The Conservative Party’s national assembly has voted on the salmon tax, and is in favor of this wording: “Reject the government’s proposal for a ground rent tax on aquaculture.” This text was adopted after Høyre’s coastal politicians have worked hard to convince a majority that the party must clearly say no to ground rent tax on aquaculture. – Here the Conservative Party must stand firm. We cannot waver here. We must be against ground rent tax. We must be against all forms of ground rent tax. We cannot open loopholes here, said mayoral candidate Kirsti Pedersen Madsen in Tysnes in Vestland from the podium. Eased seafood industry Leader of the Seafood Companies, Robert Eriksson, is delighted with the decision. – Congratulations to the Conservative Party and the coastal delegation in the Conservative Party for bringing about a good resolution. It is a happy decision. It shows a more clear Conservative Party that we should expect, he says to news. In advance, Eriksson had called for an answer to what the Conservative Party thinks. In Sjømat Norge, which for years has worked against the tax, manager Geir Ove Ystmark is also relieved. – We take a positive view of Høyre’s decision. Like us, they want a different model for the salmon tax, he says to news. The industry hopes that the Conservative Party will be able to reverse the tax system that the Støre government will introduce. The first possibility is after the election in 2025, as Eriksson sees it. Different interpretations On Friday, news was able to report that they announced a fight over the text of the resolution, which is the wording a committee has created to unite the national assembly on a compromise. On Saturday, the coastal politicians gained traction for not only saying no to rejecting the government’s proposal, which is under consultation, but also rejecting the government’s proposal for a ground rent tax on aquaculture. In addition, another point was that several models must be investigated before a final decision is taken on the salmon tax. The fear of coastal politicians has been that the Conservative Party will come up with an unclear formulation of what the party thinks about the ground rent tax. But the new formulations are also interpreted differently. On Friday, Hanne Velure in the Høyre’s central board was keen to retain a formulation that opened up to a greater extent land rent tax. But he is satisfied with the new formulation. – This means that we no longer say no in principle to ground rent tax, but say no to ground rent tax as it is shaped and presented by the current government, she says to news. Fiscal policy spokesperson Helge Orten believes the text is clear. – We are clear about rejecting the proposal and the model the government has put on the table. At the same time, the industry itself has said that it can contribute more. But it must happen in dialogue with the industry, he says. Eriksson in Sjømatbedriftene interprets the decision as the Conservative Party saying no to the government’s proposal. – What we have been asking for is what the Conservative Party is for. Here, Høyre says that they will investigate another model, like the Faroese one we in the industry have recorded. – But then there will be a basic rent tax with this decision? – It will be a taxation model. We would like to see no ground rent tax introduced at all, he says. Mayoral candidate Christine Agdestein in Steinkjer in Trøndelag said that the world’s largest smolt facility is in her home municipality, but that investment in new facilities has stopped after the government announced a ground rent tax last autumn. – Unemployment will increase because of the ground rent tax, say union representatives. The Conservative Party says no to the ground rent tax, we would rather have forward-leaning societies throughout Norway that live off profits, not subsidies, she says. Collective in criticism of the government The resolution committee’s leader Peter Frølich opened the debate on the salmon tax with a kick at the government. – What the government is doing is so unpredictable that for the first time we are talking about political risk when investing in Norway, says Frølich, and continued: – We clearly say no to the aquaculture tax that the government has put forward. It is a harmful model. We are already seeing the effect on the investments in the aquaculture industry, and it has weakened Norway as an aquaculture nation, he says.
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Coastal politicians tightened up the national assembly – say no to the government’s salmon tax
