Groundswell NZ emissions spokesperson Steve Cranston issued a press release on Saturday saying the group understood Shaw ‘’has finally conceded the He Waka Eke Noa agricultural emissions scheme is terminally flawed and will scrap it”.
“Industry leaders, Maori and the Government have been collaborating on HWEN for the past two years but all that time and expense has come to nought,’’ Cranston said.
“Government and industry leaders have been quietly looking at alternative emission pricing options to the HWEN scheme for the past few months and now appear ready to pull the pin on HWEN.”
On Sunday, Cranston said he had known for a while that the Government had been talking about alternatives to He Waka Eke Noa or the Emissions Trading Scheme.
“The key point here is that other options are being discussed and conversations are taking place,’’ he said.
“Those conversations are critical, that the Minister is looking at other options and the Minister needs to open it up and be transparent with farmers that there are more than just two options being considered.’’
Shaw did not respond directly to claims that discussions about other options had been taking place.
He told Stuff “the He Waka Eke Noa proposal has not been scrapped, and the Government is committed to working with the agricultural and horticultural sector to put in place a fair, effective system to reduce emissions.’’
”The He Waka Eke Noa proposal, alongside advice from the Climate Change Commission and officials, is currently being analysed and evaluated. The process for this has not changed. That analysis will form the basis of Cabinet decisions on final options, due later this year, which will be subject to public consultation,’’ he said.
Groundswell NZ leader Bryce McKenzie said the group stood by its source of the claims.
”I believe our sources, they have never let us down before, but if they got it wrong then we’ll be first to put our hand up. But until we see what comes out of the final decisions, well we don’t know do we,’’ he said.
He Waka Eke Noa is a partnership with industry, Māori and Government to implement a framework by 2025 to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and build the agriculture sector’s resilience to climate change.
In July 2021 Shaw admitted a reference he made to ‘’a group of pākehā farmers down south’’ when he was speaking to radio station Ngati Hine FM was Groundswell NZ. At the same time, he also said the group was spreading misinformation about the National Policy Statement for National Biodiversity.
In December, Shaw said he would travel to Southland to meet with Groundswell NZ leaders, but a date is yet to be set.
Groundswell NZ was set up by McKenzie and Paterson to seek a halt to, and rewrite of, unworkable regulations which it said unfairly impacts farmers and rural communities.
