Climate activists dressed as lawyers would sacrifice farmers to the climate gods

Responding to legal action from Lawyers for Climate Action NZ, ACT Rural Communities spokesperson Mark Cameron says:

"This is a courtroom stunt by climate activists dressed as lawyers. They would sacrifice our rural lifeblood at the altar of climate ideology.

"The clear goal of this challenge is to place more restrictions on Kiwi farmers. It’s the same tired approach we saw from Labour and the Greens.

"Shutting farms down or burying them in regulation won’t save the climate. It will just shift food production offshore, cost us jobs, and make food more expensive.

"New Zealand farmers are the most emissions-efficient food producers on the planet. We need to back them, which is what ACT is doing in government.

"This government is right to back off from costly, unworkable policies that punish rural New Zealand. The idea that New Zealand – responsible for just 0.17% of global emissions – should wreck its economy to impress international activists is absurd.

"ACT is committed to climate policies that are practical, not performative. We will back Kiwi innovation, not regulation for its own sake. We’ll support farmers, not sue them. We know that when farmers do well, all New Zealanders are better off."