Country-Wide readers pick our best Ag Minister
We asked Country-Wide readers who they thought had done the best job as Primary Industries or Agriculture Minister over recent decades. The results are in, with Nathan Guy just edging out Lockwood Smith as preferred Ag Minister.
Every recent Minister received at least one vote in our poll. Colyn Moyle and John Falloon have the dubious honour of being our least-favourite Ag Ministers though John Luxton and Jim Sutton were not far behind.
Current Minister (for how much longer?) Damien O’Connor perhaps surprisingly was ranked fifth-most popular, just tipped by David Carter.
But our most popular Ag Ministers stood out clearly: Nathan Guy and Lockwood Smith almost shared the top spot but Guy pulled away with late votes. Jim Anderton came in third.
Here we share a selection of comments from our readers:
On John Falloon
“He grasped the importance of trees on farms.”
On Damien O’Connor
“He is active in lots of areas and goes overseas on Trade Missions.”
“Damien has fought for the farmers in a caucus unsympathetic to farmers. His track record on delivering value for farmers. M Bovis, trade agreements, advisory service, disaster relief, R&D funding for GHG emissions, his text book comment on Kiri Allen “Shit Happens”… there are more examples but this is a taste.”
On Jim Anderton
“He was humble, showed respect yet thought provoking and challenging, wanted action but balanced so wasn’t detrimental.”
“Most knowledgeable”
On John Luxton
“He understood farming but Nathan Guy and Lockwood Smith were not far behind.”
On Lockwood Smith
“He cared about farmers.”
“Damien has divide the urban/country people and damaged our export market in doing so. Lockwood Smith understood trade.”
“Todd Muller was the best, most eloquent and believable.”
“I wanted to choose Sir Keith Holyoake but it wasn’t an option.”
On Nathan Guy
“Understands real farmers.”
“He seems to have been visible and active during his ministry.”
“Good Farmer.”
“Personable, charisma, real deal when it came to farming.”
“All the others were before my time and Damien O’Connor can go take a hike.”
“He understood farmers, unlike the current idiot who has been heard to call farmers both laggards and capitalists.”
