Farmer protest group keen to meet Jacinda Ardern for answers on new rules

Friday, 29 October 2021

Bryce McKenzie, left, and Laurie Paterson are the men behind the Groundswell NZ organisation pushing back against some government rules, which they say are impractical to implement on farms.

The leaders behind one of the biggest farmer protest group in New Zealand are seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and say they are sick of being ignored.

Groundswell NZ galvanised thousands of farmers in July and protests were held in 50 towns nationwide, but since then the Prime Minister has never directly responded to their concerns about some Government freshwater rules not being practical to implement.

Groundswell NZ founder Bryce McKenzie will be in Wellington next week, and it’ll be the second time the group has tried to get a meeting with Ardern.

“We’re hoping she’ll meet with us this time, because the people of New Zealand that turned out for our last protest have essentially been ignored,’’ McKenzie said.

“We want to point out to her that we are not opposed to improving the environment at all. Farmers have done a great deal of work in that respect already, but we are opposed to the way this Government wants us to do that, with its impractical regulations.’’

* Second nationwide protest in the streets planned by Groundswell NZ

* Groundswell NZ hint at upcoming 'Mother of All Protests' in November

* Jacinda Ardern refuses to release information about Groundswell NZ

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was too busy to meet with Groundswell NZ leaders when they were in Wellington in August. The group has requested another meeting with her. (File photo)

This group sent a request to the Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday, and on Friday afternoon it was still waiting to hear from Ardern. Stuff also contacted her office to see if the meeting was going to go ahead, but did not get a response to that specific question.

Just days after an estimated 60,000 people turned out across the country for Groundswell’s Howl of a Protest in July, leaders of the group were snubbed by the Prime Minister in August, when she said she was too busy to meet with them.

ACT Primary Industries spokesperson Mark Cameron said the Prime Minister should have met with the group the first time they were in Wellington.

ACT Primary Industries spokesperson Mark Cameron said Groundswell leaders deserve an explanation from Jacinda Ardern about why she wouldn’t meet with them.

“Jacinda Ardern chose to meet with a team of her spin doctors instead of meeting with the organisers of the Groundswell protest,’’ Cameron said.

“It turns out there was nothing in her diary for large chunks of time that day and one the commitments was a meeting with her spin doctors. The organisers of the Groundswell Protest have raised legitimate concerns about the issues facing rural New Zealand.’’

The organisers of Groundswell deserve an explanation from Jacinda Ardern about why she wouldn’t meet with them, he said.

Paterson and Groundswell spokesperson Jamie McFadyen were in Wellington on August 12 to present a petition to the Environment Select Committee, and 14 working days before their visit, they requested to meet with the Prime Minister.

Documents show Groundswell leader Laurie Paterson emailed Invercargill Labour list MP Dr Liz Craig on 22 July to request a meeting with the PM.

On July 28 Ardern’s office responded: ”unfortunately due to prior diary commitments the PM will be unable to meet with you, and therefore I will need to decline your request.’

The ACT Party has released the Prime Minister’s diary for August 12 and it shows that she attended a public forum in the morning, followed by a media stand-up.

At 1pm she met with her communications team for 15 minutes and then visited a health care centre in Porirua for an hour in the afternoon. She was then scheduled to pre-record interviews for television shows Seven Sharp and The Project from 4.45pm to 5.30pm.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the meeting with the communications team was ‘’a weekly meeting to film the numerous messages the PM undertakes in support of domestic, business and international interests.’’

“As the PM has previously said, she will keep working alongside our rural communities to find solutions to the long term challenges of climate change, water quality and environmental protection. I’ve always said it’s the outcome that’s most important and if there are different ways we can get there then we will look at them.”

Anyone is able to request a meeting with the PM at any time and in any format. There was no set advance time, but her diary was ‘’very busy,’’ the spokesperson said.

Groundswell was founded by West Otago farmers McKenzie and Paterson in 2020 after they organised a tractor protest in Gore against the Government’s freshwater regulations, which they said were impractical to implement on farms.

Ardern has previously refused to release information she has about Groundswell NZ, and Stuff has now filed a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman about Ardern’s decision to withhold the information.