Dairy women raring to make a difference
Three finalists for the prestigious Dairy Woman of the Year award have been named by the Dairy Women's Network.
RURAL WOMEN NZ urges bus companies to follow the lead of Ritchies Transport, which installed extra mirrors on its buses following the 2012 death of a 5-year-old West Coast boy after he was dropped off a school bus operated by the company.
An inquest into the death by Christchurch coroner Richard McElrea this week was told that the driver was unable to see down the full length of the left-hand side of the bus at the time of the accident. Since then extra mirrors have been retro-fitted to the company's fleet to improve visibility for its drivers.
Rural Women NZ national president, Wendy McGowan, says, "Such blind spots are likely to be a problem with many school buses, and we urge other companies to install extra mirrors where necessary to ensure there is good visibility down the full length of the bus."
Children are unpredictable, and as in this case, may step out on to the road.
"The cost of retrofitting mirrors is a small price to pay to keep children safer around school buses and hopefully avoid a similar tragedy."
Rural Women NZ has long campaigned for better safety around school buses, with a strong focus on raising awareness of the 20kmh speed limit in both directions when passing a bus that has stopped for children to get on or off.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.
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