By pretending emissions leakage can be wished away, National's plan for a Farming Tax by 2030 is as fundamentally flawed as Labour’s old plan, Groundswell NZ co-founder Bryce McKenzie says.

"Put simply, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ delayed Farming Tax will mean even higher food prices for Kiwis who can't afford it, with no benefit to global emissions.

“Supporting research into emissions reduction innovations is well and good, but Kiwi farmers are the most efficient in the world and already have strong incentives to hold that position by taking up new technologies once they are shown to be safe, effective, and actually desired by consumers.

“This Government, like the last one, is pretending there is some way a price on agricultural emissions – a Farming Tax – can work without making the food we produce in New Zealand more expensive and less competitive overseas, sending production offshore.

"Any reduced production here will just be taken up by less efficient foreign farmers who emit more for the same amount of food and chop down rainforests to make room for their larger, less efficient herds and flocks.

"If the goal is decreasing the world’s total food emissions, the politicians clapping for Simon Watts at overseas conferences should be removing trade barriers so our lower-emissions food can compete fairly in their markets," says Mr McKenzie.