North Canterbury News: September 12, 2019
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RURAL LIFE<br />
36 The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>September</strong> <strong>12</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
Former NZ rugby boss turns to politics, with<br />
emissions trading firmly in his sights<br />
By TIM FULTON<br />
Rural<strong>Canterbury</strong>blockholderDavid<br />
Moffett has turned from giving advice on<br />
farm succession to the future of farming<br />
itself, launching apolitical party to help<br />
New Zealand farmersstruggling with<br />
climate taxes.<br />
The country’s heavy reliance on<br />
International Emissions Trading<br />
Scheme (ETS) creditsmakes New<br />
Zealand dangerously exposed to one of<br />
the world’s mostvolatile markets, Mr<br />
Moffett says.<br />
He has aglobal viewofthe world and<br />
an affinity with rural life.<br />
Mr Moffett, the son of an air traffic<br />
controller, lived in Kenyaand<br />
Tanganyika from the age of 3to16, living<br />
through the lastyears of colonial Africa.<br />
By 7, he was spending part of his<br />
holidays on large coffee and tea<br />
plantations with friends from boarding<br />
school in Nairobi.<br />
He moved to Australia with his family<br />
as ateenager and,inhis workinglife,<br />
went on to headseveral major sporting<br />
organisations, including the New<br />
Zealand Rugby Union.<br />
Todayhehas 10 hectares across<br />
properties at Ashley and Broomfield in<br />
<strong>North</strong><strong>Canterbury</strong>, runningsheepand<br />
horses.<br />
As founder of the New NZ Party, he<br />
wantsNew Zealand to withdraw from the<br />
ParisAgreement,which binds the<br />
country to arange of targets for reducing<br />
greenhouse gas emissions.<br />
He sayshehas researched the<br />
agreementand has concluded ‘‘Paris<br />
makesitcompulsory for us to contribute<br />
tax paymentstoother economies, many<br />
Political agenda ... David Moffett launches apolitical party.<br />
of them of dubioushonesty and<br />
accountability and rife with corruption’’.<br />
The cost to Kiwis of the Emissions<br />
TradingScheme and ParisAgreement<br />
were considerable, he said.<br />
The Government’s own estimates put<br />
the cost at between$14 billion and $36b<br />
from 2021 to 2030, and that is likely to be<br />
only afraction, depending on supply and<br />
demand for carbon credits.<br />
To put that into context, ACC raised<br />
$5.9b in 201819, with operatingcosts of<br />
$726m.<br />
PHOTO: SUPPLIED<br />
‘‘With over 2000employees ACC at<br />
leastcontributestothe New Zealand<br />
economy.’’<br />
The agricultural sector longfavoured<br />
managingits own emissions schemebut<br />
had succumbed to governmentpressure,<br />
Mr Moffett said.<br />
The Government recently announced<br />
that the agricultural sectorwouldonly be<br />
slugged with 5percent of its actual<br />
obligations under the New Zealand ETS.<br />
Mr Moffett said the New NZ Party did<br />
not haveanissuewith the agricultural<br />
sector or other sectors paying this low<br />
rate, but believed business was being<br />
lulled into afalse sense of security.<br />
‘‘Unfortunately, everyone in every<br />
sector will stillpay for the fullcost of the<br />
Paris Agreement. This is likelytoexceed<br />
$4b per annum over 10 years, and that’s<br />
just for starters.’’<br />
The only way to pay for this would be<br />
throughnew taxes or areductionin<br />
services, he said.<br />
As an example, we pay 6.2 cents per<br />
litre of petrol and 7.2 centsper litre of<br />
diesel as an ETS levy.<br />
‘‘Incredibly, we also pay GST on the<br />
total fuel excise,which means payingan<br />
11centsperlitre tax on taxes.Together,<br />
that represents 17c and 18c per litre of<br />
hidden taxes. That is what we pay now,<br />
and every farming family is saddled with<br />
that burden, whichisoften madeworse<br />
becauseofreliance on fuel to not only<br />
run their agricultural enterprises but<br />
also to cover largedistancestoget kids to<br />
school and do important thingslike<br />
shopping and doctors’ visitsand the<br />
like.’’<br />
The New NZ Partyfundamentally<br />
believed that declaring aclimate<br />
emergency based on our emissions was<br />
the heightofirresponsibility.<br />
New Zealand’s carbon dioxide<br />
emissions stemming from human activity<br />
stand at 0.17 percent of the total global<br />
agricultural emissions (AE). Our<br />
contribution, he says, is meagre by<br />
comparison with many of our<br />
competitors in the agricultural sector.<br />
Expressed as apercentage of the total<br />
carbon dioxide fraction,which included<br />
agricultural emissions, the resultwas<br />
0.00006percent, Mr Moffett said.<br />
“Was really impressed<br />
with how even and<br />
accurate the spreading<br />
was using Optimise.<br />
Normally you’d get a<br />
lot of drift, but now it<br />
lands on our farm not<br />
the neighbours.”<br />
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