Rural

'He Waka Eke Noa needs to go' - ACT Party leader David Seymour pushing for change

Seymour said their number one priority is providing farmers with relief and dignity.

The political battleground continues to heat up across the country as the national election moves ever closer.

REX host Dominic George caught up with ACT Party leader David Seymour at Fieldays ahead of their agriculture policy reveal on Thursday.

Check out the ACT Party's full agriculture policy media release here.

Seymour told George that the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership or He Waka Eke Noa, has got to go.

"Farmers should not be taxed on methane or any other biogenic gas when the rest of the world is not," he said.

"That's just shooting ourselves in both feet."

If elected into Government, Seymour said ACT will push to cancel the Natural and Built Environments Act (NBE) and get the RMA (Resource Management ACT) back while they "start again with a proper reform".

"RMA reform, it's got to stop dead and restart.

"The NBE is actually worse than the RMA, can't believe I'm saying that but here we go."

He believes that freshwater laws need to be decided locally and that farm plans also need to be managed locally.

"So that they actually do what they are supposed to do, give you clear permission to operate within what the plan says because otherwise, you've spent all this money on consulting and getting a farm plan done and it doesn't actually save you anyway, that's got to stop."

Seymour is keen to get rid of the current clean car discount and Ute tax, as well as removing SNAs (Significant Natural Areas).

"What we are really doing now is rounding up what ACT is going to do in government and how we are going to change the future of farming by giving some final relief and dignity."

Although he admitted to being "the most urban' MP, Seymour told George that if even he can recognise the value of farming, the rest of Parliament has no excuse.