May 5, 2025 • 8 mins
The Act Party has joined NZ First’s war on “woke” banks with a member’s bill to repeal legislation that requires banks and other financial institutions to submit climate disclosures. Plus, how worried is he about falling livestock numbers - especially sheep - down 6.2 million (21%) to just 23.6 million from a decade ago?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is funny who you run into and the pub
and Gore on a Friday night. I randed to this bloke.
He's Acts Agriculture spokesperson Mark Cameron.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I was down there for duck shooting and socializing. You
were having an ACT meeting and a pub on Friday night.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Jamie, good to talk to you, mate. How good is
Gore and the people at Gore? I mean, fantastic to
go down and talk to everyday, key weeks that's the thing, right,
you know, duck shooting the next day. But I had
a great meeting in Gore that we started in Wymatty
further north of there, and worked our way down the
island and man alive. There's some good people out in
(00:39):
rural New Zealand and it was good to talk to
them and get the ideas of where things are going
well and where things are not. And yeah, I thoroughly
enjoyed their company.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And I see the ACT party and led by you
because you've submitted the member's bill. You've joined the war
on woke against the banks with Winston and Shane.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, yeah, look absolutely, Jamie. Though the banks have gone
to Bulgary and I can't for the life of me
reconcile how banks seem to think that they can put
a veiled overlay over how they submit bank information on
behalf of you the borow should I say, on all
(01:21):
things to do with the missions. We've got an ETS
for goodness sakes, And now we've got the banks and
financial organizations saying, you know, look, look, let's disclose what
your climate the climate emissions are and by virtue you
might or may not get the same interest rate as
your nabor next door. This is the kind of nonsense
(01:41):
that we've got to be riddle. And I think you know,
at risk of overplaying my hand, Jamie. A country with
no money can't afford to be this price. We've got
an ETS. If it works pretty well, you've got a
cap on emissions that should be the sum of it,
rather than have banks getting into social engineering.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I absolutely agree with you. The government's job, not the banks.
And we've seen the example of some banks, and I'll
name and shame the b n Z because I think
they're the most work of the banks are reducing their
lending to the fossil fuel industry. We still need fuel
stations around that country to keep the country moving.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I mean it's it's a nonsense. I would say that
the banks think that by virtue that they should set
the precedence. I mean, this is the job of the clown.
We all agree that we have in emissions trading scheme
that put a cap on emissions, and how can we
function inside that cap is up to them. Now a
(02:38):
couple of observations. If markets decide there's emeritus, you know,
outcome for them to set a mission's profiling like Fontier
with their scope threes, then so be it. But it
shouldn't be legally mandated. So this bill would remove that
climate disclosures that are currently mandated that changed in two
(03:00):
twenty one to become a legal obligation is removed, and
then banks and financial institutions, who I would argue a
regulated debuggery as well, can stop the nonsense, go back
to basics with that relationship that they used to have,
which is debt as in credits, and the rest be gone.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Your bill is not government policy. It'll only be debated
if it's drawn from the biscuit.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Tin right, That is correct, Jomie, that is correct. So
to give you a bit of context, I wrote to
Scott Simpson, who's the new Minister of Commerce and Consumer
Affairs and said, hey, mate, this is something you might
want to consider. He's a pretty energetic sort of MP
and minister, and I would think he sees the same
numbers I do that countries in a pretty woeful economic
(03:47):
environment at the moment. This would sort of release the
shackles off the banking sector and their farmer relationships that
they have. I would like to think that he would
adopt it as a government built rather than the members'
bill as it sitsts today, and we can get back
to business, right. I mean, I think you and I
(04:09):
and our listeners all agree the rural New Zealand is
the backbone of this country. And every time things get
tired and we have issues like COVID and country goes
into lockdown or the next economic doldrums. God, our rural
New Zealanders pulls up its trousers and goes back to work. Well,
let's help them do it and introduce this bill as
a government bill.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Hey, is this war on woke? Mark Cameron Act a
spokesperson going to be a bit of a loving between
New Zealand First and the ACT Party because it'd be
fair to say in the past there hasn't been that
much love lost.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, well, fair call. But I think the thing we
found common grant and you know, I think we've got
to make the concession or acknowledgment. We listen to the punters,
and the punters being the constituency said they want to
get on with their lives. They want to be of interference,
especially government's interference where possible, and go back to common
(05:05):
sense laws, what works, what doesn't, Who bears the cost
of all this nonsense, And the fact that the government
has now said, you know, to the banks, you have
to do all this stuff. The banks don't want it either,
to be frank, they're heavily regulated as we know. So
let's restore some competition that will drive down interest rates,
(05:25):
that will unhelp the farmers and the rural buyers and
that lending relationship. All's good out of this, I think.
And yep, there might be some alignment with n ZAID.
First on, I mean, what are the rookery, you might say,
and I can't for the life and we see why
that's a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Finally, are you worried that we only have twenty three
point six million sheep in New Zealand as of twenty
twenty four. When I was a young farmer in the eighties,
Mark Cameron, we had over seventy million sheep.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Anti question. Yes, this country and its wealth has made
on the back of you know, akwcockie and a woolgra
And I hate to be myopic or risk being myopic,
but bugging me, this is the truth of the matter.
You know, farmer owner, operators and all the people that
are in the industry three p. Four hundred thousand people
of more that keep the economic weals turning. Absolutely worried
(06:18):
about the sheep numbers. It is a reflection of I
think poor public policy and many many instances. And you see,
you know climate change now being the bugbear of all things. Well,
I just make a couple of observations. For over a
decade now the national herd across both the flock and
(06:42):
the sheep meat sector entirely and different for that matter,
that most of the animal ruminants has been in decline.
Now that says to me a couple of things, and
beariably we have a narrowing window of opportunity. Well, one
damnable thing we're so good at in New Zealand is
converting green grass into product and the best product I
(07:03):
would weigh during the world. So let's keep doing it.
And I think the sheep numbers and the cattle numbers
need some healthy returns and it wouldn't surprise me up
the other side of this conversation if our listeners would agree.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
With me, Well, dairy cattle down thirteen percent nearly a
million over the past decade, bucking the trend. As beef cattle,
it's remained steady there. They're down twenty five percent over
a ten year period. So yes, here in New Zealand,
Mark Cameron, we've got less ruminants than we had ten
years ago or thirty years ago, emitting less methane. I'll
(07:40):
leave you with that one. I hope our the farming
seasons treating you well on your Northland farm.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Look, I'm languishing in sunlight, my friend. At the moment.
My kidneys have given me a bit of grief. So
I've taken a week off Parliament. I'm lowing farm and
growing a bit of grass and being a rural New Zealand.
That couldn't be better.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Good on you, catch up with you and the good
old Crawdon Lodge and Gore on Friday Night cheers.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
You two make you so cute, cheery,
It is funny who you run into and the pub
and Gore on a Friday night. I randed to this bloke.
He's Acts Agriculture spokesperson Mark Cameron.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I was down there for duck shooting and socializing. You
were having an ACT meeting and a pub on Friday night.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Jamie, good to talk to you, mate. How good is
Gore and the people at Gore? I mean, fantastic to
go down and talk to everyday, key weeks that's the thing, right,
you know, duck shooting the next day. But I had
a great meeting in Gore that we started in Wymatty
further north of there, and worked our way down the
island and man alive. There's some good people out in
(00:39):
rural New Zealand and it was good to talk to
them and get the ideas of where things are going
well and where things are not. And yeah, I thoroughly
enjoyed their company.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And I see the ACT party and led by you
because you've submitted the member's bill. You've joined the war
on woke against the banks with Winston and Shane.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, yeah, look absolutely, Jamie. Though the banks have gone
to Bulgary and I can't for the life of me
reconcile how banks seem to think that they can put
a veiled overlay over how they submit bank information on
behalf of you the borow should I say, on all
(01:21):
things to do with the missions. We've got an ETS
for goodness sakes, And now we've got the banks and
financial organizations saying, you know, look, look, let's disclose what
your climate the climate emissions are and by virtue you
might or may not get the same interest rate as
your nabor next door. This is the kind of nonsense
(01:41):
that we've got to be riddle. And I think you know,
at risk of overplaying my hand, Jamie. A country with
no money can't afford to be this price. We've got
an ETS. If it works pretty well, you've got a
cap on emissions that should be the sum of it,
rather than have banks getting into social engineering.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I absolutely agree with you. The government's job, not the banks.
And we've seen the example of some banks, and I'll
name and shame the b n Z because I think
they're the most work of the banks are reducing their
lending to the fossil fuel industry. We still need fuel
stations around that country to keep the country moving.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I mean it's it's a nonsense. I would say that
the banks think that by virtue that they should set
the precedence. I mean, this is the job of the clown.
We all agree that we have in emissions trading scheme
that put a cap on emissions, and how can we
function inside that cap is up to them. Now a
(02:38):
couple of observations. If markets decide there's emeritus, you know,
outcome for them to set a mission's profiling like Fontier
with their scope threes, then so be it. But it
shouldn't be legally mandated. So this bill would remove that
climate disclosures that are currently mandated that changed in two
(03:00):
twenty one to become a legal obligation is removed, and
then banks and financial institutions, who I would argue a
regulated debuggery as well, can stop the nonsense, go back
to basics with that relationship that they used to have,
which is debt as in credits, and the rest be gone.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Your bill is not government policy. It'll only be debated
if it's drawn from the biscuit.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Tin right, That is correct, Jomie, that is correct. So
to give you a bit of context, I wrote to
Scott Simpson, who's the new Minister of Commerce and Consumer
Affairs and said, hey, mate, this is something you might
want to consider. He's a pretty energetic sort of MP
and minister, and I would think he sees the same
numbers I do that countries in a pretty woeful economic
(03:47):
environment at the moment. This would sort of release the
shackles off the banking sector and their farmer relationships that
they have. I would like to think that he would
adopt it as a government built rather than the members'
bill as it sitsts today, and we can get back
to business, right. I mean, I think you and I
(04:09):
and our listeners all agree the rural New Zealand is
the backbone of this country. And every time things get
tired and we have issues like COVID and country goes
into lockdown or the next economic doldrums. God, our rural
New Zealanders pulls up its trousers and goes back to work. Well,
let's help them do it and introduce this bill as
a government bill.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Hey, is this war on woke? Mark Cameron Act a
spokesperson going to be a bit of a loving between
New Zealand First and the ACT Party because it'd be
fair to say in the past there hasn't been that
much love lost.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, well, fair call. But I think the thing we
found common grant and you know, I think we've got
to make the concession or acknowledgment. We listen to the punters,
and the punters being the constituency said they want to
get on with their lives. They want to be of interference,
especially government's interference where possible, and go back to common
(05:05):
sense laws, what works, what doesn't, Who bears the cost
of all this nonsense, And the fact that the government
has now said, you know, to the banks, you have
to do all this stuff. The banks don't want it either,
to be frank, they're heavily regulated as we know. So
let's restore some competition that will drive down interest rates,
(05:25):
that will unhelp the farmers and the rural buyers and
that lending relationship. All's good out of this, I think.
And yep, there might be some alignment with n ZAID.
First on, I mean, what are the rookery, you might say,
and I can't for the life and we see why
that's a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Finally, are you worried that we only have twenty three
point six million sheep in New Zealand as of twenty
twenty four. When I was a young farmer in the eighties,
Mark Cameron, we had over seventy million sheep.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Anti question. Yes, this country and its wealth has made
on the back of you know, akwcockie and a woolgra
And I hate to be myopic or risk being myopic,
but bugging me, this is the truth of the matter.
You know, farmer owner, operators and all the people that
are in the industry three p. Four hundred thousand people
of more that keep the economic weals turning. Absolutely worried
(06:18):
about the sheep numbers. It is a reflection of I
think poor public policy and many many instances. And you see,
you know climate change now being the bugbear of all things. Well,
I just make a couple of observations. For over a
decade now the national herd across both the flock and
(06:42):
the sheep meat sector entirely and different for that matter,
that most of the animal ruminants has been in decline.
Now that says to me a couple of things, and
beariably we have a narrowing window of opportunity. Well, one
damnable thing we're so good at in New Zealand is
converting green grass into product and the best product I
(07:03):
would weigh during the world. So let's keep doing it.
And I think the sheep numbers and the cattle numbers
need some healthy returns and it wouldn't surprise me up
the other side of this conversation if our listeners would agree.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
With me, Well, dairy cattle down thirteen percent nearly a
million over the past decade, bucking the trend. As beef cattle,
it's remained steady there. They're down twenty five percent over
a ten year period. So yes, here in New Zealand,
Mark Cameron, we've got less ruminants than we had ten
years ago or thirty years ago, emitting less methane. I'll
(07:40):
leave you with that one. I hope our the farming
seasons treating you well on your Northland farm.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Look, I'm languishing in sunlight, my friend. At the moment.
My kidneys have given me a bit of grief. So
I've taken a week off Parliament. I'm lowing farm and
growing a bit of grass and being a rural New Zealand.
That couldn't be better.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Good on you, catch up with you and the good
old Crawdon Lodge and Gore on Friday Night cheers.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
You two make you so cute, cheery,
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