This to update you on our Back Off Banks campaign and ask for your support for the campaign ahead.
As Groundswell and others have been campaigning for, the Government has asked the Primary Production Committee to begin an inquiry into rural banking. This means the inquiry will likely go ahead once the committee can meet to set the scope for what will be included in the inquiry (called the terms of reference).
Thank you to everyone who backed our campaign to get this inquiry going. It has the potential to make a real difference in how farmers are treated by their banks and for the credit availability and interest rates farmers get in these tough times.
We’re gearing up for a campaign to tell the select committee what needs to be done to get a fair go for farmers and get the banks out of the emissions game.
Starting the inquiry is just the first hurdle in getting action on how the banking system treats farmers and agricultural emissions.
Now we need to sway the MPs on that committee to hold banks accountable, including on emissions, despite the lobbying they’ll face from the banking sector and the anti-farming crowd.
We’ve already seen Rabobank, who claims to be “New Zealand's only specialist food and agribusiness bank,” warn farmers at the recent Primary Industries Summit to continue their focus on reducing emissions or risk getting shut out of international markets.
We reject this completely. Banks need to back off, stay in their lane, and focus on providing affordable lending – not industry policy.
Besides, New Zealand farmers are already among the most emissions efficient in the world. The claimed customers looking for low-emissions protein would already be choosing New Zealand products.
We have to keep reminding the politicians and the public of these basic truths, or they get distracted by claims like this from Rabobank.
Running these campaigns costs money and we rely on supporters like you to fund the kinds of actions that stopped the Farming Tax. Everyone in Groundswell NZ is a volunteer, so every dollar donated goes to standing up for food producers and rural communities.
We know times are tough for many, so if you can, whatever amount you can contribute will make a difference.
Click here to make a secure and confidential donation.
We all have skin in this game - whether you’re a food producer with a bank breathing down your neck, part of a rural community dependent on money flowing through your local economy, or a consumer facing rising food costs that will only get worse as costs and restrictions pile up on farmers.
We’re also keeping on at the politicians with our other campaigns, including getting the most out of the agricultural methane science review, Stop the Land Grab on RMA reform and rolling back council overreach, and holding the new Government to their promises on agricultural policies.
This period with a new government is pivotal in getting the changes we need. Whatever doesn’t get rolled back now will become the starting point for the next change in government to start attacking farming again.
We can't take our foot off the pedal now.
Thank you for your support.
Kind regards,
Bryce, Laurie, Mel and the Team at Groundswell NZ
