With national elections not far away, politicians are under the microscope, particularly when it comes to rural legislation and farming-related policies.
The National Party has pledged to put the interests of Kiwi farmers at the forefront of their campaign, including lifting the current effective ban on gene editing and making significant changes to the current agricultural emissions scheme.
The leader of the opposition Christopher Luxon told REX host Dominic George he understands farmers are frustrated with the current regulations around their line of work.
"I hope they are feeling that there is help on the way," he said.
"We are going to back our farmers big time, it's a sector that should be deeply, deeply valued, it is the backbone of New Zealand's economy."
Luxon believes that significant changes are needed to allow Aotearoa to thrive in agricultural technological development, and feels the current legislation is restricting the local talent from using their knowledge and expertise to improve the efficiency and productivity of farming.
"It's rather perverse that we sit in a country that is one of the leading agricultural countries in the world and we can't access the innovations and technologies that we have available to us."
As someone who has a great appreciation for farming and the rural sector in general, Luxon told George he just wants to see the sector receive the backing it deserves.
"Hurting farming just makes every single Kiwi in the country much much poorer, that's the reality of it.
"Frankly killing farming to move production overseas to feed 40 million people from another less emissions-efficient country only worsens greenhouse gas emissions and you make Kiwis poorer."
Listen to the full chat between National Party Leader Christopher Luxon and Dominic George above.
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