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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.”
High country stations, mixed sheep and beef farms, Māori-owned farms, corporates and family operations are among the nine commercial farms taking part in the Livestock Innovation Farming Transformation programme, known as LIFT.
OPINION: New health and safety guidance unveiled by the Government recently provides farmers greater certainty about what is expected of them when managing risks on farm.
The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is seeking public feedback on proposed changes to the Code of Welfare for Rodeos.
A New Zealand initiative supporting farmers to restore the health of grazing landscapes has received international backing through the Regenerative Fund for Nature, a global collaborative fund supporting regenerative agriculture and the communities that produce natural fibres for the fashion industry.
Combine premium New Zealand products, blend in a family ritual and what do you get? A world-class functional drink.
Entries are now open across eleven regions for the 2027 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA).
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.
