Southland Federated Farmers

02/08/2026

Federated Farmers says recent flooding has highlighted the need for national rules allowing easier removal of river gravel to help reduce flood risk.

30/07/2026

28/07/2026

🌸REMINDER🌸 the Local Government Commission folk are in Gore - tomorrow TUES 28 JULY at 5.30pm at James Cu***ng rooms. Please come along if you have time, to hear where they are up to in their amalgamation investigation, how it fits with the Head Start amalgamation and any questions you have

27/07/2026

24/07/2026

Strong support for two unitary authorities emerged from an Invercargill meeting, though the majority support from a larger Gore meeting was less emphatic.

24/07/2026

Fixing our broken resource management system has been one of Federated Farmers' biggest priorities in recent years – and for good reason.

For too long, farmers have faced unnecessary delays, huge costs, excessive consultation and endless red tape just to be able to keep on farming.

That’s why Federated Farmers is so pleased to see the Government continuing to push ahead with its plan to replace the Resource Management Act.

The new Natural Environment Bill is really starting to take shape and is certainly looking much more practical than what was initially proposed.

When we saw the first draft last year, we were quick to sound the alarm that the law somehow risked being even worse for farmers than the RMA – if that's even possible.

There were sections that would have allowed water to be taxed, greenhouse gasses to be regulated through planning law, and farm plans to be excessively audited.

We also raised serious concerns that Mana Whakahono ā Rohe (iwi-council) agreements would be carried over into the new system.

Our policy experts are still working their way through the latest report, but it’s clear that changes have been made to address our concerns.

It's great the select committee has listened to many of our farmers’ concerns and recommended changes to address them.

It’s now looking like water won’t be taxed or auctioned, greenhouses gases won’t be regulated, and a more practical approach will be taken with farm plans.

The Government has also confirmed existing and future Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements won't be carried into the new system.

Instead, councils will be able to enter into narrowly-scoped iwi participation agreements with clear legislative limits – exactly what Federated Farmers advocated for.

There are some areas in which we think there’s still work to do, and we'll keep pushing for improvements.

For example, we need more changes to make sure farm plans replace resource consents rather than duplicate them.

I'm cautiously optimistic the new system will deliver a more practical approach to environmental management.

We'll keep working to make sure it does.

Thanks for your continued support of Federated Farmers.

Mark Hooper
Federated Farmers board member