Environment
Mopping up the farmers
John Hayward
To give it more bite, the loggers had themselves removed from rural zone planning jurisdiction via Private Timber Reserves, and then followed up with a plan that had the taxpayer paying for their land acquisitions through managed investment schemes. They did, however, manage to keep their card as a member of “agriculture”. These mopped up the farmers pretty smartly, but they still faced competition for smaller rural blocks on forested or marginal land from hobby farmers and life-stylers who wanted to live on them. Taking a page from a well known German reformer of the twentieth century the Lennon government brought down the PAL policy, which is designed to present such people, and most aspiring farmers, from living in the country. It also prevents any meddlesome councils from restricting the industry’s acquisition of rural property.