The Country 18/11/25: Jo Luxton talks to Jamie Mackay

Labour's Agriculture Spokesperson defends her party's lack of any real meaningful policy, especially around Ag emissions. We ask if Net Zero by 2050 is a now lost cause? And has Chippy dodged a political bullet with the release of his CGT policy?

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joe Luxton is Labour's agriculture spokesperson. But Joe Luxton, could
you be the next Minister of Agriculture. I'm starting to
get worried.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Oh why would that were you, Jamie?

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Well, let me think, let me count the ways the
Greens to party MARII the end of farming as we
know it?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Oh look that simple Bollock's Jamie, and you know it.
You know it. Under the last Labor government. That wasn't
the end of farming, was it?

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well, you tried your very best with he Walker Echinoa.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Look it's a different different Labor Party, different caucus now,
and we focused on labor. And if people out there
want change, if they're concerned about the Greens and they're
concerned about fight tonight and vote for labor is what
I say.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Let's be honest. Farmers aren't your constituency. Farmers won't get
you the treasury benches. They're probably going to be a
nuisance in some ways because you never wouldn't. Whatever you do,
you're not going to win them over. So you know
your constituency is urban New Zealand. That's how you'll win
the election.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Look, Labor governs for everybody. Jamie, not just one particular
group or the other. I mean you could flip that
on that side and say that, well, okay, then national
must be the only only part of it looks after
farmers and not others. So I just don't believe that
for a second.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Jamie well Instant tells me, and David Seymour tell me
they look after farmers as well. I'd pick on you, awe,
but Joe, and you're such a nice person. I don't
like doing this. But when are you going to have
some egg policy for me? For instance? What is labor's
emissions policy? We know that under the current government, eggs
not on the ets. There's no pricing of emissions. That

(01:37):
won't happen under a labor led government.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
I'm not going to tell you what our climate change
or emissions reductions policies will be. Gabra Russell as our
climate spokesperson. She's currently away at the moment. In what
we do know is obviously the government has currently reduced
its omissions for methane targets, and we have asked to
see the information and the science and the advice they

(02:03):
received as to how they came to that position. And
we're still waiting on that as well. So I don't
have anything further to say on our leaving emissions reductions
or climate policy.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, I'll wait with baited breath for some policy. Look
as net zero by twenty to fifty now a lost cause.
I see some governments around the world are dumping it.
The Australian opposition is dumping it.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
I don't think that we should give up, but it
is concerning to see the things that this government is
doing that that seems to be moving away from that,
with the different policies initiatives that they are getting rid
of and scrapping or reducing.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Just quickly to finish on Chippy's capital gains tax. Has
he dodged a bit of a political bullet here because
it seems to have been at least met with a
fifty to fifty reception, maybe even better depending on which
pole you look at, because in the past it's always
been thought of as a poison chalice. But the reception
and at labor you must be reasonably pleased that you've

(03:06):
been able to fly this kite and it hasn't met
with widespread anger.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, I think it's I think it's a really great,
great policy and often when you introduce taxes or other things,
people sort of they get it up in arms about it,
don't they. But when people can actually see and understand
what that money that is raised from that will be
spent for, specifically on those three doctors visits free doctor's
visits per Anna, then people can. Then people feel a

(03:33):
lot better about those things. And we've kept it super simple,
so it's only on profit on commercial or residential properties,
excluding the film home and excluding farms.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah yeah, okay, well that's good. Why didn't you make
the spend more targeted? I mean, giving everybody, including you
and me, a free doctor's visit. It's a complete waste
of time, and it's human nature. You get to December
or November this time of the year and you go, oh,
I haven't had the third free doctor's visit. I might
go on get a full check up, a warrant of
fitness from my doctor. You're just going to clog the

(04:03):
health system. Why not put all that money that you'll
get eventually from a capital gains tax just straight into
the health budget and let them decide where to spend
it best.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
I completely disagree with you, Jamie. So are you saying
that you and I. If we get free doctors visit that,
then maybe we should look to be paying when we
arrive at emergency department too. It just doesn't work that way, Jamie.
You know you cannot start.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Pay emergency departments, Joe, are for emergencies. If we're going
along to our GP, people like you and I should
be paying. The health system's got enough challenges without us
bludging on it.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
And we have other policies coming out that will help
to tackle that as well that you'll be pleased to
hear when they come out, you know. And one of
those you know that the more the sooner that people
get to your doctor, the better because it ends up
costing us less at the other end, and if they
do show up in the ED department. And the other
thing that we announced recently, and I'm not sure if
we have two, is the free civical screening for everyone
as well, which is a fantastic policy.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Well, I hope it's only for the women, not everyone,
But anyhow, Joe Luxton, I'm going to await this policy eagerly,
along with your egg policy. Always good to chat and debate,
you two, Jamie,