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Rural Women New Zealand this month submitted on the Draft Mental Health and a Wellbeing Strategy 2026-2036, because a person's postcode should not determine the quality of their mental health support.
The strategy sets out how New Zealand will create a system that promotes mental health and wellbeing for all, and provides mental health and addiction support and services that meet people's needs.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) welcomes the strategy's direction, and has used its submission to bring the lived reality of rural communities to the Ministry of Health's attention.
"Anyone who has lived rurally knows that getting help is rarely simple," says Bronwyn Main, Health Policy Action Advisory Group convenor.
“You might be hours from the nearest service, juggling the farm, the kids, the animals and still trying to find the courage to ask for help in a small community,” she says.
The submission draws on the experiences of RWNZ members to show how distance, cost, stigma, and workforce shortages combine to push rural people to crisis point before they can access support.
Sam Whitelock is an All Black rugby great, Farmstrong Ambassador and working dairy farmer in the Manawatu. Having stepped away from professional sport and returned to his roots on the family farm, he talks about balancing farm life with advocating for rural wellbeing.
OPINION: More than three decades ago, I was part of a group who received a monthly audio cassette tape from international leadership statesman, Dr. John Maxwell.
Rural New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s recent package of rural healthcare initiatives.
Conversions of sheep and beef farms to forestry have slowed, however new research from Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) suggests land of value for food production remains at risk.
OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.
Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.
Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.
As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.
As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”
Farmer-owned fertiliser company, Ballance Agri Nutrients is welcoming National’s plan to negotiate security agreements with key supplier countries to protect New Zealand-bound products from export restrictions and greater supply chain certainty.
Carrfields has announced the appointment of Stu Hall to the newly created role of chief operating officer, Carrfields Ltd, reflecting the continued growth of their agribusinesses and the need to ensure the company has the leadership capacity and support in place as it pursues the emerging opportunities ahead.
New Zealand's role is not to compete with Indian growers, according to NZ Apples and Pears.
The potato industry is celebrating the success of two rising stars - James Blair, the 2026 Young Grower of the Year and runner-up and innovation award winner, Amber Davy.
Twenty-eight emerging leaders from across the horticulture sector spent two days last month learning valuable skills and connecting with industry experts.
There are five entrants in this year’s Young Horticulturist of the Year, competing in a series of technical, practical, business and leadership challenges.
