Emerging schism threatens to undermine traditional influence and, in a worse-case scenario, see ‘massive radicalisation’ of rural areas
For decades, many of New Zealand’s most influential people didn’t hold seats in parliament. They didn’t pass legislation or regulations. They often didn’t even work in the capital, Wellington.
“I’ve been accused of being a communist, been told I’ve got no nuts,” says Andrew Hoggard, the president of Federated Farmers. “The more rabid supporters at times get angry with everyone else.”Part of the reason many farmers are so aggrieved is a feeling that they have lost the influence they once wielded, says Campbell. Between the second world war and 1973, farmers exercised “absolute power”, he says.
But even if they were no longer dominant, says Campbell, farmers “had enough residual power to keep the government off their back”.In 2017, however, Ardern’s Labour party won power in a shock election result and proposed a raft of policies designed to improve water quality, reduce pollution and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Much of their anger was directed at DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb, which Groundswell believes have grown too close to the government. While Mckenzie is comfortable with the approach of Federated Farmers, he says DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb “are not doing the best for farming overall”.
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