Tractors, utes and dogs expected in Blenheim’s CBD for protest

Tractors, utes and dogs will gather in central Blenheim on Friday as part of a nationwide farmers protest against “unworkable regulations”.

National leader Judith Collins will also be present at the rally, which is being mirrored in towns throughout New Zealand to oppose the proposed “ute tax” and other regulations.

Marlborough farmer Lone Sorenson has been co-ordinating the Marlborough “A Howl of a Protest” rally, supported by two other farming couples.

“I’ve been really frustrated as a farmer with the way we are being treated and the way that farming has been looked upon, and all those unworkable regulations being thrust on us,” the Okaramio Valley farmer said.

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“Farmers generally don’t want to upset anyone they just want to do the best they can for their stock and for their lands. We needed a groundswell of growers and farmers telling the Government how we feel,” she said.

“We expect a lot of people, coming from all over the region, from the Marlboorugh Sounds, all the way from Clarence, Kekerengu, from the Wairau Valley, Picton, Linkwater…”

“I don’t know how many will turn out but my expectations from the interest that it has created is between 100 and 1000 tractors and utes will descend in the centre of Blenheim.”

Two convoys will be heading to the town centre at 11.30am on Friday .

One will start from Westwood business park in Springlands and the another one from the truck stop in Riverlands Roadhouse for then congregating around Seymour Square.

Two West Coast mayors, Grey District Mayor Tania Gibson and and Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith will talk to the crowd.

Speakers will be followed by a howl of working dogs gathered together.

Sorenson said farmers were not being recognised for what they had already done.

“As a dairy farmer, for example, we have had our waterway fenced off for years and that’s not been recognised.

“And then they make one rule for where the fence should be, and you have to change all your fences.

“On my own property you would probably have to employ one or two people just for that, and I don’t get any income for that at all, it is just an extra cost.”

Farming action group Groundswell NZ is co-ordinating the protests. It says new freshwater regulations, indigenous biodiversity regulations and regulations for significant natural areas, wetlands and landscapes should be scrapped.

The group would also like to see overseas seasonal rural workers to be prioritised through MIQ for rural contractors, horticulturalists, dairy farmers and fruit picking.

They also want the “ute tax” to be withdrawn as there is no alternative electric vehicles for farmers.