by R W M Johnson, Chairman, New Zealand Branch, Australian Agricultural Economics Society
It is appropriate in the first year of a new decade to devote our annual conference to the topic of rural redevelopment in New Zealand. In organising the programme, your committee were concerned to bring out the interdependence that exists between the sectors and we have invited speakers from a wide range of institutions and bodies to present papers. By defining the theme in terms of redevelopment, we hoped to bring out the current need to reassess in what direction we are heading and how we need to change our perceptions of the role of farming in New Zealand. Also, there is a need to redefine the objectives of rural development itself, in terms of land, in terms of people, and in terms of nationals development goals.
The audience will be aware that there is considerable questioning of development goals in New Zealand today. Only last Sunday a radio speaker was equating the micro—chip revolution with improved telephone services for the rural areas. Other concerns include educational facilities for rural dwellers, bus services, medical and maternity services, and roading improvements. Even the question of two-channe1 television reception appears to raise the ire of many people in some districts. At the national level, there has been a continuing concern about the static level of agricultural output over the last decade and a number of people have drawn attention to the possible connection between the above list of present discontents and the output problem.
In another area — we have very widespread concern about environmental problems in our society. One need only mention podocarp forests, 2-4-5 T, Matu River, Aromoana, and the Clyde dams to realise how widespread concerned feeling is on these matters.
We do not intend to tackle all these issues in this conference, but rather those issues which come within the general umbrella of rural welfare. Our focus is not on farming or forestry or on land issues alone, but rather on all the attributes that go to make up living outside the city in New Zealand at the present time. If there is any emphasis to be given it should be on the rural people themselves. Hopefully we are trying to define more clearly (for many others not present today) how this segment of society operates and what their requirements are for a satisfactory way of life in the future. In short, we should have a social concern for all the people that fall within our definition of rural society.
As far as national development is concerned, it remains pretty clear that export production has top priority. I would like to be able to think that we will not be too concerned if forestry is given an even footing with farming as the main productive enterprises. Government policies at the national level are presently giving very strong signals to those who can or wish to increase export production. There is a general recognition that rural land—based industries have the potential to make a large contribution to the export effort. What remains to be done is to get the production programme moving in the right direction and to see that it is sustained at an appropriate level.
An expansion of production (whether farm or forest) will require adequate services. In recent years, we have witnessed a decline in services in many areas as people have moved to the towns. Can this process be reversed? Are there as yet untried forms of organisation which will make up for these losses in the past? It is clear that in this area local authorities have a range of problems which could perhaps be aired at this meeting. Certainly national planning authorities have a responsibility in this area and we will hear about these views tomorrow morning.
As my earlier remarks suggested, there is also a need to examine human perceptions of their place in society. One of our national traditions is to regard all people as equal. Some of our present discontents appear to be more related to concepts of people's rights than with their productive contribution. Personally I am somewhat at a loss to explain how this all started. Our rural society was founded on a strong pioneering ethic and it was generally accepted that people had a choice in where they lived and how they earned their living. They therefore accepted the disadvantages of country living no doubt because these were balanced by other advantages in the eye of the beholder. But somewhere along the line this has changed and there is now an organised movement to improve rural services in the name of equal opportunity for all.
Some of these concerns are related to the excessive decline in population in some areas and the subsequent reduction in existing social services. A number of writers have identified the problems that arise when certain minimum levels of population are not reached. We therefore need to include in our concept of redevelopment needed organisational changes that will ameliorate these kinds of problems. A number of local authorities must have grappled with these problems in their own areas as already mentioned.
The aim of this conference is to try and illuminate these various problems and concerns. I hope we can come up with facts as opposed to opinions. I hope the various contributors can present us with their particular views so we can see how they fit into the whole picture. If we can better define what our problems are, then the way is clear to set about finding appropriate solutions. I now open this, the fourth annual conference of the NZ Branch of the Australian Agricultural Economics Society.