Andrew Hoggard: Associate Agriculture Minister on ACT's call to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement

ACT believes New Zealand needs to be more realistic when it comes to the Paris Agreement.  

The party, along with NZ First, have expressed interest in withdrawing from the agreement unless we can negotiate a better deal. 

Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard says that trying to meet our current targets is costing the country too much. 

He told Mike Hosking that we’ve got a lot of good stuff going for us, and we shouldn’t beat ourselves to death over being some sort of sacrificial guinea pig. 

LISTEN ABOVE  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Paris Climate Accord under real pressure internationally these days.

(00:02):
Trump's out, the Tories in Britain can make their they
say they can't make the targets work. Twenty fifty isn't
real act here, I want to head in a similar direction.
Andrew Hoggett is, of course the Associate Minister of vagon
Environment these days, also former Fed Farmer's President, and he's
with us on this. Andrew, good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
The logic, as I was trying to explain before the news,
if you just take it on fact, you know, factually,
can we get there the accord? Losers? Doesn't it well?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Our view is that trying to do all this is
just costing is on far too much, and energy prices
and farmland being gobbled up by pine trees, and you know,
we're such a small part of the world's and missions,
and we seem to be one of the few countries
trying to be puer than pure on this whole thing.
And I think it's time we as Act party, we

(00:51):
feel we need to be a bit more realistic about it.
We've got a lot of good stuff going for us.
We've got the world's most efficient farmers, We've got a
lot of renewable energy. Let's not beat ourselves to death
over being some sort of sacrificial guinea pig.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
How considered is this within your party? I mean, have
you angst it over or have you just been keen
to move on with us? No?

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Look, I think David sort of first mooted this idea
back in February, and we've certainly been working through sort
of the pros and the cons and where we might
position ourselves on this for next year. So you know,
it's taken about a good five months of working through
and thinking through how we position it.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
And having made it public yesterday. Of course National says
that they're not doing it, So this will be an
election issue. You will campaign in the election campaign as
an individual party with this particular stance.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yes, that is our plan that voters can see, here
is what we are going to be proposing head of
next year's election, and they can make their minds up
at the election.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Do you think anyone you'll ever talk the Greens down
all the passionates about the subject. Do you think you
can ever talk them down with with some logic and
some fact as opposed to the idealism of trying to
save the world.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
I guess I've been trying to do that for quite
a while and hasn't been too much success. You know,
there's a lot of people seem to get the reality
that you don't have to reduce meating to zero, but
then they just go onto this. But we don't like
dairy farming and we think it should disappear anyway. So
sometimes the religious zelatory over Trump's or Trump's the practical

(02:32):
realities do you.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Reckon as well? If I ran it up one hundred farmers,
how many would back the accidents on this do you think.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Going by my Facebook posts, at least ninety eight or
ninety nine.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Well, you're right up there, right mate. Appreciate it. Andrew Hoggard,
who's the acting p form for President of Feed Farmers.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.