Rural Women New Zealand Conference
To: Margaret Chapman, National President of Rural Women New Zealand, to all the members who are gathered here in sunny Blenheim from all over the country and to distinguished guests: Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and in sign language, which is New Zealand's third official language, 'sign'.
I am pleased to have been invited to open your conference this evening.
As the wife of the Governor-General, I have been asked to be the patron of a number of organisations and Rural Women New Zealand is one I am very pleased to be associated with. At first, I didn't know much about the organisation but your leaders made sure that I have been informed and kept up to date and so in many and ingenious ways, my admiration has grown and grown.
You have, this year, grasped a potential nettle in your choice of the topic for this weekend, Celebrating Diversity in Rural Communities. What a relevant challenge you are to be discussing and I commend you all to get right into it!
There is certainly no doubt that rural communities in New Zealand have changed a great deal. Who would have thought, fifty years ago, that we'd be growing thousands of hectares of grapes, cultivating avocados, llamas and paeonies? The Rural Bulletin is something I look forward to, to keep up to date with many changes and diversifications.
As you consider diversity in rural communities over the next couple of days, I hope you will make sure that you also celebrate the very real diversity within your own organisation.
Here you are, women from all over the country—some are actually from urban as well as rural areas. Many are in paid employment as well as having farms to run and families to raise.
Most of you are active members, not only of this organisation but also of a number of community and professional groups.
Rural Women New Zealand plays an increasingly important role in national affairs. It is a respected lobby group in the corridors of power, making contributions to policy on a huge range of issues. For example, it has been involved in advocacy of better conditions for rural home carers and for stricter enforcement of traffic rules concerning school buses. Politicians and policy planners need this grounding and awareness of the needs of communities.
You have a seat at the table when important national issues have to be addressed. Your President, Margaret Chapman, is a member of the National Drought Committee. Although the drought has broken, its effects will be felt in rural communities for some time and the Droughtspeak blog is a good example of a practical, modern response.
Another problem that Rural Women New Zealand has taken on recently is leptospirosis. This disease can result in severe illness and, in some cases, death. The true incidence is probably many times the reported incidence. Your fundraising for leptospirosis research shows imaginative ideas such as staging fashion shows and getting people to pay to guess the weight of a steer! Rural Women New Zealand has been in boots and all on that one!
It used to commonly be said that farmers were "the backbone of the country"! The image was of men - in gumboots.
Everybody knew that beside those men stood their wives, their sisters, their mothers and their daughters. And they weren't just standing - they were working very hard, just like the men were.
Women also ran farms and other rural businesses on their own account - and many more were forced to during the two world wars when the men were overseas.
Everybody knew that the role women played in the rural economy was huge - but their interests and needs were not adequately catered for.
It was women themselves, who in 1925 decided that that had to change and the organisation that is now Rural Women New Zealand was born. It is still relevant in a society where communication and fast transport is a fact and it is more relevant in today's demanding economic climate.
Now, more than 80 years later - I am delighted to declare your annual conference officially open.
Good wishes to you all and for this conference, I wish you the determination to boldly set and achieve your goals: No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.