It is the Minister who’s forgotten the farmers

Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton’s suffering from a bout of amnesia when he claims that National has abandoned farmers, says National’s Agriculture spokesman David Carter.

“National has, and will continue to fight for farmers against this Government’s anti-farmer legislation. Kyoto, OSH and the Local Government Bill are all glaring examples of how this Government is heaping extra costs on the farming sector.

“For the last fortnight, National has been battling the Government over the draconian Climate Change Response Bill which will put our farmers at an enormous disadvantage to their Australian counterparts.

“Interestingly, Labour has put up just five speakers to support their own Bill, while National has put up 27 speakers opposing it.

“It’s not hard to guess who is really listening farmers. It’s certainly not an Agriculture Minister who boasts that “Labour cares about rural communities, and we can demonstrate tangible proof of that.”

“Jim Sutton was once a farmer, believe it or not, so he should know just how much these hefty extra costs on farmers will hurt the rural heartland. Yet he’s content to stand by and let his Government colleagues blunder on,” says Mr Carter.

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