Liz Smith from the back road, Māhia, caught up with Wayne Doran for the Wairoa Star last month. Now living at Mahanga, he talks about his long passion for farming and livestock, and hopes that the new Government will soon lift a ban on live animal exports.

A $470 million annual earner for New Zealand that was banned earlier this year could be revived by the new National-led Government, and Wairoa’s Wayne Doran is hoping to be back in the business of exporting live animals soon.

Mr Doran, who lives at Mahanga near Māhia — after renovating an old cottage