June 2009 Rural Women Magazine, New Zealand

8/9/2019 June 2009 Rural Women Magazine, New Zealand

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O F F I C I A L J O U R N A L O F R U R A L W O M E N N E W Z E A L A N D J u n e 2 0 0 9

Enterprising Rural Woman Award 2009

RWNZ National Conference

The Future of Wool

Otago Central Rail Trail

in this issue...

Tora Coas ta l Wa lk w ins

RWNZ Enterprising RuralWoman Award 2009

The Tora Coas tal Walk ha s beennamed as the inaugural winnero the Rural Women New Zealand

Enterpris ing Rural Woman Award2009.

P i c t u r e d a t l e t a r e b u s i n e s s

partners Kath Elworthy, JennyBargh and Kir i Elworthy, alongwith RWNZ Nat ional President

M a r g a r e t C h a p m a n a n d T o n yA r t h u r o B N Z ( g o l d s p o n s o r ) ,

during the Award ceremony heldat Parliament on 15 May.


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2009

The theme o ourconerence this year

is Diversity in Action Thriving in Times

o Change. Diversityis an integral part orural New Zealand

and RWNZ is verymuch to the oreront i n c l u s i v e a n d

welcoming o all.

A s n a p s h o t o our organisat ionindicates how we

have epitomized thistheme in our 84 yearhistory. Bush nurses,

emergency home

help; postal library service; rest homes; provisiono boarding bursaries; second chance educationbursaries; leadership opportunities; inluencingdecision makers on many issues as diverse as

compulsory dog dosing or hydatids to schooldental clinics ; rural mail delivery and electricity line

reticulation.

Diversity in Action Thriving in Times o Change is

no better illustrated than in the calibre and diversityo the entrants in our inaugural Enterprising RuralWoman Award.

Forty-six women entered their businesses andshowed that entrepreneurship is alive and well inrural New Zealand. They all displayed a vision and apassion and overcame diculties. Diculties such

as no cellphone coverage and ridiculously slow,inecient and expensive internet. But they nevergave up and now run successul businesses - diverse

businesses - rom snail arming, to tourism ventures,to a trucking operation, to soap making, to writing

arm manuals.

Some o you have asked why we are holding a

conerence in Wellington. This is the hub o our

advocacy work, where we lobby or legislation thatwill improve the wellbeing o rural amilies andcommunities.

We speak or over 600,000 New Zealanders who livein rural communities. They may be armers (around 14percent), teachers, mechanics, mums, dads, students,

grandparents, health care workers, lawyers, seasonalworkers, home care workers, plumbers, administrators, in

other words the other 86 percent who make up our ruralcommunities. Who else is going to speak or them?

Rural issues are oten not understood by policy and decisionmakers. 23 percent o all New Zealand adults were not born

here and many younger people today do not have contactwith rural or agricultural environments in the same way as

previous generations. Without that rural connection it isdicult to understand that although the same outcomes

Address rom our Presidentare expected rom policy and legislation, the process may haveto look dierent to achieve them. Rural Women New Zealand

can provide that link.

It was regrettable that the role o Minister or Rural Aairs wasdiscontinued and we will continue advocating strongly or its

re-instatement.

It is interesting that we have been told there is no need ora Minister o Rural Aairs because the present Minister oAgriculture is a armer and he knows all about living in a rural

community, and that there are others in the National ledgovernment who are likewise.

That is like saying that because the Minister o Justice is a lawyer

and there are other lawyers in caucus there is no need or aSolicitor General. Likewise many MPs have played or still doplay rugby and know all about the game so why do we need

a Minister o World Cup Rugby - and an Associate Minister?

With agriculture and biosecurity so crucial to our economyhow can the Minister o Agriculture have the time to deal with

the important issues o Rural Aairs - issues such as health,education and access to social services.

We are already seeing signs o policies that are ailing rural as aresult. While we were heartened with the announcement o the

bonding scheme or teachers, doctors, nurses and midwies, itjust could have gone so much urther. We were in a position

to advise where this need is greatest.

On the topic o high speed broadband did you know thatthe urban service model will receive $1.5 billion while rural

will receive $48 million. This equates to $480 per person orurban and $46 per person or rural. Is this air? This at a timewhen we are being told how important the agricultural sector

is to leading us out o the recession.

As or cell phone coverage dont get me started. It is dicultnot to eel cynical when the playing eld is tipped so ar that

rural communities are sliding right o the eld.

RWNZ will continue to support and encourage this governmentto make decisions that will impact positively on our amilies.Our door remains open or ongoing discussions on legislation

that will continue to strengthen and grow our communities.

There is another signicant reason why we have come toWellington. Ten years ago ater much debate the organisation

changed its name to better refect the communities it serves.

The launch o the new name was hosted at Parliament by thethen Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. A change o name, a new

century, a new beginning, with the same values that drove thewomen who rst met in Wellington in 1925 and established

the organisation because they wanted to make dierence ortheir rural communities.

Over the next two days members will have the opportunity todiscuss, debate, and celebrate the many issues and successes

relevant to RWNZ and rural communities. Some will eel

challenged by change just as many did ten years ago withthe new name. I know most o you will be excited, inspiredand motivated and approach any change in the spirit o theWomens Creed - straightorward and unaraid.

RWNZ National President,

Margaret Chapman



Our patron, Her Excellency Lady Satyanand, presents

Margaret Chapman (Hook Branch) with the Talbot Trophyor Best International Report.

Her Excellency saluted Rural Women New Zealand onyet another progressive year, mentioning our successul

undraising to support Massey PhD student Anou Dreusresearch into Leptospirosis, new initiatives such as theEnterprising Rural Woman Award and our new RWNZ

Express magazine, saying these eorts will inspire andenthuse rural women.

She also congratulated Rural Women New Zealand on its workto raise awareness about school bus saety and the need to

reduce speed past schools. Her ull speech can be viewed at:www.gg.govt.nz/node/1793.

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National Conerence OpeningPrime Minister John Key thanked our members or being such

passionate advocates or rural communities and or all thework they do.

You have a very proud history o speaking out on ruralissues and infuencing policy-making, and the National-led

Government looks orward to your continued insights andcontribution. We wont always agree with you on everythingbut we will always listen.

Mr Key said the major challenge or our rural communities rightnow is the state o the economy and the eects o the global

downturn, but the Government is positive about New Zealandsability to get through and emerge stronger. He said we have

not been as badly aected as other countries due to a lowerunemployment rate, a healthier banking system, and interestand exchange rates working or us.

He acknowledged the importance o land based sectors in the

countrys economic recovery, and the opportunities ahead.Despite the global downturn, consumers all over the world

will continue to demand our agricultural products. Already,revenue generated rom the agricultural sector accounts oraround two thirds o this countrys export earnings and delivers

thousands o jobs.

We are seeing the rise o large middle classes in China, India

and other parts o Asia. These increasingly wealthy citizens havegrowing appetites or high-quality ood products.

The Government is committed to doing what it can toassist armers by working to remove barriers to ree trade,

supporting primary sector research and development, reducingunnecessary red tape, developing critical inrastructure andsupporting rural communities, he said.

Recovery will come rom individual innovation as well asGovernment initiatives. In that regard he applauded Rural

Women New Zealands Enterprising Rural Woman Award.

I understand youve had a number o outstanding womenenter the competition rom a wide variety o businesses. Itsgreat to see their success celebrated and highlighted on the

national stage.

In meeting the needs o rural communities in good times and

bad he said his

Governmentsupports theRural Proong

programme

whichencourages all

Governmentagencies

to take intoaccount thecircumstances

and needso the rural

communitywhendeveloping

and

implementingpolicy.

Particular rural concerns which the Government is

addressing include new solutions to ensure high-speed broadband connections are available inrural areas, unding Plunketline, making sure early

childhood education arrangements work or ruralcommunities and ensuring DHBs are supported to

oer good rural health services.

The introduction o the voluntary bonding scheme

recognises the di culty many rural communitieshave in attracting the workers they need to provideessential health and education services.

Under the scheme, graduates will be oered student

loan debt write os and cash incentives, designed toencourage young doctors, nurses, midwives, teachersand vets to work in hard-to-sta and understaed

rural areas.

Mr Key told the conerence that to date 15 vets

have already been accepted into the scheme andapplications have been received rom 617 nurses, 98

doctors and 90 midwives. Up to 1800 teachers areexpected to become eligible or the scheme over the



enterprising

ruralw

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ward

The wait is over! We warmly congratulate Tora CoastalWalk as the winner o the inaugural RWNZ EnterprisingRural Woman Award 2009.

The exciting Award ceremony at Parliament on 15 Mayincluded presentations rom our nalists - Beverley

Forrester o Blackhills, Jan Bolton o Kaingaroa RoadingContractors Ltd, and the three principals o Tora Coastal

Walk - Kiri and Kath Elworthy and Jenny Bargh (picturedtop right).

The nalists were selected rom a strong eld o 46entrants, creating a challenge or our three judges

Theresa Gattung o Wool Partners International,

Amber Quinnell o BNZ (sponsors) and RWNZ NationalPresident, Margaret Chapman.

The businesses were judged on the rural nature o theirenterprises, innovation, product and service quality,

environmental awareness and nancial perormance.

The winners ticked all the boxes, says Margaret

Chapman. Tora Coastal Walk has been running or 14years, but the womens enthusiasm is still strong. They

make a special eort to bridge the urban-rural divide,talking to their guests about whats happening on thearm and making it a total rural experience. Attention

to detail and personal touches are an important parto the Tora Coastal Walk and its success.

Runner up Jan Bolton talked about the feet o heavyplant and vehicles she owns and runs maintaining the

orestry roads in the Kaingaroa orest near Murupara.She puts her success down to her willingness to

Jan Bolton receives the Access Homehealth

Trophy rom its chairman, Doug Langord

diversiy in the ace o change, as well as a deep commitmentand passion or the industry she has operated in or the last 22years and the great team o guys who operate her machines.

It was exciting to have one o our own members amongst the

nalists. Beverley Forrester has developed her coloured woolpaddock to catwalk business with a commitment to quality andadding value to the raw product. From her fock o Corriedale

Romneys she exports knitting yarn, sends semen and embryosto South America and rams to Japan, and has two shops sellingyarn, knitting patterns and nished garments in England. She

also acts as an international distributor or other New Zealandwool producers.

In presenting Tora Coastal Walk with the winners trophy, TonyArthur o BNZ acknowledged all the Award entrants.

It is no small prospect in this country to raise your head abovethe crowd and open your business up to inspection by your

peers. I applaud what you have all achieved in your businessand also applaud you or the courage to give it a go. We need

to encourage the benchmarking o success in business, and Ihope that this years Awards are the rst o what will be a strong,vibrant and high prole competition.

RWNZ member Beverley Forrester (second rom let)brought glamour to the Awards with a catwalk display o herdesigner clothing range made with coloured wool grown onher Canterbury arm Blackhills.

Winners: Kath Elworthy, Kiri Elworthy and Jenny Bargh at the

Award ceremony



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School Bus Saety campaignStepping up the action on school bus saety and speed pastschools was a hot topic at our national conerence.

Members agreed to intensely lobby the Ministers o Transport,Police, Agriculture, Education, ACC and Health to take a rm

stand on speed past schools by working together to legislate

or one legal speed past rural schools and one legal speed pasturban schools.

At present there is a wide variance o speed limits past schoolswith some rural schools alling within 100km/h zones. Individualschools may request a reduction o the speed limit rom NZTA,

which is not always successul.

Members also want action on signage and fashing lights onschool buses, to improve the abysmal driver awareness o the

20km/h speed limit or passing a stationary school bus in eitherdirection.

Two recent coroners reports have called or New Zealand toollow the United States example o requiring all tra c to stop

behind a school bus that has stopped to let children on or o.

As well as raising driver awareness through better signage andfashing lights on school buses, RWNZ also wants to see moreemphasis on enorcement o the current 20km/h law.

We have recently held discussions with Transport Engineering

Research New Zealand Limited (TERNZ) which is producinga report or the Government on ways to improve school bus

saety.

Rural Women New Zealand has prepared resources and

inormation or communities to help themselves to installbetter signage and fashing lights on school buses, which we are

happy to pass on to bus companies, schools and communitieson request.

Dr Jacqueline Rowarth,D i r e c t o r o M a s s e y

Agriculture, gave a thought-provoking presentationon our conerence theme

Diversity in Action

T hr iv ing in T im e s o Change.

She said in order to bei n n o v a t i v e w e n e e ddiversity o thought and

action. We must value thewayward thinker.

Instead our emphasis

on manageria l ism isblocking out diversity in

thought and innovation.People get caught up ina series o myths: that

creative people are theonly creative thinkers; thatpressures such as deadlines,

competition, bonuses, ear and streamlined organisations

somehow nurture innovation.

Dr Rowarth says engaging your workorce can lit productivity

by 40 percent, but young workers today need more regular,inormal and timely eedback and clear discussions outlining

how their input aects the bottom line.

Between 1999 and 2006 there was a big increase in tertiary

students studying arts, and a drop or stall in those studyingsciences and agriculture, due in part to the public value givento the arts and a unding boost in recent years.

She says we need to encourage people to make subject andcareer choices in areas that will help New Zealand, by oering

career beneits and recognition, and acknowledging thecreative aspects o jobs in science and agriculture.

As the global population balloons to nine billion, ooddemand is destined to climb and challenges ahead will require

innovative problem solving relating to more intensive land use,climate variation and border issues.

She says these messages need to be given to young peopleentering the workorce and Wellingtons policymakers.

Creative Thinking in Science and Agriculture

National President Margaret Chapman takes RWNZsSchool Bus Saety campaign to the Christchurch Show



nation

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2009 Clean Green and Luxurious by Liz Evans

Theresa Gattung o Wool

Partners International

Theresa Gattung

loves wool and

believes that the resto the world should

love it too, especiallyNew Zealand wool.

Speaking at theWool - Does it have

a Future? workshopa t o u r na t io na l

conerence, Theresaurged delegates tocontinue promoting

wool by weaving a

new luxury storydirect rom nature.

Former Telecom

CEO, and now heado Wool PartnersInternational (WPI),

Ms Gattung hasembarked on an industry road show around the countrytalking to armers and customers about the uture o

the bre. With the current low returns or growers, aragmented market and competition rom synthetic

bres, remaining positive about wool takes eort. But it

is an eort that she is sure is worth the trouble.

Although New Zealand wool is the highest quality inthe world, sheep numbers in recent times have allen

Theresa Gattung ran a popular pre-conerence workshop on the uture o NewZealands wool industry

rom 70 million to 33 million with no slowdown in sight, mostly

because o unacceptable returns to growers. Competition and

innovative marketing by promoters o synthetic manuacturershave seen unbranded nylon carpets in the USA selling or more

than quality wool carpets.

Key elements o WPIs recovery strategy are to uniy the NZ woolgrowers, consolidate the clip to stop individual growers beingpicked o by the auction system, collaborating with industry

and innovative marketing.

To achieve this WPI is working to establish both an integrated

supply chain and a means or greater collectivism, and to developthe best marketing structure possible.

To realise the true value o NZ wool, we need to link growers

to the market.

WPI is currently handling about 40 percent o the national clipand would like a lot more o the 120 million kilograms produced

here annually. Consumers and manuacturers also have a largecontribution to make towards the success o wool.

We need more price distinction between best and worst qualitywools, Ms Gattung said.

We need distinct marketing o wool as ashion apparel,carpeting and interior decorating products, and it needs to

be promoted as reconnecting with nature. All NZ shouldcelebrate wool and individually everyone can do something to

promote it, Theresa Gattung said. Rural Women New Zealandis promoting and celebrating 2009 as the International Yearo Natural Fibre.

$730 was collected at national conerence or the ACWWPennies or Friendship scheme. Pennies or Friendship

began in 1936, with the suggestion that every memberwould give the smallest coin o her country once a year inaddition to her society dues.

Nowadays the use o the word pennies is symbolic. A

more recent suggestion is that each member donates theprice o a loa o bread to the ACWW Pennies or Friendship

und, which would relate the donation back to an individualcountrys cost o living. The money is used or a wide varietyo projects in developing countries, including installing

clean running water, or giving children the opportunity toattend school.

At national conerence Margaret Springett o Meremere Ohangaibranch in Taranaki sold beautiul paua jewellery she had made, raising

$440 or an ACWW project to assist South American women to set upa jewellery making venture.

The next ACWW World Conerence will be held in Hot Springs, Arkansas

USA rom 21-28 April 2010. Our national president, Margaret Chapman,will attend. RWNZ member Margaret Millard has been nominated asACWW Treasurer and RWNZ has pledged its support or the nomination

o South Arican Anna Boscho or the position o Secretary.

Associated Country Women o the World news

For World Rural Womens Day last October, Mid East

Southland Provincial members enjoyed an event with guestspeaker Jo Morgan.

Over $350 was raised or a Rural Women DevelopmentInitiative in Papua New Guinea, where 35 armers put on

displays over two days to learn about arming and marketinggoats, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, sh and pigs, as wellas growing rice, herbs, introduced vegetables and all kind

o ruits and nuts.



Telecom set the scene or a uturistic pre-conerence workshopby producing a bag ull o brand new not-yet-or-sale mobilephones or members to play with, when Wellingtons notorious

weather delayed the arrival o Victoria Crones plane.

Telecoms Head o O ce, Victoria Crone said that communication

is central in the creation and continuance o sustainablecommunities. Telecoms vision is that by 2011 all communities

with more than 500 lines will have access to high speedbroadband. In sharp contrast, Victoria says Germany is settingits goal at all cities with more than 150,000 people!

She says across the globe people are demanding a more

personalised television experience meaning pre-recorded,ad-ree and multi-channel. But she says they also want tostreamline their technology, so that ewer appliances can do

more. She says it is logical that mobile phones, televisions andpersonal computers combine in some way, and predicts thatconsumers will see big changes within ve years.

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The challenge or

t e l e c o m m u n i -cation companies is to bring together thetools, new innovations and various threads o

technology in a way that consumers nd practicaland usable. Telecom says it is striving to do this by

getting senior sta out into the community, wherethey are spending up to hal a day a week alongsidecustomers and nding out how they use technology.

Victoria Crone says as key decision makers it isparticularly important Telecom understands what

women want.She says one exciting development is working witha New Zealand programmer to provide reasonably

priced internet products such as automated bankreconciliations, kitset web-site products and

computer linked virus monitoring.

Victoria Crone (rt)

Bursaries and Textbook GrantsRural Women New Zealand recently gave out the ollowingbursaries and textbook grants:

Tertiary Rebekah Purton, WhangareiAshley Oliver, Takapau

Ethan Register, Wakeeld

Textbook/Resource grants

Penelope Brynes, West MeltonRebecca Mills, MartinboroughDaniel Severinsen, Takapau

Kodi Campbell, InglewoodRebecca Jury, Stratord

Education Fund Lynmarie Wood, Port Waikato

Join us in strengthening rural communities

Rural Women New Zealand

Corporate Membership

$100 plus GST pa

Individual membership

$30 inc GST pa

For urther inormationemail: [email protected]

Beyond Skype and I-Phone by Wendy McGregor


8/8Strengthening Rural CommunitiesP

Official Journal of Rural Women New Zealand PO Box 12021, Wellington Tel 04 473 5524 Fax 04 472 8946

Email [email protected] www.ruralwomen.org.nz ISSN no 1171-4425

Editor: Head Office, PO Box 12021 Wellington Printer: Precise Print & Design, Paraparaumu

The Rural Women ladies did it again

They sorted a challenge or usTo go where the train had gone beoreFor a group o 80 plus.They said meet us at ClydeFor a walk or a ride

And youll see some o Otagos best.Scenery golden and much more too,

But only at Middlemarch can you rest.Fitness and Fun and Friendship too

Were all on the weekends agenda.Result o which, would leave butt and oot eeling ohever so tender.Entertainment was great, ood was grand

The weather denitely antastic.Beats sitting at home, darning the socksOr xing our knicker elastic!Bike shorts and trackies, crowns and blingMade the dress code ever so easy.

But the gradual hill climb on day twoMade the breath just a little bit wheezyThanks to the organisers and supporters tooWho will never really know what we all got up to.

Memories were made, secrets told,Friendship thatll last or ever.Stories will fy at branch meetings were sure

With tales told o our great times together.

- By Marianne Gemmell, Umutaroa RWNZ

Camp Mum and event organiser, Pat Macaulay, gave thisAprils Triple F Challenge a triple A rating o active, awesomeand amazing!

There were many highlights along the Otago Central Rail Trailor the 80 participants and support crew, and many personalachievements.

Riders and walkers came rom as ar as Australia and the NorthIsland with couples, mothers and daughters, and parentsand children taking part. The youngest was a six year old

who cycled rom Clyde to Omakau on day one o the threeday challenge.

An Anzac Day service at Omakau was a highlight, whenthe participants remembered earlier members war eorts,including raising unds to buy a Spitre.

Opera singer and Maniototo armer identity David McAtamneyserenaded the cyclists with On a Clear Day as they pedalledo on their nal morning towards Middlemarch, where thelocal Plunket group met them with well deserved bubblesand ood.

June 2009 Rural Women Magazine, New Zealand

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