Farmers are especially vulnerable to<br />
business down-turns as a result of conditions<br />
that are often outside their control, such as<br />
the weather, market price volatility, pests and<br />
diseases like Mycoplasma bovis. Farmers are<br />
also facing a raft of policy changes, including<br />
around freshwater management and climate<br />
change, and these could apply even further<br />
pressure,” says Feds Vice-President and<br />
commerce spokesperson Andrew Hoggard.<br />
DairyNZ chief<br />
executive Dr<br />
Tim Mackle<br />
According to Federated Farmers, the<br />
agricultural sector has nearly $63 billion<br />
of debt and their six-monthly banking<br />
surveys show that while most farmers are<br />
satisfied with their banks, satisfaction has<br />
been slipping and the number feeling under<br />
pressure has been rising.<br />
“There is no substitute for good<br />
communication and we urge farmers and<br />
their banks to keep in close touch and build<br />
positive relationships in good times and<br />
bad, with or without farm debt mediation,”<br />
Hoggard says.<br />
DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle<br />
also welcomes the Farm Debt Mediation Bill<br />
as an example of an initiative that will mean<br />
a lot to farmers who may be feeling financial<br />
pressure.<br />
“For many, the farm is more than just a<br />
business. It’s a home, a lifestyle or an asset to<br />
be passed down to the next generation. That<br />
brings with it its own unique pressures,” said<br />
Dr Mackle.<br />
“This Bill acknowledges that and will<br />
provide support for farmers in financial<br />
distress in their dealings with secured<br />
creditors, allowing for the fair, equitable and<br />
timely resolution of farm debt issues.<br />
“Sometimes a farmer’s business can also<br />
be thrown off-kilter by an event entirely out<br />
of their control whether that be a drought,<br />
a flood, volatile international markets or a<br />
biosecurity incursion. This legislation will<br />
really help support farmers managing such<br />
volatility,” said Dr Mackle.<br />
“While we would hope that farmers don’t<br />
find themselves in this unfortunate situation,<br />
this is the reality of any business sector.”<br />
The Farm Debt Mediation Bill was<br />
proposed by the Coalition Government.<br />
It’s an idea that was first cooked up by New<br />
Zealand First MP Mark Patterson.<br />
As the party’s primary industry<br />
spokesperson, Patterson said when a farmer<br />
is in financial distress, a system of mediation<br />
could help find solutions and avoid property<br />
foreclosure.<br />
“It offers a fairer system and is in the best<br />
interest of all parties.”<br />
Patterson withdrew his Farm Debt<br />
Mediation private members’ Bill late last<br />
year, and it’s been reported he only did that<br />
when the Coalition Government indicated<br />
it would introduce its own collective one.<br />
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