Is the rural-urban divide a myth or a chasm?

MP Matt Doocey discusses the rural-urban divide in New Zealand politics with Canta Feature Writer, Amy Riach. Source: Emma Dangerfield, Doocey Office Manager.  

Social rift, or urban legend? The rural-urban divide in New Zealand politics has been hotly contested, particularly over the last election. Although there is often a public perception in New Zealand of a prominent and antagonistic chasm between rural and urban New Zealanders, recently, Massey University has published ‘mythbusting’ research debunking the divide. 

Dr Janet Reid, rural scientist at Massey University’s School of Agriculture & Environment, co-led the research project, which explored what really shapes public perceptions of farming and the agri-food industry, and “aimed to find ways to build connections between food producers and consumers”, according to Reid. The research project surveyed more than 1300 urban and rural people about their views on farming, and ultimately found that rural and urban communities were more united than anyone had previously expected. 

Dr Reid’s research, presented at Our Land and Water National Science Challenge, claims that the ‘chasmic’ divide that many kiwis refer to is not reflected in reality, however, anecdotal reports still maintain that a rural-urban divide does exist in Aotearoa. According to Matt Doocey; National Minister for Youth, ACC, Tourism and Hospitality, newly appointed Minister for Mental Health, and local MP for Waimakariri; the rural urban divide definitely exists, but it’s a schism that became far more politically charged in the last election. 

A particularly telling electorate, Waimakariri is a unique electorate, with a real mix of urban and rural areas, according to Dan Rosewarne, the 2023 Labour candidate for the Waimak, and on that point, Doocey agrees. Doocey told Canta, that many look at the Waimak and still think it’s incredibly rural, but the district has “been highly urbanised”, especially in expanding areas like Rangiora or Kaiapoi. 

So, as our historically rural areas become increasingly urban, and far more New Zealanders live in the city but work rurally, has the blending of district communities led to new national unity?  

According to Rosewarne, the “rural-urban divide doesn’t exist in the way many people say it does.”   

He told Canta that rural communities still share issues with healthcare, share issues with the climate crisis, and it is “those issues that bring us together”.   

2023 Labour candidate for Selwyn, Luke Jones said there are “challenges our generation has to face that prior generations haven’t, and this divide doesn’t help us with any of them.”  

Jones is a current UC student, studying political science and communications, and he told Canta that the divide has been publicised and politicised far beyond its actual, social reach.

Unity is a concern for all, and Doocey calls the Waimakariri the best of both worlds, a district that is reflective of the whole of New Zealand. 

Jones echoed this sentiment, when he said New Zealand “has to unite”.  

But the disconnect between rural and central communities and policies still remains, and according to Dr Reid’s recent research, most antagonism was directed toward governments and supermarkets.  

Supermarkets, news outlets, and social media were respondents’ main source of information about food production, but they were also blamed for a lack of urban-connection with farming, according to Reid.  

Farmers believed there was a lack of positive news published about farming, and that there was a lot of misinformation spread about, which only furthered divisive attitudes and rhetoric. 

According to Doocey, there is a natural tension between highly rural and highly urban communities, which comes down to their different expectations about daily life. Some urban families who move rurally are unused to the neighbouring farm ploughing at night, and farmers who have been there for years, suddenly have to contend with urban-like congestion on country roads.  

According to Doocey, one of the biggest challenges in consolidating rural and regional politics, is the ability to articulate how farming impacts central policies.  

“The local economy is still underpinned by the agricultural economy”, and said, “when farmers do well, we all do well,” Doocey said.  

Rural communities and rural industries are just as essential to regional economies as they are to localised country ones, and acknowledging that should be a point of connection, as Doocey is proud to point out. 

New Zealand remains fundamentally an agricultural country, and economically, we depend on farming exportation, and particularly our dairy-industry. But the political landscape is duly informed by our social one, and as global issues like climate change sweep on scene, rural, and regional interpretations of the crisis have added fuel to the divisive fire.  

Rosewarne told Canta, “the effects of climate change affect the ability of the rural community to do what they do so well.” 

He also acknowledged that climate change mandates are “not always palatable for the farming community.”  

Doocey told Canta that it is very easy for the public and the politicians to become disconnected in Wellington and the divide widens when farmers are being told how to farm. The MP is raising a young family here in Rangiora, and in a “rural, peri-urban” community like Waimakariri, the discourse differs fundamentally from the discourse of Wellington. 

The key difference, according to Doocey, is there is far more buy in to the local MP rurally, and far less relationship with constituents in the inner city.  

Rosewarne agrees, and he told Canta that campaigning rurally keeps you grounded. In rural communities, you’re not just speaking to cheerleaders but to the whole community. 

That community investment is often what defines rural politics, and it could become what unites rural and urban communities. According to Riley Neupauer, the co-chair of UCGreens, “the level of political engagement available in New Zealand is really rewarding, albeit imperfect.”  

Neupauer, who is originally from the United States, told Canta “back home in the US, there is a noticeable disconnect between everyday civilians and their government representatives, a problem that is greatly exacerbated in rural areas.” 

By comparison, Neupauer believes that New Zealand is much more democratic in its processes of public involvement, “which is highly beneficial to empowering rural communities.”   

“[W]ith that being said, urban dwellers are still the prioritised demographic in NZ, and as such there is a need to further bridge the gap between citizens and their representatives.” 

Bridging the gap, between citizens and representatives, rural and urban communities, is not something that will ever be totally unanimous, but the divide has been widely sensationalised by the media, and amplified and polarised by election trails.  

“Many politicians are happy to pit one person against another, but we should be using politics as advocacy, to make a real difference,” Jones said.  

“We’re all human. And on a human level, we can achieve a hell of a lot.” 

In rural communities, people do tend to feel more connected to their elected MP, partly because, as Doocey explained, they identify with being part of their town or electorate. Whereas in Christchurch, most people tend to identify as being part of Christchurch, rather than identifying with their particular electorate, like Ilam, or Christchurch East. Rural towns are community minded, said Doocey, and that permeates politics. 

According to Rosewarne, in rural communities, you have to front foot, unlike in regional towns or electorates - where you can expect keen constituents to knock on the office door and come to you.  

“You have to walk the ground, you can’t sit and wait for people to come to you,” Rosewarne said.  

Aotearoa is a diverse country, but not a divided one. The rural-urban divide isn’t quite myth-busted - at least not yet. Although research attitudes are changing, social attitudes remain fairly cemented. We will always distinguish rural and regional politics. They are electorates home to different communities, with different priorities and different needs.  

But maybe it’s time we stop treating that difference like a divide.