The Act Party has unveiled a policy platform aimed at reshaping New Zealand’s agricultural sector by removing what it describes as burdensome climate regulations and red tape, while introducing measures to support rural communities and farming operations.
Announced by the party’s agriculture spokesman Andrew Hoggard, the initiative seeks to “make farming fun again” by eliminating policies that the party claims add unnecessary costs to the economy and complicate farming practices. Hoggard, who has over two decades of farming experience, criticized government regulators in Wellington for attempting to control aspects of farming without a practical understanding of the industry’s realities.
“Farmers face unique risks, such as weather and market fluctuations, that bureaucrats cannot control,” Hoggard said. “What we can control is reducing pointless rules and regulatory hurdles that create obstacles for farmers.”
Key elements of Act’s policy include scrapping the Te Mana o te Wai framework, which guides freshwater management, as well as other concepts it characterizes as “vague spiritual ideas.” The party intends to prevent these principles from being reinstated under different terminology within future policies. Instead, Act proposes increasing funding to rural catchment groups by NZD 4.5 million annually to support environmental efforts on the ground.
The party also plans to increase penalties for illegal rubbish dumping and permit targeted grazing on certain Department of Conservation lands to manage weeds, invasive wilding pines, and fire risk.
On climate change policy, Act has made clear its opposition to New Zealand’s existing frameworks. The party proposes to abolish the Climate Change Commission, repeal the Zero Carbon Act, and prevent agriculture’s inclusion in the emissions trading scheme. According to Act, these climate policies impose costs without corresponding benefits to the agricultural sector or wider economy.
Additional rural-focused proposals include establishing a rural workforce visa to enable farms to hire more labor, increasing rural police patrols by 100,000 hours, and creating a dedicated rural crime unit to target offenses such as livestock poaching. The party would also facilitate 24-hour access to medicines through e-lockers for rural residents.
Other outlined measures seek to reduce unnecessary restrictions on agricultural drone use and introduce an “open seat” policy allowing rural children to use available seating on existing school buses where feasible.
Act emphasizes the importance of clear, practical, and locally responsive national policies that prioritize property rights. The party argues that farmers require stable economic conditions, including consistent pricing and low interest rates, alongside a government that refrains from interfering in commercial farming decisions.
“Farmers do not need another politician telling them how to farm,” Hoggard said. “They need a government that respects property rights, sets clear rules around genuine environmental harm, and otherwise lets them get on with it.”