MP Shane Ardern graduates from Massey
massey-university
Thu May 30 2013 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
MP Shane Ardern graduates from Massey
Thursday, 30 May 2013, 4:10 pm
Press Release: Massey University
Thursday May 30, 2013
MP Shane Ardern graduates from Massey
Ten years ago MP Shane Ardern famously drove his tractor onto the steps of Parliament to protest against the proposed emissions tax. Today he assembled on the grounds of Parliament for an entirely different reason – to process to his Massey University graduation ceremony.
The Member of Parliament for Taranaki-King Country received his Graduate Diploma in Rural Studies, which he completed via distance learning. It took three-and-a-half years of cramming study around his Parliamentary duties, but today’s ceremony completed a long-held desire to undertake tertiary study.
“I left school at the age of 15 and, like a lot of boys from farming families, I went to assist my parents who were share milkers as they needed the extra pair of hands,” Mr Ardern says. “Eventually I went through the share milking system to buy my own farm at an early age.
“In my mid-20s and early 30s I regretted that I didn’t go to university, and it’s something that has always been at the back of my mind. I wanted to know if I could do it, I felt that need to test myself.”
With all his years of experience as a farmer, an MP of a rural electorate, and as chairman of the Primary Production Select Committee, Mr Ardern says it was heartening to confirm that he did “already know a lot of stuff”.
“I just had to go through the process of proving what I knew, of putting it down on paper in a credible and well-referenced way. But that’s not to say I didn’t learn anything new, I absolutely did. I go back through my papers all the time to check things and find useful references.”
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While it has been a decade since Mr Ardern’s tractor protest, he maintains that the past 10 years have done little to mellow him.
“All the studies I have done as a part of this diploma supports my stance at that time and that is because I always did believe in science-based arguments,” he says. “That proposal was a stupid idea – a tax on the emission of ruminants would not lead to a change in total emissions.
“The solution lies with solid science, like the research into grass cultivars that reduce emissions. The work of the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre in Palmerston North, for example, has been described as a world leader.”
Mr Ardern chose to do his studies through Massey University because of its strong reputation in agricultural science and the flexibility of its distance learning programme.
“I developed a close relationship with Massey and the lecturers were very supportive. I did a number of site visits to the Manawatū campus and was even invited to give a guest lecture.”
He told his audience that the agricultural industry needs more young leaders.
“In my lecture I talked about how we need to identify and support young leaders. I’m sometimes disturbed by the attitude of our young people – I told them they need to unfold their arms at the back of the hall and step up onto the stage at the front.”
But he did meet a lot of talented young people during his visits and he enjoyed graduating with some of them this afternoon.
“Yes, I was reasonably chuffed – graduations are wonderful things because you’re surrounded by not only enthusiastic young people, but also older people. With the changing world that we live in today, higher education and re-training in different skills is not just for school leavers.”
ENDS
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