M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
We need to make sure that our rural businesses are well supported, says Fiona Gower, Rural Women NZ national president.
“With the lack of tourists coming through we need to ensure the small businesses can survive because without them we don’t have a community,” she told Rural News last week.
“Once they are gone it is really hard to get them back.
She says digital communication will also play an important part in the coronavirus response.
Rural Women has been looking at the best way to communicate with members about the situation, which includes getting the correct information out such including links to the Ministry of Health.
“There is a lot of hype out there and it’s making sure that everyone gets the correct information.
“Our members and rural communities are pretty resilient and innovative and have plenty of initiative. Because of where we live we can be pretty self-sufficient.
“We can still go to work because we won’t be in the room with 50 other people. We can carry on with the work we are doing which is really important.”
While huge events on the rural calendar such as the Central Districts and National Fieldays have been cancelled, New Zealand will be better off if we can prevent the spread or community introduction of the disease.
“We will have to look at more innovative ways of being a community because it is really important that we are supporting each other.
“We have to look at ways possibly to do that rather than face to face in meeting situations or in social situations.”
Gower says the rural sector has a number of “amazing’ groups and it needs to support their initiatives.
She adds that rural communities also need to ensure that people are safe and not isolated.
“We have to think how farm workers who are living on their own can cope, making sure they are well and all the rural communities are kept safe.
“This is a pretty tough time but the rural communities have been through some tough times.
“This is just another to show how resilient we can be, how innovative we can be and how we can actually make the least worst, or the best, of the situation.”
She says technology will be really important.
“This will be a real issue for families that don’t have decent internet or computers if schools closed. We need to make sure those children are well looked after.”
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.