{"id":68083,"date":"2025-01-23T12:43:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T23:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=68083"},"modified":"2025-05-08T15:41:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T03:41:48","slug":"milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/","title":{"rendered":"Milking it: how the intensive dairy industry rewrote freshwater rules in their favour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We&#8217;ve uncovered shocking evidence of how the New Zealand dairy industry has been rewriting freshwater rules to allow dairy industry pollution to continue without consequences. Here&#8217;s what happened.<\/p>\n\n<p>In May 2023, Andrew Hoggard ended his term as Federated Farmers President early and resigned his position. The following day, he announced his candidacy for the ACT Party, standing in the Rangitikei electorate at the upcoming election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Hoggard was ranked 5th on the ACT Party list, which essentially guaranteed him a seat in Parliament. Observers at the time considered it a coup for the ACT Party &#8211; the agriculture sector has historically been closely aligned with the National Party, and many considered it to be a natural home for the former agriculture lobbyist.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>But when Hoggard was appointed as Associate Minister for Agriculture, Federated Farmers, DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb began their own coup to re-write freshwater policy in their favour.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Greenpeace Aotearoa has obtained hundreds of pages of emails and text messages that pressed for urgent and sweeping changes to environmental rules to favour the agriculture industry. These shocking documents reveal that the agri-business lobby wasted no time once their man was sworn in as Minister.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXf4HpDtt7lZ6Hm5UXo1FJdBSffYuvJgraFb7JcSj6Nyn6ViB962b9dgxTUvSuyTDubzxZhfMNLsv47pAbM5pXh5HDTuZrYwdX0CCLOTg63AE9I8z5Pes1PWxw3wfu9ZoXQ8X_dppg?key=vdBOGJLH8nSoHJMRlLg64qr_\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:537px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>\u201cCongrats for yesterday Andrew, what a massive honour!! Will see you Wednesday night\u201d &#8211; Text message to Andrew Hoggard the day after his swearing in as Associate Minister for Agriculture, from Federated Farmers President Wayne Langford<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>National, ACT and NZ First had always signalled changes to freshwater policy, but the specifics were not always clear. Regardless, the coalition agreements gave a sense of the direction of travel, and the lobby groups acted quickly to assert their agenda on incoming Ministers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>But the first 100 day plan issued by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on 29 November 2023 didn\u2019t go far enough for Federated Farmers &#8211; and they made their expectations clear to Hoggard, their man on the inside.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXeGz24Ho-nFtVNofT1li_HXVhAzg2CdfYSQ4bn_yO8NpddgurHI1CT56OZ36A9qs9VhVK7hQ2AeCmKmY6zK9gLU5OyA2oqH61bIsCsvozXiEVuuCcDoOFvQN4yr7zgbnu5rlw1Dmw?key=vdBOGJLH8nSoHJMRlLg64qr_\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:529px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>\u201cNothing in first hundred days on freshwater?\u201d Text message to Andrew Hoggard from Federated Farmers Head of Policy &amp; Advocacy Paul Melville, less than an hour after the release of the Government\u2019s 100 Day Plan.&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Lobbying Government Ministers is nothing new, and not everything that was requested by the industry was passed into law. But many of the requests that were implemented were significant, which clearly made Federated Farmers &#8211; who had been milking their connection to Hoggard &#8211; very happy. So much so that they hosted a \u201cRestoring Farmer Confidence Tour\u201d for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the end of 2024, to celebrate the work of his Government.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>This celebration was for reckless and environmentally damaging policies, which included:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The removal of rules that required polluting industries to prioritise the health of lakes, rivers, and drinking water (Te Mana o Te Wai) in the resource consent process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The suspension of requirements for councils to identify new \u2018significant natural areas\u2019 &#8211; basically preventing local councils from establishing new protections for important habitat for native plants and animals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The removal of rules that prevented deer, beef cattle, and other livestock from wading into lakes and rivers, and polluting them with effluent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The repeal of intensive winter grazing (mud farming) regulations, meaning more cattle up to their stomachs in mud.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And the suspension of regional councils\u2019 power to impose stricter rules for water quality &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/luxon-strips-local-governments-power-to-protect-fresh-water\/\">done intentionally to block the Otago Regional Council from notifying their plan which had been years in the making<\/a>, was supported by a majority of councillors, and would have delivered significant improvements to water quality.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Federated Farmers even went as far to give advice on political messaging. It acknowledged \u201cpolitical concerns\u201d about the \u201coptics of repealing freshwater rules\u201d and suggested possible arguments for change, including that farmers are being \u201cforced to farm by consent\u201d and are \u201cbeing told how to farm from Wellington\u201d. Anyone who has listened to the Government talking about their approach to agricultural policy will find this messaging very familiar &#8211; it is nearly identical to how Luxon and co presented their freshwater reform and various other pro-industry, anti-nature policies.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Coincidence? We think not.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>The level of influence held by these lobby groups is most demonstrated in their response to a series of High Court decisions. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/federated-farmers-throwing-their-toys-out-of-the-cot-over-freshwater-protections\/\">A legal battle over section 107 of the Resource Management Act saw the Courts rule in favour of a stronger interpretation of the Act<\/a>, and therefore stricter environmental protections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>In a panic over the ramifications for their members, who would no longer be able to pollute the environment without being held accountable, Federated Farmers, DairyNZ, and Beef+Lamb wrote a joint letter to Andrew Hoggard. They asked him to urgently intervene in the Court&#8217;s decisions and legislate away those environmental protections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Yet again, the industry got what they wanted. Last minute, the Government inserted new clauses into the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill that was making its way through parliament. The Bill had already satisfied most of the agriculture lobby groups\u2019 wishlist, but at the last minute the change to overrule the High Court was slipped into the Bill.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>This was seven months after the lobby groups had written to Minister Hoggard requesting the change urgently. Notably, the decision to include this was made three months after submissions on the Bill had closed, meaning everyday people didn\u2019t get to have a say on the decision<\/p>\n\n<p>It\u2019s not unusual for the political right in Aotearoa to favour the agriculture sector, but it is unheard of for the Government of the day to align themselves so closely and to the bidding of agriculture lobby groups. Agribusiness has been handed a golden ticket to continue polluting, and they\u2019re using it. Meanwhile, we all pay the cost of their pollution in unswimmable rivers and contaminated drinking water.<\/p>\n\n<p>Back in 2023 prior to the election, Jack Tame asked Hoggard in a TV interview whether he should have disclosed his ACT Party membership while negotiating He Waka Eke Noa on behalf of Federated Farmers, and whether it was a conflict of interest. Since then, the dairy farmer turned Minister has shepherded through consequential law changes at the behest of the lobby group he previously led, that will benefit the industry he has a personal stake in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>While many communities are dealing with degraded lakes and rivers and unsafe drinking water, the Luxon Government is letting the biggest freshwater polluters &#8211; the intensive dairy industry &#8211; write environmental policy. Anyone who is worried about their drinking water or the state of their rivers should be asking the Prime Minister to explain.<\/p>\n\n<p>This all sounds quite dire, but it\u2019s not the end of the story. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/hands-off-fresh-water-protections\/\">More than 25 thousand people have signed our petition calling for Christopher Luxon to keep his hands off the fresh water protections, and more are adding their names every day.<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>We know that even when Governments don\u2019t want to do the right thing, people power can lead to a win. We\u2019ve won victories for the environment under a National Government before &#8211; like when we stopped the construction of the Ruataniwha Dam in the Central Hawke\u2019s Bay. We can do it again.<\/p>\n\n<p>Add your name to the petition now!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<section\n\t\t\tclass=\"boxout post-63558 \"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Image\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"cover-card-overlay\"\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/hands-off-fresh-water-protections\/\" \n\t\t\t><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2024\/04\/fab9b8ae-luxon-hands-off-freshwater-protections-1-1024x535.jpg\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2024\/04\/fab9b8ae-luxon-hands-off-freshwater-protections-1-600x314.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2024\/04\/fab9b8ae-luxon-hands-off-freshwater-protections-1-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2024\/04\/fab9b8ae-luxon-hands-off-freshwater-protections-1-768x401.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2024\/04\/fab9b8ae-luxon-hands-off-freshwater-protections-1-510x266.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2024\/04\/fab9b8ae-luxon-hands-off-freshwater-protections-1.jpg 1200w\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 358px, (min-width: 780px) 313px, 88px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\talt=\"\" title=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\/>\n            \t\t\t<div class=\"boxout-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"boxout-heading medium\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Title\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/hands-off-fresh-water-protections\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPETITION: Hands off the water protections\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"boxout-excerpt\">Call on Christopher Luxon to leave New Zealand\u2019s freshwater protections alone<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t                                    <a\n                        class=\"btn btn-primary\"\n                        data-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n                        data-ga-action=\"Call to Action\"\n                        data-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n                        href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/hands-off-fresh-water-protections\/\"\n                        \n                    >\n                        Add my name\n                    <\/a>\n                \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\n<p>Documents made available under the Official Information Act are attached below.<\/p>\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/01\/d06366c6-oia062-appendix-one.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of OIA062 Appendix One.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-64a7208a-f898-483e-a382-a5e6b959b38a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/01\/d06366c6-oia062-appendix-one.pdf\">OIA062 Appendix One<\/a><\/div>\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/01\/1d4983d2-oia062-appendix-two.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of OIA062 Appendix Two.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-90532cf3-1750-4e89-80d1-4c87758b5fd5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/01\/1d4983d2-oia062-appendix-two.pdf\">OIA062 Appendix Two<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shocking new evidence exposes how the intensive dairy industry lobbied MPs to rewrite freshwater rules in their favour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":60115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[22,51],"p4-page-type":[6],"class_list":["post-68083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-freshwater","tag-politics","p4-page-type-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The NZ dairy industry&#039;s lobbying on freshwater - Greenpeace Aotearoa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Greenpeace Aotearoa uncovers shocking evidence of lobbying from the intensive dairy industry to rewrite freshwater rules in their favour.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Milking it: how the intensive dairy industry rewrote freshwater rules in their favour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find out the shocking way the NZ dairy industry has lobbied for less freshwater protections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greenpeace Aotearoa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenpeace.nz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-22T23:43:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-08T03:41:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2023\/06\/89e56b75-luxon-cows.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Will Appelbe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GreenpeaceNZ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GreenpeaceNZ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Will Appelbe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Will Appelbe\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/95ead5e7f952e4f08753f9b0cbf7cbc9\"},\"headline\":\"Milking it: how the intensive dairy industry rewrote freshwater rules in their favour\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-22T23:43:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-08T03:41:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/\"},\"wordCount\":1227,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2023\/06\/89e56b75-luxon-cows.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Freshwater\",\"Politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Greenpeace\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/milking-it-how-the-intensive-dairy-industry-rewrote-freshwater-rules-in-their-favour\/\",\"name\":\"The NZ dairy industry's lobbying on freshwater - 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