A rare and valued voice in NZ politics
Reading Time:2minutesI am sorry to hear that ACT list MP Mark Cameron isretiring. He hasn’t enjoyed the best of health over the past 12 months, with kidney dialysis and heart issues, but he will be missed. The. . .
Reading Time:2minutesI am sorry to hear that ACT list MP Mark Cameron isretiring. He hasn’t enjoyed the best of health over the past 12 months, with kidney dialysis and heart issues, but he will be missed. The Northland dairy farmer is a first-generation farmer but is passionate about the sector as evidenced by his work chairing the Primary Industry Select Committee. During his first term in parliament he was ACT spokesperson for primary industries, regional economic development and biosecurity. He took the roles seriously, tirelessly campaigning about the excessive regulation farmers had to face. His passion was to encourage local solutions as against top-down dictates from Wellington, particularly in the field of environmental regulations. His claim to fame back in 2021 was to ask Minister of Rural Affairs Damien O’Connor if he had met with Groundswell, which I would have thought was a fair question. O’Connor was absent and the reply from Stuart Nash was to allege that Groundswell promoted racism and vaccine hesitancy, an accusation Groundswell co-leader, Bryce McKenzie vehemently denied. Not satisfied, Nash then accused Cameron of tweeting anti-Ardern comments including MAGA, meaning “Make Ardern Go Away”. Cameron expressed regret, saying the comments were made before he entered Parliament. The result of the crossfire was that Nash did Cameron a favour, ensuring that anyone following Parliament knew exactly who Mark Cameron was. He credits retired Labour MP David Parker as his inspiration to enter politics. He’d listened to an address by Parker on freshwater reforms and told his partner that the policies were untenable for both his family and the sector. His partner’s advice was to “do something about it”. He did, rang David Seymour and became an ACT MP. He counts his greatest achievements as “being part of the team that cut methane targets, ridiculous winter grazing rules and keeping agriculture out of the ETS”. Over the years I’ve had many conversations with Cameron and unlike most politicians he isn’t into any form of personal abuse. Asked about his parliamentary colleagues, he was complimentary. “What an amazing group of people. They put their hands up because they want to do something for the betterment of New Zealand. ”Asked about his Select Committee colleagues he was also complimentary. “[Labour’s] Jo Luxton and [the Greens’] Steve Abel certainly threw their weight around as they should but we always came to a sensible solution that was good for the sector. I really appreciated their contribution. ’I asked Luxton about Cameron. “We’ve always had a constructive collegial relationship,” she said. “Despite our politics being vastly different I always found him very good to work with. ”That tells me that the needs of the sector were considered far above petty party politics. When asked about life after politic, he says he’s returning to the farm. Cameron has been a rare voice in NZ politics. He came into Parliament because he was passionate about our primary sector, he worked hard across the political divide to make sure we had good, workable legislation. He was above petty politics and personal abuse. We need more like him. Farmers Weekly publishes a range of opinions from across the food and fibre sector. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Farmers Weekly. Opinion pieces are intended to encourage informed discussion and debate.