Tractors and utes are out in force for ‘A Howl of a Protest’ around the country as farmers and tradies push back on the Government’s clean car scheme.
The recent scheme which sets out to incentivise EV purchasing and penalise higher emission vehicles like utes has faced backlash from those who say there are currently no lower emission alternatives for certain work vehicles.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously said “really strong consideration” was given on possible fee exemptions for farmers and tradies but said it was “going to be very difficult to operationalise”.
The nationwide event has been organised by farming action group Groundswell NZ which also wants to see a number of current regulations halted or rewritten including regulations relating to freshwater, indigenous biodiversity, climate change and the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill.
The protest is for “farmers, growers and ute owners who are fed up with increasing government interference in your life and business, unworkable regulations and unjustified costs”, the group says.
Groundswell NZ spokesperson Bryce McKenzie told Stuff.co.nz that the protest was important because “there is a lot of anguish out there, there is a lot of tension and this is a way for people to get together and release some of that and show that they’re not happy”.
“We want farmers to gather up a few of their neighbours and go to town in their tractors or utes – some people have even told us they will even take their horses. A statement will be read from Groundswell at each centre and then there will be a bark up, or a howl up, from the dogs,” McKenzie says.
The protest was set to kick off throughout the country around 12pm on Friday and morning traffic disruptions were already reported on Auckland’s Southern Motorway as a large number of utes and tractors gathered in Drury at 9am.
Motorists have been advised to delay travel on the Southern Motorway into Auckland and certain bus services have been disrupted and cancelled due to the event.
National Party leader Judith Collins says the event is a “big day for fed up Kiwis all over New Zealand” and she is urging for more debate around the clean car scheme.
“Farmers helped us get through the Covid-19 lockdown and today their protests around the country demonstrate how out of touch the Government is with rural New Zealand.
“Labour never campaigned on their ute tax and their parliamentary majority is not a mandate to promote their ideological wish list.
“New Zealanders deserve a say on their country’s future and together we must demand the debate,” Collins says.
Upon announcing the scheme, transport minister Michael Wood said the Government is taking action in line with the Climate Change Commissions advice to increase the uptake of low emission vehicles .
He says the policy introduces a range of measures that will help meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target.
“Our transport emissions are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand so we need to start taking action now if we are going to meet our 2050 targets,” Wood says.
