VOTE IN THE NZKGI LEVY RENEWAL REFERENDUM
TO PLACE YOUR VOTE FOR THE NZKGI LEVY RENEWAL REFERENDUM, CLICK HERE.
From 23 February until 24 March, New Zealand’s kiwifruit growers are invited to participate in a postal and online referendum for a compulsory levy on kiwifruit exports except Australia.
The proposed levy would continue to fund NZKGI’s activities which will include an increased focus on the monitoring and reporting of industry performance. The last referendum took place in 2017. Since that time NZKGI has used the levy to produce significant outcomes for kiwifruit growers. This has included supporting growers through COVID-19, to advocate for the Single Point of Entry marketing structure, hold Zespri to account and to attract labour to the industry.”
NZKGI Chairperson, Mark Mayston strongly encourages growers to vote in the referendum. “It is in each individual growers’ interest to be engaged in this process. As we are seeing with issues like the proposed ban of Hi-Cane, the success of their business often comes down to the advocacy that NZKGI provides them.”
The referendums’ significance is reinforced by NZKGI CEO Colin Bond who says, “this is an important opportunity for kiwifruit growers to make their vote count and we strongly encourage all Growers to participate in the referendum. Grower votes will show the Minister for Primary Industries the level of support there is to continue the funding for kiwifruit grower advocacy.”
All growers are entitled to vote and will be sent voting papers. A grower is considered to be the “titleholder of kiwifruit”, meaning a person that has legal and beneficial title to kiwifruit when it is supplied to an exporter. The grower is sometimes not the owner of land.
Growers who have not received a ballot pack in the post by Wednesday, 1st of March should contact NZKGI on 0800 232 505 or info@nzkgi.org.nz.
NZKGI has produced many achievements for Growers over the last five years. These include:
- Attracting seasonal labour to pick and pack Growers’ crops
- Supporting Growers to continue operating through the COVID-19 pandemic
- Supporting the Single Point of Entry marketing structure to bolster Grower returns
- Monitoring Zespri’s performance and communicating the results to Growers
- Communicating to Growers about business-critical information
- Representing and promoting good stories about the kiwifruit industry in the media
- Advocating for Growers on policy and regulations at national and local government levels
- Supporting succession planning by promoting industry careers
- Advocating for the New Zealand kiwifruit industry on the international stage
But there are many challenges ahead. Labour shortages and increased regulations are critical areas that NZKGI must lead to advocate for Growers. We are also ramping up our efforts in industry performance monitoring as well as how we communicate with you.
As we have seen with COVID-19, primary industries such as horticulture can have a lot of surprises, and if it wasn’t for some quick thinking and everyone pulling together, working with Government to be recognised as an essential business, developing protocols, and implementing processes to keep the industry running, the results could have been devastating. Only with your support can NZKGI continue to exist.