Colin Hurst: Federated Farmers vice-president on the calls to increase the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust funding

Federated Farmers is calling on the Government to double its funding of the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust. 

The trust was established to encourage protection of natural and cultural features on private land, without selling or donating it. 

But its base government funding runs out in June and is warning it will have to scale back the new covenants it can support. 

Vice-president Colin Hurst says the $4.3 million in funding hasn't increased in 10 years, but demand for it has. 

He says it's increased from 4,000 to 5,200 covenants —around 28 percent— with no extra funding. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Farmers are calling on the government to double the amount
of funding land owners get to help protect special areas
and species on private farming land. They get this money
from the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust. It was
set up to encourage people to look after things like
special areas of bush and wetland and the animals and
the critics that live there. But Federated Farmers says government

(00:21):
funding has remained the same at four point three million
dollars for a decade, despite costs and demand increasing. So
we've got the vice president of Federated Farmers joining me
right now, Colin Hurst. Good morning to you, sir, Yeah,
good morning Andrew. A decade. It hasn't changed for a decade.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, I know, it's quite unbelievable. Inflation sort of gone
up over the past few years. So we just think
it's time for the country to get in a step
in and help farmers and lease special areas.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
And four point three million dollars seems like a drop
in the bucket.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, it's not much really on the on the face
of it, you know, there's significant areas that farmers. That's
I think it's one hundred and eighty seven thousand. He years,
which is a pretty big area.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Well, I was going to say, you told me the
hector is but how many actual farms need this funding?
How many farmers are involved with looking for funding and
then looking after special places.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, so there's five two hundred areas protected and there
could be more than one on farm, so not exactly
sure how many areas, but of farms, but that's a
pretty stine area.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Five two hundreds a big number. Don't you worry about that, mate,
it's it's a big number. So over the ten years,
while funding has stayed static, how has demand increased.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Definitely? Here? Well it's so it's gone from four thousand
to five two hundred over the last ten years, so
there's twenty eight percent increased. So certainly demand here and
this farmers lining up to particuland these special areas.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
So if you have twenty eight percent more demand for funding,
then surely the funding should have gone up twenty eight
percent and that leans it would then be considered to
have stayed static.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, definitely. Well yeah, well that's that's yeah.
So that's why we're asking for an increase.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
So what what does this money specifically used for?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, for a farmer has an area of land and he
voluntarily wants to protect it for the country. They need
to identify the area, they need to fence it off,
they need to take care of the peace and weeds
in that type of thing, and then there's legal costs
to get it because these special areas are protected on
the title of their land, so it's there forever it

(02:30):
cannot be taken off. So it's it's sort of like
a national park. Really, it's that it's that well protected.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
And how expensive is that to protect these bits of
land that the farmers have been told that they have
to protect.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, there was a study done in the Waiketo University
and they're estimating it's between four hundred and forty million
and six hundred and thirty million, and that was a
decade ago those figures, so it's obviously whole lot more air.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Hold on you're saying four to six hundred million, and
yet the funding is four point three.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, it's as you feel. Really, it's the figures in
significant really that we just need the government to do it.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Really, well, what are you going to do next?

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, we're starting to have a bit of a publicity
campaign about it. I think it's a no brainer. The
other little part about this, there's the rules that like
the significant natural areas. That's something the government are putty
hot on. This is what district councils do. That's the
stick approach. You know, farmers must do this, but we
think the q E two funding is a whole lot

(03:39):
better way to do it. This is voluntarily keeping areas
and farmers just want to do this sort of stuff.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Of course, if you've got the will, all you need
is the money and that's a good thing and I
thank you so much. Colin Hurst is the Federated Farmers
Vice President.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
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