Summarised by Centrist
In a presentation to New Zealand’s Primary Production Select Committee, a presenter, Jaspreet, a former banker from Punjab, debunked claims that farmers profit excessively from agriculture.
Rising costs, regulatory burdens, and environmental policies, she argued, forced her and her husband to leave dairy farming.
“Stop beating farmers,” she urged.
Reflecting on her 2009 move to New Zealand, she praised its subsidy-free farming model, contrasting it with India’s “disastrous” subsidy systems. However, she lamented that bureaucratic expansion has eroded profits.
Dissecting the IPCC report, Jaspreet noted it found no evidence linking phenomena like floods and droughts to anything beyond natural variability. She questioned taxing methane emissions while ignoring natural sources like the Hikurangi fault, calling for “pure science, not political science.”
Jaspreet criticised climate policies for imposing unnecessary burdens: “We don’t have problems; we have tailor-made solutions enriching a select few looking for problems to solve.”
Green MP Steve Abel’s suggestion that agribusiness and bank debt consume most farm revenue was countered with Jaspreet’s analysis of rising costs. She detailed wage increases exceeding 250% over a decade and compliance-driven pressures. “It is soul-destroying to be farming right now,” she said.
