Rural Trust to continue work after wind-up

Press, 21 July 1989, Page 3

Rural Trust to continue work after wind-up

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The work of the New Zealand Rural Trust will continue after it is wound up at the end of the year. It was launched in September last year and by June 1500 rural families had become its clients — most from the droughtstricken areas on the east coast of the South Island. The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, yesterday asked Sir Peter Elworthy to develop an appropriate structure for the trust’s work.

Its trustees told Mr Lange of the widespread approval for the work the trust was doing, and passed on a request from the Bishop of Waiapu for it to be continued.

Mr Lange said the Rural Trust was an essential service relieving distress. “The trustees and co-

ordinators deserve thanks for their hard-headed, soft-hearted aproach to the many personal and financial situations with which they have become involved,” he said. Their concern was a reminder that farming was not some abstract industry but about the lives and welfare of people and families, often in difficult circumstances. In his meeting with the trustees, the Prime Minisster discussed a number of options for the future of the trust. These would be considered further but the structure likely to emerge would be focused on local communities — with some sort of national overview, he said.