Rumours grow after farming Minister tackles fertiliser tax
Agricultural Minister Damien O'Connor refused to rule out a tax on fertilisers, sparking speculation of a Government U-turn on farming. Labour has planned to charge farms for their greenhouse gas emissions from 2025, with the money recycled to reward agribusinesses introducing carbon-cutting tech and trees. This would take the form of levies on methane and nitrous oxide. The proposed system was shaped by ideas developed by the ag industry and Maori leaders, but the partnership approach failed to quell widespread anger from many farming communities. Groundswell activists whose protests involved tractors and trucks driving through city centres speculated this week that a tax on fertilisers could replace the levies. While he declined to take a fertiliser tax off the table, OConnor said he had no plans to introduce the idea. The Government is committed to pricing agricultural emissions, he added. Rumours began when Act Party MP Mark Cameron asked OConnor during Parliamentary Question Time about consideration of a tax on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. When applied, the agrichemicals result in nitrous oxide creating a potent blanket of heat in the upper atmosphere that warms the planet. In response, OConnor said the Government had no proposal to introduce a fertiliser tax. The Government still intended to introduce methane and nitrous oxide levies, he said in Parliament. It is imperative that we continue to lift our sustainability credentials and future-proof our export growth. But OConnor had floated the idea of a complementary tax on fertilisers with industry leaders. He did not intend to progress the idea, he told Parliament, though refused to rule anything in or out here and now. At a high level, the proposed farming emissions system often called He Waka Eke Noa would offer farmers a discount for the carbon being sucked in by their trees. But ministry officials and the ag industry disagree on which vegetation should be counted, plus the most appropriate absorption rates. Ministers have offered the industry another chance to convince them of the merits of extending the vegetation criteria. But the numbers must be scientifically sound, they said. That work will require more research and development, OConnor later told journalists. Last years Budget awarded the agricultural industry $339 million for research and development. However, industry leaders have come back and said they dont like the idea of a fertiliser tax, OConnor told MPs. Groundswell leaders Bryce McKenzie and Laurie Paterson wrote in an email to supporters that the ministers comments and a subsequent Politik article by Richard Harman offered a little hope. McKenzie and Paterson characterised a fertiliser tax as an alternative to the He Waka Eke Noa system. This back down (fingers crossed) is only possible because grassroots farmers and ordinary Kiwis said: Were not going to take it, the pair wrote. Asked if the Government still intended to introduce methane levies from 2025, OConnor said the remaining work does not affect the timeline. On a visit to Dunedin , Prime Minister Chris Hipkins echoed his Agricultural Ministers statement that there was no specific proposal for a fertiliser tax. The issue was not a new one, he added. The Government has been open with the agricultural and horticultural sectors all the way along about how we best price emissions from our primary sector, Hipkins said. Greenpeace, which has a long-running campaign against synthetic fertilisers, welcomed the idea of a tax. Activist Christine Rose said the agricultural sector seemingly able to kill an idea by voicing its opposition has too much influence. Last year, the Climate Change Commission proposed a levy on synthetic fertilisers though this would be in addition to the on-farm system charging for greenhouse emissions. Fertilisers should be part of the Emissions Trading Scheme , the commission said, and manufacturers should be required to pay these charges as soon as possible. Our weekly email newsletter, by the Forever Project's Olivia Wannan, rounds up the latest climate events. Sign up here .