The Country 22/09/25: Andrew Hoggard and Grant McCallum talk to Jamie Mackay

We ask today's farmer/politician panel if they're worth their keep.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So you've heard from farm accountant Peter Alexander. Not many,
he says, of New Zealand's one hundred and twenty three
three MPs are worth one hundred and seventy three thy
four hundred parannaum, that's only their base salary. Let's welcome
on to the show today. A couple of politicians. Are
they worth that much? Well, one of them will be
worth more because he is a Cabinet Minister Andrew Hoggard,

(00:23):
act List MP Associate ad Minister of Biosecurity and Grant McCullum,
Northland dairy Farmer and of course MP at least Andrew Hoggard.
Grant mcnational has won his electorate seat.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Tommy, that's one thing. But certainly I'm doing a hell
of a lot of work for all of a I
view all of New Zealand agriculture with my electorate seats,
so you know, I'm just working for all farmers up
and down the country.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, Grant, are you worth one hundred and seventy four
one hundred and seventy three thousand, four hundred plus all
your add ons, all your allowances?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, may the people that will only one will judge,
that will be the voting public. I certainly feel the
way work reasonably hard. I spent the weekend and tear
the whole lot of events, including watching the parliamentary rugby
team beat the local Mahrangi team and walk worse and
nor we can't. That was good as a big fundraise
they do for charity as part of that process, you know, yes, Jamie,

(01:21):
particularly the electric mpiece. We work hard. Not sure about
these free voting listenings.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Hey Andrew Hoggard, did you pull the boots on?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
No, no, no, no, I'm staying away from rugby after
mytory and back injury and curse has done more than
enough of twenty years of battering my body and you're
not gonna bother with that anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Let's talk about farming as carving done and dusted. Will
start with you, granted Northland, you'll be you'll be well.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
And truly we're down to our half. Does they always
wanted two? That drag it out of it? But yeah,
based the team have finished. The next time we can
get up for a courses. Mate. We start on the
tenth of October and the team we're all getting organized
for that. So that's great, you know. The cycle continues.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Absolutely. How's the season treating you in North.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
It's been wet, It's been a regionally tough spring, wet
and a little bit colder. Grassgrows just start to really
move in the last ten days or so. You can
really see particularly all the annuals we drilled into the Kaku.
You're up here. It's really starting the show through now,
so we should be on our way. But yeah, there
has been tough with them last year, but that's farming.
You never get a perfect Jomie.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
And Andrew Haggart. How's man or two?

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yes, getting towards the end of carving. I'm just looking
out the window now at the neighbors spring the mob.
There's a bit twenty or thirty of them the year,
and I think, how it's a bit the same size,
it's not a little bit bigger, So yeah, and that
we're up in the high country, so all the guys
down on the low belt they'll be pretty much done
and dusted. So yeah, I think it's getting towards the end.
And yeah, been been an interesting spring. Quite a lot

(02:55):
of people in Lower North Island I've run in to
sort of said really some of them sunshine else like
you know, we've had rain and all the rest of it,
but it's just been a lot duller than normal, which
is kind of held back for as growth I think.
And but you know, I had a nice sunny day
yesterday in the day before, so hopefully that'll get things
moving duller than normal.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Sounds like a National Party caucus meetings. Did any talk
about the high country? Did either of you see Country
Calendar last night? A really interesting story on that Marlborough
farming family on the big station out back and all
the issues grant that they're having with wilding pines.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, absolutely, I watched it. It was a great, great show.
That show that you can see why it's still going
since begining since the sixties. Amazing show, what an amazing country.
I had the privilege of going on a Federated Farmers
organized a high country tour in North Canterbury earlier in
the year to get a sense of it, because you know,
I hadn't a lot of experience in there, and that
wilding pine is a real problem. I think it's time

(03:55):
we go away from the idealistic nonsense to not be
able to use, be able to have control burns and
place us and we need to get stocked back on
some of that country. You know, it's because they did
their Department of Conservation. They haven't got the resources to
actually look after this country how it needs to be.
The farming communities can and we'll do a great job
if we let them.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Andrew Hoggar, do you want to talk You want to
talk about agg and schools and well done, because I
heard you were absolutely steaming fizzling at the bung at
the thought of it being dropped. But before we do that,
I want to ask you what you're going to do
about the night trade emergency.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Oh hang on, well, just on what Grunt said before.
You will be pleased to know that both of those
are on the agenda, and I've told officials if they
don't do a control burned soon then I'm taking a
can of diesel down South in the box. But yeah,
nightra an emergency. I mean I went down I would
have been a month or so ago and visited the

(04:51):
work farmers down there doing around the managed to aqual
for reach project. And here's a you know, one of
the trial sorts of minished get up and running reduced
the groundwater end from I think it was seven and
a half down to two two and a half or
something like that. So showed tremendous promise and yet they
can't do more of it because the council's not giving

(05:13):
them consent to do it. So the council is so concerned,
what don't they allowed solutions? Just seems to me that
the only solution some people want is no farming. But yeah,
and egg and schools. Yeah, great decision that eventually came about,
and so that was good to see because you know,
I think we want to have you know, obviously we're

(05:34):
going to have a much stronger vocational pathway in schools
and that's brilliant, but also you need to maintain that
economic pathway as well.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Grant mccallums a can running amuck in Canterbury.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yeah, really, that's just the absolute madness of what they did.
What is creating more division? What frustrates me, Jamie. If
the rural community of Museum and the farmers are really team.
We here as much about water quality as the even
people and it's a team effort to fects this problem.
And so to see the effectively Green Peace and the

(06:05):
Greens to put pressure on the on the regional council
when he can and to go and pass a stupid
remit to say this emergency all of doing is creating division.
It's a political stunt and it should be kicked in
the cook straight like you can. Probably should be in
time too, because it's not been constructive to for the

(06:25):
for the farming community of Canterbury and then for New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Hey got to go, guys. Good luck to your respective
footy teams to round out the NPC. I'll be fingers
crossed for the Stags. See you later.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
So