12th August 2026 // Rural News

National Party in crisis as leadership speculation swirls Australian canola expansion could cut NZ dairy feed import costs Federated Farmers backs community wilding pine funding   WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.   Apple: https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ   National Party in crisis as leadership speculation swirls Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is fighting for his political survival today, with National MPs called to an emergency Wellington caucus meeting amid speculation he no longer has the full support of his party. Speaker Gerry Brownlee has hinted there will be more to say around now - and we will bring you the latest as it comes to hand. Reports suggest Chris Bishop, Erica Stanford and Chris Penk are among those angling for the leadership, while Luxon is expected to attempt to stare down the challenge. Ministers including Nicola Willis, Todd McClay, Paul Goldsmith, Mark Mitchell and Tama Potaka are among those who have publicly declared support for the Prime Minister. Some MPs this morning refused to be drawn on whether they back him, and National's chief whip was unusually silent. The speculation follows a difficult week for Luxon, including comments about an MMP referendum that caught his own MPs off guard, and remarks about Rotorua businesses that drew widespread criticism. The latest 1News Verian poll released this morning has Luxon at just seventeen percent as preferred Prime Minister — down one point — with Hipkins at fifteen percent and Winston Peters falling three points to seven. Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop are on two percent and one percent respectively.   Australian canola expansion could cut NZ dairy feed import costs New Zealand's dairy and beef sectors could benefit from a major expansion of Australia's canola crushing industry, with new analysis identifying New Zealand as a key market for the high-quality livestock feed the expansion would produce. New Zealand currently imports around one-point-three million tonnes of canola meal equivalent annually — mostly through soybean meal and palm kernel expeller — making it one of the most attractive markets for Australian canola meal production. The analysis argues that replacing a portion of these imports with Australian-sourced canola meal could reduce New Zealand farmers' exposure to global supply disruptions and international freight costs.   Federated Farmers backs community wilding pine funding Federated Farmers is welcoming the Government's new one million dollar community fund for wilding pine control, saying local people need to be part of the solution to one of rural New Zealand's most destructive pest threats. Meat and wool chair Richard Dawkins says farmers, landowners and volunteers are already putting in enormous effort with limited resources — and the funding will help turn more of those local efforts into action. Dawkins says wilding pines spreading across productive farmland, water catchments and native biodiversity is serious enough to feature in Federated Farmers' election platform, which calls for a ten-year funding stream for control and five-hundred-thousand hectares of DOC land restored to grazing. He says stock grazing on conservation land costs taxpayers nothing but actively suppresses wilding pines and other weeds — and should be part of the toolkit alongside the national programme's one-hundred-and-nine million dollar investment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.