Winston Peters has come out swinging at Government legislation impacting farmers and rural New Zealand.
The NZ First Leader joined Rural Exchange on Sunday to discuss the world of politics.
Peters' questioned He Waka Eke Noa - the proposed legislation to price farmer’s emissions - claiming 99 percent of farmers would have no idea what the name even meant, let alone the legislation itself.
"It's all this woke virtue signalling, without real understanding of the industry you’re trying to serve," Peters said.
"Why on earth was (HWEN) rammed down the farmers' throats, without an understanding… of how modern farming has become and how much people are doing their bit, and doing far more than the urban settings and urban communities are doing."
With environmental sustainability and climate change, he firmly believed New Zealand had the capacity to get there and was well on its way.
"But it will not get there if the farming community is hammered and punished, or worse still, there’s no sense of gratitude in Central Government or in the big cities of farming and our export wealth."
The farming community was critical to the country’s economic survival, particularly during the COVID crisis, but none of that was being recognised by the Government he said.
He called for fairness when it came to policies impacting the backbone of the country’s economy and investing in our provinces.
"I'm seeing policies being rolled out without…. an understanding of the need to take people with you but simply ramming it down their throats whether they like it or not and that's got to end if we’re going to go forward as a country."
Listen to the full interview with Winston Peters and REX hosts Hamish McKay and Dom George above.
Join the conversation over at Rural Exchange’s Facebook page.
