Source: Federated Farmers
Federated Farmers is cautiously welcoming the National Party’s campaign promise to reset International Visitor Levy spending – but says the devil will be in the detail.
“New Zealand is desperately in need of further investment to support conservation and tourism work,” Federated Farmers conservation spokesperson Richard Dawkins says.
“The International Visitor Levy (IVL) is a great mechanism to help fund some of those initiatives but there hasn’t always been full transparency about where that money goes.
“Agriculture is New Zealand’s largest export earner, and tourism is number two, but we still have serious issues with weeds, pests, and underfunded regional infrastructure.
“That’s why Federated Farmers has been so vocal in questioning whether IVL funding is actually getting where it needs to go, or if it’s just being used to offset baseline funding.”
In its list of policy priorities for the 2026 General Election, Federated Farmers has called for 100% of IVL funding to be spent on tourism and conservation projects.
The organisation says it’s a sleight of hand for IVL funding to be reallocated to offset or replace existing Crown baseline funding to maintain current services.
“We’ve seen some great use of the IVL in the last few months that will really help control wilding pines and pests like deer – but that hasn’t always been the case,” Dawkins says.
“The levy raised around $230 million last year, but unfortunately only $90 million of that funding was used for its intended purpose of funding new discretionary initiatives.
“Just $55 million dollars was invested in new conservation projects and $35 million in tourism. The remaining $140 million was used to replace existing Crown spending.
“That’s simply not good enough when we have significant conservation challenges with wilding pines and an out-of-control pest problem that urgently needs more funding.”
Federated Farmers is now seeking assurances from the National Party that the $100 million annual allocation for conservation will be new funding.
“If that’s new funding from the IVL on top of the Department of Conversation’s existing spend, that will be a game changer for farmers and conservationists,” Dawkins says.
“But if it’s just going to be used to offset existing spending or patch over reductions in baseline funding, it will make absolutely no difference for farmers or the environment.”
Federated Farmers has written to the National Party’s conservation spokesperson Tama Potaka seeking further clarification of the policy.