Federated Farmers Has Turned Down A Govt Grant Of $600,000 To Highlight What They Say Is Wasteful Government Spending In The Lead Up To The General Election

Federated Farmers has turned down a Govt grant of $600,000 to highlight what they say is wasteful Government spending in the lead up to the general election. Federated Farmers RMA spokesperson Mark Hooper says The Ministry for the Environment was looking to fund NGO participation in resource management and freshwater reform processes with $600,000 paid to each organisation over three years. Federated Farmers say they were asked to be part of a pilot programme and given just 4 weeks … so it could be completed before the election. Mark Hooper says the Feds are turning the money down out of principle and calling on other organisations to do the same. He says it is not appropriate for the Environment Ministry to be trying to shovel taxpayers’ money out the door on the eve of voters going to the polls. Federated Farmers is calling on the Government to immediately postpone this pilot process until after the election. Mark Hooper joins Mark Leishman on Round Up.