29 Dec 2020
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor on hailstorm and Brexit
Farmers and growers are counting the cost - thought to be in the tens of millions of dollars - of the Boxing Day freak hail storm in Tasman. A cloudburst shredded vineyards, smashing greenhouses, denting and bruising apples, kiwifruit and hops and severely damaging buildings in Motueka. Some say it's the worst hail storm in living memory, in a region where recent summers have been marred by cyclones, floods, and fires. Damien O'Connor is the Minister of Agriculture and Biosecurity, and the MP for West Coast-Tasman. He speaks to Perlina Lau.