Farming career
The Hoggards moved from Upper Hutt to a 186-hectare (460-acre) farm at Kiwitea in Manawatū in 1998,with Andrew 50% sharemilking 440 Holstein Friesian cows on the farm owned by his parents. [2] [5]
In 2001,Hoggard competed in the Taranaki–Manawatūregional final of the Young Farmer of the Year contest. [5] The following year,he was again a regional finalist in the event,placing third, [6] and in 2003 he won the Taranaki–ManawatūYoung Farmer of the Year title. [7] He went on to compete in the 2003 national final, [1] but finished outside the top four. [8] In 2004,Hoggard finished third in the Taranaki–Manawatūregional final. [9]
Hoggard served as chair of the Federated Farmers Dairy Industry Group from 2014 to 2017,and was Federated Farmers vice-president from 2017 to 2020. [3] On 26 June 2020,he succeeded Katie Milne as president of the organisation. [10] He was elected to the board of the International Dairy Federation in November 2020. [11] Hoggard resigned as Federated Farmers president on 8 May 2023,two months before his term of office was due to end. [12]
In October 2022 Hoggard,as Federated Farmers national president,criticised the Labour Government's plans to tax the emissions produced by farm animals by 2025. Agricultural emissions by farm animals including burping and urination account for about half of New Zealand's emissions. Hoggard claimed that the tax would hurt the farming sector by discouraging farmers from making a living. [13] [14]
Political career
Hoggard became a member of ACT New Zealand in 2019. On 9 May 2023, one day after stepping down as president of Federated Farmers, he was named as the ACT candidate in the Rangitīkei electorate for the 2023 New Zealand general election. [15] Hoggard was subsequently ranked fifth on ACT's party list for the election. [16]
During the 2023 election, Hoggard came third place in the Rangitīkei electorate, which was won by National Party candidate Suze Redmayne. [17] He was however elected to Parliament on the ACT party list. [18]
Following the formation of the National-led coalition government, Hoggard became Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Food Safety, Associate Minister of Agriculture, and Associate Minister of the Environment in late November 2023. [19] In the agriculture portfolio he is responsible for animal welfare, skills and significant natural areas. In the environment portfolio he is responsible for the Jobs for Nature programme, biodiversity, and freshwater regulations for farmers. [20]
On 14 March 2024 Hoggard, as Associate Environment Minister, announced that the government would suspend the obligation for councils to impose Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) under the previous Sixth Labour Government's National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while the Resource Management Act 1991 is being replaced. Significant Natural Areas are places in New Zealand where rare or threatened plants or animals are found. Their protection was previously required under the Resource Management Act. [21] On 15 March he released a statement saying his 14 March comment had been misunderstood: "To be clear, there has been no change to statutory and regulatory obligations on councils at this point. If my statement has been read in a way that suggested that the change had already come into effect, this was not the intention". University of Otago law Professor Andrew Geddis said the statement was "misleading at best, and borderline unlawful at worst. No minister can by mere announcement remove an existing legal obligation imposed by a parliamentary enactment." [22]
In August 2024, Hoggard as Minister for Food Safety announced the government was not going to sign up to new infant formula quality standards developed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and would instead develop a separate New Zealand standard over the next five years. The announcement was welcomed by the dairy industry but was criticised by the New Zealand College of Midwives. [23] In April 2025 RNZ reported that Hoggard had been heavily lobbied by dairy industry representatives, including his sister. [24] Soon after, RNZ reported that the government was considering signing up to the standards, following a change of position by the dairy lobbyists. [25]
In early December 2024, Hoggard as Biosecurity Minister halted all New Zealand poultry exports following an outbreak of the H7N6 subtype of avian influenza at a Moeraki farm. [26]
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