March 19, 2025 • 6 mins
The National President of Rural Women NZ talks about rain warnings, drought, rural school buses and hormone patches.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
But someone who's right on top of a game is
the National President of Rural Women and Z Gisbine farmer
Sandra Matthews And Sandra, I see there's a heavy rain
warning for the east coast Gisbine, Wiroha Hawks Bay, Hawk's
Bay or welcome it. Do you guys need it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hi, Jamie. There's a southeasterly that's floating around us at
the moment, and overnight we had about twenty mils where
I'm based fifty kilometers northwestern Gisbon, and it's just swirling around.
So it's been raining heavily all morning. I'm sitting nicely
in my home in the dry and ends out there
working doing some fencing repairs.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well that's the way, that's the way it should be. Look,
we know that the North Island, particularly the western side
of it and the northern part of it's very very dry.
I'm hoping they're getting some spill over from this rain event.
I'm not quite sure if they are. Texas on five nine.
If you're in a drought area in the North Island,
let us know how you're getting on at your place
(00:57):
and where you're from. But Yate's mental health issues and
I know that rural women and Z have been doing
a lot of good work in that space.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, we have, and I Wilso have just actually been
down to Tasman area and driven through through to merchants
and ringing or in christ Church last week when I've
been working with through all women people down around there,
and there are pockets of very very dry areas, which
is really concerning. We are we're talking around with Minister
Doucy and Mark Patterson. Minister Patterson just around ensuring that
(01:32):
we do have adequate services in our real communities and
making sure, I mean, our stats are really bad and
we're making sure that we're really pushing for support into
real communities to make sure that we have that support.
So it's an ongoing discussion and it's not not a
win overnight because obviously we understand in the health services
that really that we are up against a lack of
(01:53):
numbers and nurses and psychologists all those sort of things.
But we are doing the best that we can, talking
to as many people as we can. And there is
concerns obviously out around with the decorations right around the
North Island and down into Marlboro and Tasman. The one
thing I will say, after going through many direct droughts
in our tyriefity area is that this actually brings a
(02:15):
bit of support to people. The income Equalization scheme which
has actually helped us get through droughts and talking to
your accountant those sort of things and be proactive. That's
the one thing that experiencing many droughts since we've been
farming here for thirty odd years, is that be proactive,
decide you know what stock you can get rid of,
unload them wherever you can, and make early decisions. So
(02:37):
that's what we're sort of talking to people about. And
obviously the RST support has been stepped up, so there's
RST support as well. So yeah, we're just trying to
support as much as we can and we'll step in
and help where we can over the next few months
while people are going through these meeting scale droughts.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, don't be afraid to ask for help. And the
Rural Support Trust, as you mentioned, are doing great work there.
You're also on the war path or not on the
war path, but one of the hot issues at the
moment is the rural school buses.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, we've had a meeting with Minister Stanford and Minister
Patterson as well, talking around the school bus issues, because
right around the country there are changes to school buses
and really what they're doing is putting back in place
the policy that's been in place for way too long.
So our discussions have been around okay, we would really
like a review of that policy and work with the
(03:26):
Ministry and the Minister's office and MZTA and other parties
like Federative Farmers. Let's get round the table and try
and work this issue through. Because even and where I
live at Rearly, our house is three point two kilometers
from the local school, which is on a you know,
it's on a bit of a rough road, and the
school sorry three point one kilometers and the buses pick
(03:47):
up at three point two, so you know, this policy
has been in for a long time and we're actually
calling for a review of the policy so that a
bit of fearness can go into this Andre there's a
lot of places that have gone in pine trees, so
our demographics and our real communities are changing.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
You might have to do what my father was very
tempted to do back in the day when there was
a boarding school allowance, just change the driveway. He was
going to bulldoze a new driveway so we would fit
the criteria for a subsidy for boarding school.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, and I think a few people have done that
over the years, Jamie. Yeah, we've got a few big
oat trees that we can't do that, even though we
haven't got children at school anymore. But I mean, the
thing is that there's also on the flip side of that,
there's also people bypassing their local school and one of
the buses to take them to other schools. So there's
a lot involved in this over the last few generations,
and it's trying to get some common sense around us.
(04:38):
And that's what we'll be talking about.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Okay, One to really quickly finish on awkward subject. Hormone patches, Blokes,
get it easy. We don't have to have hormone patches
or cervical smears or mammograms. So you know this is
woman's problems. Just be quick on this one because I
feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, it's not really a woman's problem, if you know,
it's blokes problems. We all know that if you live
with at menopause a woman or perimenopause, a woman's everybody's problem.
So it's helping to understand what that's all about and
how it affects a woman as she gets older. And
we've been submitting on hormone patches, the actual medications that
(05:17):
help women all in my case a little bit less crazy,
let's probably, i would say, and the patches and the
gels and the things that we're asking the government fund
that actually helps women to actually sleep and have a
better quality of life as they're going through those stages
of life. So we've been working hard on that and
gain some traction. The government's come out with a few
(05:39):
different options, so we're fairly happy about how that's going
at the moment, and we're making sure that men like yourself, Jamie,
feel more comfortable about talking about Senapaus and Perry Minimal.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Wow, I'm a bloke and I'm a boomer, so I
struck the double. You can't get any luckier than that. Hey,
Sandra Matthews, thank you for your time. Keep up the
good work at Rural Women in ZID.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
You think, Jamie
But someone who's right on top of a game is
the National President of Rural Women and Z Gisbine farmer
Sandra Matthews And Sandra, I see there's a heavy rain
warning for the east coast Gisbine, Wiroha Hawks Bay, Hawk's
Bay or welcome it. Do you guys need it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hi, Jamie. There's a southeasterly that's floating around us at
the moment, and overnight we had about twenty mils where
I'm based fifty kilometers northwestern Gisbon, and it's just swirling around.
So it's been raining heavily all morning. I'm sitting nicely
in my home in the dry and ends out there
working doing some fencing repairs.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well that's the way, that's the way it should be. Look,
we know that the North Island, particularly the western side
of it and the northern part of it's very very dry.
I'm hoping they're getting some spill over from this rain event.
I'm not quite sure if they are. Texas on five nine.
If you're in a drought area in the North Island,
let us know how you're getting on at your place
(00:57):
and where you're from. But Yate's mental health issues and
I know that rural women and Z have been doing
a lot of good work in that space.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, we have, and I Wilso have just actually been
down to Tasman area and driven through through to merchants
and ringing or in christ Church last week when I've
been working with through all women people down around there,
and there are pockets of very very dry areas, which
is really concerning. We are we're talking around with Minister
Doucy and Mark Patterson. Minister Patterson just around ensuring that
(01:32):
we do have adequate services in our real communities and
making sure, I mean, our stats are really bad and
we're making sure that we're really pushing for support into
real communities to make sure that we have that support.
So it's an ongoing discussion and it's not not a
win overnight because obviously we understand in the health services
that really that we are up against a lack of
(01:53):
numbers and nurses and psychologists all those sort of things.
But we are doing the best that we can, talking
to as many people as we can. And there is
concerns obviously out around with the decorations right around the
North Island and down into Marlboro and Tasman. The one
thing I will say, after going through many direct droughts
in our tyriefity area is that this actually brings a
(02:15):
bit of support to people. The income Equalization scheme which
has actually helped us get through droughts and talking to
your accountant those sort of things and be proactive. That's
the one thing that experiencing many droughts since we've been
farming here for thirty odd years, is that be proactive,
decide you know what stock you can get rid of,
unload them wherever you can, and make early decisions. So
(02:37):
that's what we're sort of talking to people about. And
obviously the RST support has been stepped up, so there's
RST support as well. So yeah, we're just trying to
support as much as we can and we'll step in
and help where we can over the next few months
while people are going through these meeting scale droughts.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, don't be afraid to ask for help. And the
Rural Support Trust, as you mentioned, are doing great work there.
You're also on the war path or not on the
war path, but one of the hot issues at the
moment is the rural school buses.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, we've had a meeting with Minister Stanford and Minister
Patterson as well, talking around the school bus issues, because
right around the country there are changes to school buses
and really what they're doing is putting back in place
the policy that's been in place for way too long.
So our discussions have been around okay, we would really
like a review of that policy and work with the
(03:26):
Ministry and the Minister's office and MZTA and other parties
like Federative Farmers. Let's get round the table and try
and work this issue through. Because even and where I
live at Rearly, our house is three point two kilometers
from the local school, which is on a you know,
it's on a bit of a rough road, and the
school sorry three point one kilometers and the buses pick
(03:47):
up at three point two, so you know, this policy
has been in for a long time and we're actually
calling for a review of the policy so that a
bit of fearness can go into this Andre there's a
lot of places that have gone in pine trees, so
our demographics and our real communities are changing.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
You might have to do what my father was very
tempted to do back in the day when there was
a boarding school allowance, just change the driveway. He was
going to bulldoze a new driveway so we would fit
the criteria for a subsidy for boarding school.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, and I think a few people have done that
over the years, Jamie. Yeah, we've got a few big
oat trees that we can't do that, even though we
haven't got children at school anymore. But I mean, the
thing is that there's also on the flip side of that,
there's also people bypassing their local school and one of
the buses to take them to other schools. So there's
a lot involved in this over the last few generations,
and it's trying to get some common sense around us.
(04:38):
And that's what we'll be talking about.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Okay, One to really quickly finish on awkward subject. Hormone patches, Blokes,
get it easy. We don't have to have hormone patches
or cervical smears or mammograms. So you know this is
woman's problems. Just be quick on this one because I
feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, it's not really a woman's problem, if you know,
it's blokes problems. We all know that if you live
with at menopause a woman or perimenopause, a woman's everybody's problem.
So it's helping to understand what that's all about and
how it affects a woman as she gets older. And
we've been submitting on hormone patches, the actual medications that
(05:17):
help women all in my case a little bit less crazy,
let's probably, i would say, and the patches and the
gels and the things that we're asking the government fund
that actually helps women to actually sleep and have a
better quality of life as they're going through those stages
of life. So we've been working hard on that and
gain some traction. The government's come out with a few
(05:39):
different options, so we're fairly happy about how that's going
at the moment, and we're making sure that men like yourself, Jamie,
feel more comfortable about talking about Senapaus and Perry Minimal.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Wow, I'm a bloke and I'm a boomer, so I
struck the double. You can't get any luckier than that. Hey,
Sandra Matthews, thank you for your time. Keep up the
good work at Rural Women in ZID.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
You think, Jamie
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!