Source: ACT Party
ACT’s Agriculture spokesperson Mark Cameron has welcomed long overdue reforms to Fish & Game New Zealand, saying the days of licence fees being weaponised against farmers are finally coming to an end.
“For too long, Fish & Game has acted like a rogue lobby group by using hunters’ and anglers’ fees to wage war on the very people who care for our waterways because they’re the ones out there buying the licences,” says Mr Cameron.
“In Southland, farmers have been treated like villains. Local Fish & Game councils have backed court cases that would force thousands of farmers to get resource consents just to keep farming – massively increasing costs and red tape.
“That kind of activist overreach has destroyed decades of goodwill from farmers who’ve voluntarily allowed public access to their land.
“These reforms focus Fish & Game on its actual job: supporting hunting and fishing, not harassing the rural communities who make those activities possible.
“Fish & Game was never meant to be a political battering ram for anti-farming ideology. It exists to serve licence holders – and many of those are farmers.
“ACT is proud to back these changes and proud to stand with rural New Zealand.”
