As I prepared to travel to Wellington to celebrate 100 years of rural women, attend functions at Parliament, and share high tea at Government House, I find myself thinking less about the events themselves and more about the generations that brought me here.
Rural women have always worn many hats. Farmers, mothers, bookkeepers, calf rearers, cooks, community volunteers, caregivers, business partners, and often the steady centre of family life.
My mother, Esma, was one of those women. My grandmother, Lillian, was too. Before them were women with rural roots stretching across oceans from England to New Zealand, women who worked alongside their multi generational families with little expectation of any personal recognition.
I became one of those women myself after a hands on dairy farmer in partnership with my husband while raising our children, building businesses, supporting community, and learning that rural life is measured not only in seasons and profit but in personal resilience.
Our family stories include farm labourers, dairy farmers, and families who built lives through physical work. My father began as a farm labourer. The farming lines on both sides of our family remind me that rural history is not only about land ownership or achievements — it is about contribution.
Rural women have always contributed economically, physically, emotionally, and socially to New Zealand's wealth. Much of this work happened quietly and was not included in GDP.
This centenary is not simply about looking backwards. It is about recognising that the values rural communities were built on hard work, service, adaptability, neighbour helping neighbour, and community connection still matter. In fact they are a necessity.
As I stand among other rural women in Wellington, I will be thinking of the generations before me, grateful for the paths they cleared for me and hopeful for the generations still to come.
Their hands helped build the rural communities we stand in today.