Lobby group Groundswell appears to now be taken seriously by politicians and Wellington-based officials.
Fresh from delivering a 102,000-signature petition to Parliament this week calling for no emissions tax to be levied on food production, co-founder Bryce McKenzie said officials have subsequently sought more supporting information on its position.
He said Groundswell was pleasantly surprised to learn the day before the petition was delivered that government ministers Kieran McAnulty and Meka Whaitiri would accept it.
There was little discussion while the petition was handed over and McKenzie said a request to meet with the two politicians was not granted.
Later, McKenzie and fellow co-founder Laurie Paterson met with National and ACT politicians.
McKenzie said they have since been invited by a Crown entity, which he declined to name, to meet to discuss their concerns.
The 102,000 signatures were collected in about month, a feat McKenzie said shows the depth of concern among farmers, rural and urban communities at the impact of pricing agricultural greenhouse gases.
He said the actions of Groundswell and its supporters, along with the size of the petition, are a wake-up call for government politicians and officials who underestimated the level of public concern and do not fully understand the repercussions of their policies.
“They have no idea what is going on in the country, that is glaringly obvious,” McKenzie said.
