Summarised by Centrist
In an interview with NewstalkZB’s Mike Hosking, John Murphy, Chair of Vegetables New Zealand, discussed the severe challenges greenhouse vegetable producers of tomatoes, cucumbers, and capsicums face due to changes in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Murphy warns of the potential consequences: “You’ll see a $10 cucumber in no time, and we don’t want that.”
Greenhouse growers are set to be affected by alterations to industrial allocation.
This is where the government gives free emission units to businesses, keeping them competitive against countries with less strict climate policies and without facing crippling ETS costs.
However, the way the government calculates their free permits to emit greenhouse gases has changed.
This means fewer free permits than before, so some growers will have to pay an extra $200,000 this year, which Vegetables New Zealand warns could force some growers out of business.
Murphy explains that “this is about the ETS and it’s really about the timing.” Many growers are locked into gas contracts and cannot switch to alternative fuels immediately, so they will be saddled with higher ETS fees for using that gas.
When asked why the government is so keen to enact these policies now as opposed to next year, when the majority of growers’ gas contracts will be up for renewal, Murphy says:
“I think it’s a triumph of bureaucracy.”
