Dairy boom could cause water bust

The Green Party is calling for an end to subsidies for the dairy industry in a speech by Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons at a public meeting in Christchurch today.

In her speech, "Canterbury's Water Woes: Land Use & Climate Change", Ms Fitzsimons refers to the dairy industry receiving subsidies in a variety of ways, including the free use of publicly owned and scarce water, paying no charge for the degradation of water quality, and less than the full cost imposed on the electricity system. Dairy farmers are also incurring no charge for any losses of biodiversity, landscape and shelter, and the use of the atmosphere as a dumping ground for methane and nitrous oxide, while others pick up the costs of a changing climate."

"Ironically the dairy industry prides itself, and sells itself overseas, as being unsubsidised. Our market access is helped by this perception. But it isn't true," Ms Fitzsimons says. "Roughly half our climate change emissions come from methane and nitrous oxide from farming. Dairying is the largest part of that and by far the fastest growing. This is the final great subsidy.

"As policy stands currently, taxpayers will pay our burgeoning Kyoto bill. The Greens believe it should be paid by those who emit greenhouse gases.

"The claim by Federated Farmers that farmers shouldn't have to pay a resource rental for using water because they already pay for their irrigation equipment and infrastructure is like saying that motorists shouldn't pay for petrol because they already have to pay for their cars and for roads," Green Party Environment spokesperson Nandor Tanczos says.

"Water is a part of our collective wealth. It is not privately owned, and farmers and other commercial users are using it for their own commercial ends. There's nothing wrong with making a profit, but it seems fair to pay a rent to society at large for restoration of water bodies and environmental protection,"

"Many farmers have made a great deal of progress in reducing their environmental impact, but expansion of dairying into inappropriate areas removes any net benefit," Nandor says.

"Canterbury is well aware that water is a scarce resource but we still give it away to commercial users on a first come, first serve basis," Ms Fitzsimons says. "All this is being driven by the fact that the dairying industry is extraordinarily profitable just now and no other land use can compete for profitability with it. But the rest of New Zealand is actually paying those profits,

"We need charges on pollution, most urgently on greenhouse gases. Climate change policy in New Zealand has for too long been held up by two sacred cows — one has horns and the other has wheels. Both should have to pay their way without subsidies, and under Green policies they will," Ms Fitzsimons says.