As I write this, I’ve just returned from Fieldays where the mood amongst the farming community is upbeat. There is a sense that we have turned a corner and better times are ahead.
Our Government is working super-hard to grow our economy. This is how we will raise living standards, create higher-paying jobs, and fund public services that Kiwis depend on.
One way to achieve that growth is to encourage New Zealand businesses to invest in productive assets, including new machinery, tools, equipment, vehicles and technology. Improvements in productivity will make firms more competitive and support employers to lift workers’ wages. It will enable businesses to grow, which means more jobs on offer.
How do we do this when our economy is only just starting to recover? Budget 2025 introduced a new policy – one for which I have been advocating for a long time – that will significantly help hard-working tradies, farmers and other rural businesses to get ahead.
It’s called Investment Boost and it comes in the form of a new tax deduction that all businesses, small and large, can make. It came into effect on 22 May.
Businesses can claim 20 per cent of the cost of new assets as an expense, then claim depreciation as usual on the remaining 80 per cent. As an example, if a farmer wants to buy a new tractor costing $100,000, they can immediately deduct $20,000 from their taxable income.
At Fieldays, I spoke to several businesses about Investment Boost. They said the ability to expense a large chunk of the initial outlay on new equipment is helping them bring forward their decision to invest in new assets.
These businesses are located here in our electorate, and the investments they intend to make will help pump money directly into our local economy, making everyone better off. It’s certainly true that when farming is strong, New Zealand is strong.
I was also delighted to have Associate Minister of Agriculture Nicola Grigg in the electorate at the end of May. Nicola has responsibility for the horticulture portfolio, so we held two meetings for her, firstly with the commercial glasshouse operators, including Turners & Growers, NZ Gourmet and NZ Hothouse, and then with the Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association.
Of key concern to the vegetable growers is the RMA reforms and how the Government can support commercial vegetable production.
with members of the Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association.
You might have read that the Government has recently opened public consultation on the biggest package of changes to national direction under the Resource Management Act in New Zealand’s history, with proposals to streamline or remove many of the burdensome regulations holding our primary sector back from growth.
One initiative we are considering which would help support our growers is through creating ‘special agricultural areas’ around key horticulture hubs, like Pukekohe.
We are also proposing to remove Land Use Capability 3 (LUC 3) land from the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land which will free up more land for housing and areas to source aggregate for new roads, whilst still protecting the highly productive LUC 1 and 2 land for agriculture and horticulture.
Consultation on these proposals is open until 27July 2025. You can have your say through the MfE website: https://environment.govt.nz/news/consultation-on-updating-rma-national-direction/on-updating-rma-national-direction.
