“The National Party crossed the floor in the Senate on carbon sink legislation which is merely a turbocharged MIS, allowing not only the upfront tax deduction but also a carbon credit owned by someone else living somewhere else,” he said.

 

“This would allow prime agricultural land to be tied up in a forest removing the income earning capacity of the nearby town.

 

“The National Party backed up their belief in the implausibility of these schemes by the way they voted on the carbon sink legislation. It is not surprising now to find that other MISs are toppling over nor is it surprising to hear the venting of farmers’ anger in these districts where they have had to battle on without the taxation benefits of the MIS and now have to put up with the legacy of a bankrupt government-inspired lemon filling up with weeds and vermin next door to them.

 

 “I have got nothing against forests. If you think you can make a quid out of them plant away to your heart’s content but don’t ask for a deduction that will put your neighbour to a disadvantage. The problem is these schemes went into saturated markets in developed areas inspiring investment from spruikers selling to suburbia. Good farming land was turned into forest, changing the ecology, the economy and the prosperity of local towns.

 

“There may be a role for tax-incentive schemes but they should be in areas that require the economic stimulus in a form that does not discriminate within the district and inspires development in such a form that does not create distortions of saturation in a market. Fifty hectares of avocados may be good but a million hectares of avocados is a disaster for other avocado growers.”