A Labour-Green government would wreck New Zealand's economy by reigniting its war on farmers, slashing exports, costing jobs and making the country poorer, National Party Agriculture spokesperson Todd McClay says.
"The Green Party's plan to ban fertilisers and cull cows would gut one of New Zealand's biggest export industries. It would stifle growth and make it harder for our farmers to compete with the rest of the world.
"Farmers are the backbone of our economy. The food and fibre sector is forecast to achieve $64 billion in exports this year. That supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and helps pay for the public services Kiwis rely on.
"The more our farmers produce and sell to the world, the more jobs they create at home. Those incomes pay for groceries and mortgages and get spent in local cafes and shops.
"Every hospital, every school and every road is easier to pay for because our farmers, growers and exporters earn money for New Zealand on the world stage.
"No sensible government sets out to increase costs and produce less. Yet that is exactly what Labour and the Greens are proposing, and Te Pāti Māori hasn't even named its price yet.
"It creates more questions for Labour's $18 billion funding gap. Their coalition partner wants to decimate the farming sector which is a key revenue earner for New Zealand, and they have to make up for that loss somehow.
"No wonder the Greens want to load seven new taxes on Kiwis, to add to Labour's capital gains tax and any other secret tax they've been cooking up to fill their $18 billion gap.
"It says everything that one day after National announced a plan to grow exports and secure more trade agreements, the Labour-Green alternative is to punish farmers and shrink our export sector.
"National knows we can grow the economy and look after the environment at the same time. We all want cleaner rivers, healthier freshwater and thriving oceans. That is why we are replacing the Resource Management Act with a system that protects the environment while making it easier to build, invest and get things done.
"This election is a clear choice. National will build the future through trade, exports and world-leading food production. Labour and the Greens will punish farmers, shrink exports and leave the whole country poorer."
