“Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has repeatedly told New Zealanders that he is focused on the “Bread and Butter issues”, but his Government continues to put pressure on the very people who make New Zealand’s bread and butter. He has chucked a number of unpopular policies on his so-called ‘policy bonfire’, but farmers and food producers are being left out in the cold with the deluge of unworkable and expensive regulations seeming to be fireproof," Groundswell NZ co-founder Bryce McKenzie says.

“Groundswell New Zealand have launched a new campaign to remind Chippy which side his bread is buttered on or come election time he’ll be toast. Along with our supporters, we will be reminding the Prime Minister that without New Zealand’s food producers, there is no bread and butter.

“Arguably the biggest issue facing New Zealand this election year is the Cost-of-Living crisis; especially the cost of food. We are calling for the Prime Minister to do the pragmatic thing and deal with the problem at source by alleviating the significant burden his Government has heaped on the people producing food in New Zealand. Chris Hipkins must throw the Farming Tax (Agricultural Emissions Tax proposal and He Waka Eke Noa) on his ‘policy bonfire’, and halt the other unworkable regulations restricting New Zealand’s food producers from being able to deliver the ‘bread and butter’ to Kiwis.

“Farmers and food producers are passionate about our environment and want to see policies for protecting it that work with them rather than against. We are calling for all the separate and silo’d environmental policies to be replaced with one comprehensive piece of environmental legislation that is holistic, has an integrated framework, avoids perverse outcomes, and has a focus on empowering people and communities to achieve positive environmental outcomes.

“Rural communities are under the pump, there’s no doubt about it. It is no overstatement to say that a lot of our food producers are at breaking point as they struggle to deal with the same cost-of-living challenges as everyone else while also being battered with regulation after regulation imposed on their businesses. It is not sustainable.

“Kiwis can’t afford for food prices to continue to skyrocket. The country can’t afford for more food producers to throw in the towel or have to hike prices to cover Government costs. Every day that Chris Hipkins allows this madness to continue contributes to a crisis of his Government’s own making. He must act now to save New Zealand’s bread and butter and his own bacon.”

Those who want to support this campaign can visit www.breadandbutternz.com

© Scoop Media