The farming and Dairy corporates don’t have to answer to anyone. In the National Party they have a political power that protects them from having to be serious about water pollution, climate changing emissions, animal rights and worker safety.
They also get from National a political party prepared to redesign the entire economy to pump dairy over all and prepared to steal water from democratic bodies like ECan and prepared to privatise state assets to subsidise their unsustainable irrigation programs.
On top of all that, it seems the power of farming and dairy can also allow legalised slavery in NZ with conditions for workers so appalling they demand an investigation for exploitation...
The Government is ruling out an an inquiry into the pay and conditions of farm workers in New Zealand, saying standards are already in place.
Former Council of Trade Unions head Helen Kelly made the call, saying many farm workers were working up to 70 hours a week for low pay, and that was leading to high staff turnover.
…our terrible reputation for allowing slave ships to fish in NZ waters is bad enough, but paying NZ workers pittance in the one industry we are supposedly world leaders over suggests a lobby group that has simply gained too much power over the National Party.
Corporate Farmers and the Dairy industry under National are like Rugby Players facing assault charges in Court – they can get away with anything.
A problem so dire that even right-wing blogger, David Farrar, could not stomach; https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/a-slave-by-any-other-name/
Yes, all of that plus Abrupt Climate Change and economic unsustainability.
The good news is, the globalised economic system is collapsing.
The bad news is, the government and most citizens are firmly locked into denial and totally unprepared for what is coming soon.
With markets shaking themselves to pieces (oil around $30 and share markets tumbling), it’s hard to know whether we have several months or several weeks before the big crash. It won’t be several years.
Good on Helen Kelly but interesting that she is still leading the charge on these matters even when she is very ill and no longer president of the CTU. The unions need a need natural born leader to take her place
I remember when I was a painter on contract turning up to a farm in the Waikato in the middle of winter… there were several young guys in overalls covered in cowshit.
And I mean covered in it.
And it was still wet.
And the dogs were covered in it as well…
And the farmer was dressed in pretty much spotless clothes as he spoke to us… now, … we all know farming can be a messy , down to earth affair , in with yer boots on type of thing…
But I also recall at that time the farming community was honestly scratching its head over why young people were not drawn to the farming industry anymore…
Can anyone seriously blame them?
And on inquiry as you do when you live in the Waikato , I learnt the miserable pay these tough young guys get for all those long anti social hours , and the often filthy work they have to do.
Miserable wages.
And we are paying the price for 31 years of neo liberal theft and rort to the point where its finally caught up with itself and no one can blame the young for giving two fingers to such a miserly attitude and wage. Not all farmers are like it , of course, … but far too many are.
I wont go into the other points of Martyns article but hats off to the young farm workers and I hope this govt gets its arse kicked out of office and you get a better deal for the future.
So who’s exporting what where? Nothing moving on the sea.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-11/nothing-moving-baltic-dry-crashes-insiders-warn-commerce-has-come-halt
The dairy farm workers are third world from the Philippines who will work for peanuts, the farmers will not employ locals as they know their rights and want fair pay and conditions.Heard it direct from a southern Hawkes Bay conversion farmer directly.
Industrial (farming) civilization ,culture is a violent disturbing mess. The plug has to be pulled fast or nothing will be left. Everything we take for granted is fucked up! Everything is stolen from nature everything is manipulated to the point that only total collapse of this ‘system’ of blood, guts, slavery, and war which is all just to funnel money to the rich needs to crash!
Meat, milk, farmed animals along with the rest of nature shouldn’t be named a ‘unit’ or a ‘resource’ for our horrible, bloated, stupid species to stuff our faces with. Watching Masterchef is enough to make me vomit! People are starving to death while we watch fat fucks nibble on food and judge the cooking, OMG! Only a truly screwed up culture of psychopaths can carry on in the face of a mass extinction event like business as usual.
We need to grow up and change this culture or we will face some almighty disturbing consequences, and from my point of view it’s long over due and deserved. Denial of the truth about our revolting ‘civilization’ and stupidity got us here, we need to unplug our brains from this culture of death. What is wrong with everyone can’t anyone see civilization is a death cult! We are causing nothing but massive suffering for millions of meat farmed animals, and wildlife that doesn’t ‘belong’, to us as a ‘resource’ who the fuck do we think we are?! I feel like I can’t eat anything anymore without the boot of empire having kicked the guts out of everthing in the wake of it’s ‘harvest’ now mass extinction and massive animal suffering is our new normal. How fucken civilized! Fuck you empire! ( I feel quite strongly about this living planet).
Your essay was succinct and I agree. That conundrum of the old conflict of Capitalism versus Conservation. I predict an Opposition after the next GE. which will hobble the current New Zealand Government. Would anyone be prepared to place a ” wager ” on this one?
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