July 10, 2025 • 6 mins
An update on Rural Women New Zealand with the national president, including proposed improvements in rural connectivity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Like the national president of the Rural Women's Network is
Sandra Matthew's joining us on the country, Sandra, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah? Good, thanks Hamish excellent and rural New Zealand is
doing really well as well right around the country.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Oh, that's fantastic to hear one thing not doing quite
so well. Well, we might be about to get some
big improvement on though. Is the old connectivity? What's happening
in that space?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, that's an interesting one, isn't it. As we've been
talking about this it seems like forever. So the Infrastructure
Commission came out and endorsed a proposal of the Chorus
is put forward to increase extend the fiber network from
eighty seven percent to ninety five percent across New Zealand.
You know, initially when I read it, I thought, well,
(00:44):
you know, here we've got starlink, we've got lots of
different options, but in actual fact, for people that don't
have those options, this, this fiber network is really important.
So we've endorsed that. We think it's a really important
plan and we'd like to see the government get behind it,
you know, to prioritize and actually prioritize the support for
our royal communities in this way. I mean, we've got
(01:04):
massive economic potential in our real communities. And we talk
technology all the time Halter and all these technologies coming
on boards for farms and for royal communities, but without connectivity,
we can't move forward.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
With it, exactly exactly. It's all about progress. Eighty seven
percent to ninety five percent. What amazed me is that
that's that's a huge number of households who will get
the opportunity to take up fiber.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, it's really interesting. You know, they're talking about an
additional one hundred and sixty thousand addresses right around the country,
regional and rural. So it is massive. And you think
about you know, copper's being being phased out in lots
of areas and people have relied on copper, especially in
adverse events. We've got you know, Nelson, We've had Gabriel
up our Way and tied oursity in the East Coast,
(01:52):
and you know, these these basic services are really important
for people that are in more isolated areas.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, absolutely they are. And yeah, so it is good
to see this progress. So do you have an idea
of a timeline here? Now that Corus has got the
green light from Infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Well, I think it all all depends on the funding
actually Hamish, so they've gone back to government with that
with the proposal and the endorsement, and as a real
community supportive real communities, we're endorsing it as well. I
have not heard about the timeline. I think the discussions
are happening. As soon as we hear about that, well,
we'll definitely be putting it out to our members as well.
(02:34):
The one thing I will say that we really are
we have a lot of black spots around the country,
you know, thinking about you know the cell phone networks
and those sorts of things too which also support connectivity.
I think the one thing I will say about we
are calling to expand the five D coverage around the country.
They've been really great and put five hundred and thirty
(02:55):
nine mobile extra mobile towers around the country to enhance
the real conc devity. But you know, I can drive
from Hawk's Bay down to say Marsterton and the course
are dropping out all the time. And last week I
was in the way Gatto and drove from Auckland to
Wacatto and my cell phone was dropping out while I'm
trying to have conversations, so you know, we really advocate
for expanding that five year coverage further around the country
(03:17):
as well.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, I'm with you on that. I do a bit
of driving between Auckland and the Manor were two and
actually the Auckland Whitehadow is the worst dropout spot of all.
But really we need the era of equal opportunity, don't
we when it comes to digital connectivity, because you say education, business, health,
you know, our social wellbeing. It's just mind boggling that
(03:38):
some people are really almost close to the dark ages
when it comes to that, well it is.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And you've got to remember too, right through the royal
communities there's a different age demographic, so you've got people
the young ones that come through. I've got a cell
phone in the hands all the time. I'm probably one
of those now and I'm not that young. But you
alsopit old elderly people that everything's going online, so if
they don't have options of basic connectivity, they're being left behind.
And even healthcare, you know, we talk about you know,
(04:06):
tellyhealth and getting online for employments, so you know, if
they don't have those basic services, how are they're going
to you know, take those opportunities to use Telly Health
instead of it she driving into a town an hour
or an hour and a half away to see a doctor. So,
you know, there's a lot of benefits in connectivity, that's
for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, anybody that doesn't think that rural New Zealand and
agriculture and the like the backbone of this country. We
need to look after the backbone. So this is all
a good step in the right direction. Let's hope it
happens right. The Rural Women's Network one hundred years your Shalebrady,
how's that all going, Yeah, Rural.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Women New zealem Tamish. Yeah, Yeah, it's amazing. We're in
the the planning, just about to release at the end
of July and open up for the next twelve months.
With our one hundred years, we're really proud of the
one hundred year history that we've had. You know, things
have changed so much in one hundred years, but we're
(05:01):
still focusing on supporting and giving the voice to rule
women in the communities to make sure we're connected and thriving.
It still hasn't changed one hundred years what our mission is.
We're still talking about the same things. Healthcare, education, school, buses,
all those sort of will connectivity last forty years or so,
but all those things that we've been advocating for strongly
(05:21):
and supporting our real communities, we're still doing that one
hundred years later. So it's a massive achievement. And the
story is coming out from those long term members. It's
just incredible to hear them. So they're going to be
coming rolling out into the wider community to hear what
rural Women's done over the last hundred years. It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah. The one I love is out at eleven around
nineteen forty five thousand pounds raised to build a spitfire
flowing in World War Two by a son of one
of the members. I just thought, there's one of the
best stories I have heard in so long, And you know,
it's just yeah, yeah, made my day when I came
across that. Terrible that that was the situation they were in,
(05:59):
but the way, you know, the I guess, the sort
of link between the member and the Sun and what
they did and are incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, it's incredible. And these stories are popping out up
all the time, and you know, when I get an
email or a phone call from one of the members
and they're telling me about this, I just sit there.
I'm actually gobsmacked about how incredible these women have come
before us has been, and how incredible the women are
that are doing the work out there today as well.
It's amazing we are that we are the support network
(06:27):
of the backbone of our industry, aren't we? We ru
all women?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Oh well, Niko La Greg said that, you know, rural
women are the beating heart of the backbone, you know,
of the economy. And it's definitely right. It absolutely is. Okay.
Sandra Matthews, President of Rural Women New Zealand, thank you
so much for joining us. Much appreciate it great.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Thanks you, Sansh
Like the national president of the Rural Women's Network is
Sandra Matthew's joining us on the country, Sandra, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah? Good, thanks Hamish excellent and rural New Zealand is
doing really well as well right around the country.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Oh, that's fantastic to hear one thing not doing quite
so well. Well, we might be about to get some
big improvement on though. Is the old connectivity? What's happening
in that space?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, that's an interesting one, isn't it. As we've been
talking about this it seems like forever. So the Infrastructure
Commission came out and endorsed a proposal of the Chorus
is put forward to increase extend the fiber network from
eighty seven percent to ninety five percent across New Zealand.
You know, initially when I read it, I thought, well,
(00:44):
you know, here we've got starlink, we've got lots of
different options, but in actual fact, for people that don't
have those options, this, this fiber network is really important.
So we've endorsed that. We think it's a really important
plan and we'd like to see the government get behind it,
you know, to prioritize and actually prioritize the support for
our royal communities in this way. I mean, we've got
(01:04):
massive economic potential in our real communities. And we talk
technology all the time Halter and all these technologies coming
on boards for farms and for royal communities, but without connectivity,
we can't move forward.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
With it, exactly exactly. It's all about progress. Eighty seven
percent to ninety five percent. What amazed me is that
that's that's a huge number of households who will get
the opportunity to take up fiber.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, it's really interesting. You know, they're talking about an
additional one hundred and sixty thousand addresses right around the country,
regional and rural. So it is massive. And you think
about you know, copper's being being phased out in lots
of areas and people have relied on copper, especially in
adverse events. We've got you know, Nelson, We've had Gabriel
up our Way and tied oursity in the East Coast,
(01:52):
and you know, these these basic services are really important
for people that are in more isolated areas.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, absolutely they are. And yeah, so it is good
to see this progress. So do you have an idea
of a timeline here? Now that Corus has got the
green light from Infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Well, I think it all all depends on the funding
actually Hamish, so they've gone back to government with that
with the proposal and the endorsement, and as a real
community supportive real communities, we're endorsing it as well. I
have not heard about the timeline. I think the discussions
are happening. As soon as we hear about that, well,
we'll definitely be putting it out to our members as well.
(02:34):
The one thing I will say that we really are
we have a lot of black spots around the country,
you know, thinking about you know the cell phone networks
and those sorts of things too which also support connectivity.
I think the one thing I will say about we
are calling to expand the five D coverage around the country.
They've been really great and put five hundred and thirty
(02:55):
nine mobile extra mobile towers around the country to enhance
the real conc devity. But you know, I can drive
from Hawk's Bay down to say Marsterton and the course
are dropping out all the time. And last week I
was in the way Gatto and drove from Auckland to
Wacatto and my cell phone was dropping out while I'm
trying to have conversations, so you know, we really advocate
for expanding that five year coverage further around the country
(03:17):
as well.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, I'm with you on that. I do a bit
of driving between Auckland and the Manor were two and
actually the Auckland Whitehadow is the worst dropout spot of all.
But really we need the era of equal opportunity, don't
we when it comes to digital connectivity, because you say education, business, health,
you know, our social wellbeing. It's just mind boggling that
(03:38):
some people are really almost close to the dark ages
when it comes to that, well it is.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And you've got to remember too, right through the royal
communities there's a different age demographic, so you've got people
the young ones that come through. I've got a cell
phone in the hands all the time. I'm probably one
of those now and I'm not that young. But you
alsopit old elderly people that everything's going online, so if
they don't have options of basic connectivity, they're being left behind.
And even healthcare, you know, we talk about you know,
(04:06):
tellyhealth and getting online for employments, so you know, if
they don't have those basic services, how are they're going
to you know, take those opportunities to use Telly Health
instead of it she driving into a town an hour
or an hour and a half away to see a doctor. So,
you know, there's a lot of benefits in connectivity, that's
for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, anybody that doesn't think that rural New Zealand and
agriculture and the like the backbone of this country. We
need to look after the backbone. So this is all
a good step in the right direction. Let's hope it
happens right. The Rural Women's Network one hundred years your Shalebrady,
how's that all going, Yeah, Rural.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Women New zealem Tamish. Yeah, Yeah, it's amazing. We're in
the the planning, just about to release at the end
of July and open up for the next twelve months.
With our one hundred years, we're really proud of the
one hundred year history that we've had. You know, things
have changed so much in one hundred years, but we're
(05:01):
still focusing on supporting and giving the voice to rule
women in the communities to make sure we're connected and thriving.
It still hasn't changed one hundred years what our mission is.
We're still talking about the same things. Healthcare, education, school, buses,
all those sort of will connectivity last forty years or so,
but all those things that we've been advocating for strongly
(05:21):
and supporting our real communities, we're still doing that one
hundred years later. So it's a massive achievement. And the
story is coming out from those long term members. It's
just incredible to hear them. So they're going to be
coming rolling out into the wider community to hear what
rural Women's done over the last hundred years. It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah. The one I love is out at eleven around
nineteen forty five thousand pounds raised to build a spitfire
flowing in World War Two by a son of one
of the members. I just thought, there's one of the
best stories I have heard in so long, And you know,
it's just yeah, yeah, made my day when I came
across that. Terrible that that was the situation they were in,
(05:59):
but the way, you know, the I guess, the sort
of link between the member and the Sun and what
they did and are incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, it's incredible. And these stories are popping out up
all the time, and you know, when I get an
email or a phone call from one of the members
and they're telling me about this, I just sit there.
I'm actually gobsmacked about how incredible these women have come
before us has been, and how incredible the women are
that are doing the work out there today as well.
It's amazing we are that we are the support network
(06:27):
of the backbone of our industry, aren't we? We ru
all women?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Oh well, Niko La Greg said that, you know, rural
women are the beating heart of the backbone, you know,
of the economy. And it's definitely right. It absolutely is. Okay.
Sandra Matthews, President of Rural Women New Zealand, thank you
so much for joining us. Much appreciate it great.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Thanks you, Sansh
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