Today’s announcement that National is doubling the permanent, baseline funding for the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust for the first time since 2015, is yet another win for the agriculture and rural sector, says National Party Leader Christopher Luxon.
The announcement was made in Auckland today ahead of the rural sector’s biggest week of the year, Fieldays at Mystery Creek in the Waikato.
Christopher Luxon says National continues to deliver for farmers and rural communities since being elected in 2023.
“If elected, National will double QEII Trust funding, which is about recognising that for nearly fifty years, New Zealand farmers have been quietly protecting the best of our natural habitat on their own land, at their own cost. Today we’re backing them to keep going.
“QEII is a unique conservation model: voluntary, practical, landowner-led, and offers some of the best-value conservation in the country. Every dollar the government puts in, farmers match many times over. It’s great bang for buck for both the taxpayer and nature.
“More funding will support landowners with costs like fencing, surveying and legal work – costs that can often stop good projects from going ahead.
“We back farmers to know what is best for their land, they choose to protect important conservation areas, rather than having rules forced on them.”
Mr Luxon says National is the Party for farmers.
“We have removed agriculture from the ETS, banned full farm-to-forest conversions, and made a huge investment in ridding the country of wilding pines.
“We have got rid of the Ute Tax and created Investment Boost which gives farmers a 20 per cent upfront tax deduction on new assets.
“We are replacing the Resource Management Act, so farmers have fewer resource consents, faster processing times and a system that respects property rights.
“We have expanded the RSE scheme, boosted investment in the Rural Support Network, established a $4 million Rural Wellbeing Fund and backed Rural Women.
“We have simplified regulations around winter grazing, stock exclusion and on-farm water storage.
“We have spades in the ground on the Waikato Medical School which will bring much needed doctors and nurses into rural GP practices.
“And we have delivered the India Free Trade Agreement, which Labour said was impossible.
“National’s focus on global market access for our growers and producers has seen exports increase by $17 billion, creating jobs and lifting incomes,” says Mr Luxon.
National is fixing the basics and building the future for rural New Zealand.
