New Zealand postal service changes leave rural communities disappointed
Changes to New Zealand’s postal service has left rural communities disappointed.
Rural Women New Zealand’s (RWNZ) new president is excited to be taking on the role.
Gill Naylor, a South Island farmer, says RWNZ is a ‘vibrant organisation’.
“I am excited to be standing on the shoulders of those that have been empowering rural communities since 1925.”
Naylor says farming and rural New Zealand have always been a big factor in her life. “I grew up on my parents’ sheep and beef farm about 20 minutes north east of Invercargill.”
In the 1980s, she moved to her husband’s Central Otago family farm.
Naylor told Rural News one of the biggest issues the new board will be tackling in the coming months is the use of cheques in the rural sector after several major banks announced they would phase out their use.
“Removing cheques as a form of payment is putting extra stress onto rural communities and we are calling for cheques to continue to be accepted until every rural household and business has consistent, reliable internet access.”
Naylor says that the use of cheques is very high as a payment method in more rural areas, but “the banks and other institutions have seemingly not taken the needs of rural communities into consideration when making these decisions.”
She says RWNZ is currently seeking feedback from its members on the impact of climate change on rural communities.
Naylor is joined by three new board members, Emma Higgins, Malvina Dick, and Claire Williamson.
“The new board is a great mix of experience and knowledge from within RWNZ and skills from outside the organisation which is vital to us being able to continue to strengthen and support rural communities,” says chief executive, Liz Pennington.
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.

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