The news broke at breakfast. The handful of people at the Oamaru hotel restaurant were glued to their phones as the flurry of alerts starting popping up.
- A lonely leftie in traditional Kurow
- About the South: Resilience outshines the gloom
He cited the impact of the job on his health, and said he was not the right person to lead the party into the election.
From the reactions of those reading the news over their morning coffees, it was clear his decision left plenty of uncertainty and surprise in its wake.
Farewell Todd, they hardly knew ye.
It was an unexpected start to day two of the Otago Daily Times’ About the South election road trip.
Coffees downed, we headed for Kurow, or McCaw Country as it is formally known.
Nestled at the heart of the Waitaki Valley, Kurow’s about 330 people overwhelmingly voted for National at the last election.
Its rural service town status was evidenced by the fact the busiest place in the main street, by a country mile, was the Farmlands branch.
Fraser Sim said the rural sector felt underappreciated by the Government.
The local earthmover, stopping to have a chat while picking up his mail in town, said the feeling was a change was needed.
"The Government we’ve got at the moment is not that great for rural New Zealand."
He felt farmers had kept the country going during the Covid-19 outbreak when other industries were crippled, but there had been no recognition of that.
"Farmers kept going, they kept staff on."
He acknowledged Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had done a good job managing the outbreak, but said she had not done it on her own.
Fifty kilometres up the road, past the Waitaki Dam, Omarama nestles at the intersection of State Highway 8, where roads lead south to Queenstown and north to Mt Cook.
It is a popular stop for tourists needing a coffee, snack, or soak in the hot tubs.
While a bit more touristy than Kurow, it is also rural and right-leaning.
Of the 209 people who voted at Omarama School back in 2017, 129 cast their party vote for National compared with 47 for Labour.
Those voting there that day were, however, a bit more diverse in their voting habits.
New Zealand First, the Greens, The Opportunities Party, and the Maori Party all picked up a handful of ticks.
He and wife Trish own The Wrinkly Rams cafe, gift shop and sheep shearing show, about 1km from their farm.
Like Mr Sim in Kurow, Mr Kerr felt farmers had been in the firing line in recent times.
"We’re a farming community here, and a lot of pressure’s come on farming with water quality in particular, nitrate leaching, that sort of thing. Those are pretty hot on the agenda at the moment for most farmers in this district."
Immigration was also a talking point.
"There’s a lot of criticism of immigration, of foreign workers coming here, but from what we’re seeing, and we’ve been in business for 15 years doing hospitality, if it wasn’t for the migrant workers we’d be in trouble.
"Every time we advertise for a job, we rarely, rarely get a Kiwi apply," he said.
However, the cost of having to reapply for visas every year was unsustainable.
"Some of our workers have been here for nine, 10 years and even now they’re still getting one-year visas.
"We get accused, the employer, of exploiting the foreign workers but the Government needs to have a look at their own backyard because I feel that’s a little bit excessive."
The same could not be said about the morning’s political bombshell.
"In probably a traditional National area, Otago, we’re probably feeling a bit disappointed in the recent announcement of Todd Muller pulling out.
"I feel a bit sorry for him, because I realise it’s a volatile place, politics, and there seems to be more and more volatility as we move on in time, which is a bit sad really."
Emerging on the other side, Cromwell finally came into view.
A stone fruit and viticulture hub, it is perhaps best known for the giant fruit statues that loom over the town like an axed scene from James and the Giant Peach.
With the light fading fast, we flagged the local cabbies for a ride.
People could not go overseas, Ms Adam said, so they were putting their time and money back into the local community instead.
Tourism had started to hum again, especially during the school holidays.
Though it was a growing town, Cromwell did not appear to be suffering any growing pains, Ms Benfell said.
Services appeared to have kept up with the population growth as people moved in and commuted to Queenstown.
By the time most of them went to bed that night, the morning’s drama had been resolved.
Todd Muller’s name was a footnote in the history of the National Party, and the reign of Judith Collins had begun.
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Comments
A very interesting article, although it has left me somewhat frustrated and angry. Some members of the agricultural community annoy me. The environmental problems farmers are trying to cope with are of their own making yest they expect taxpayer help at cleaning up their mess. They expect taxpayer help when they are affected by weather extremes and claim it as their due, them being the backbone of our economy. What a load of self serving rubbish. The old mantra of capitalize the profits and socialize the losses just doesn't work anymore. Farmers are not the backbone of our economy, they're are simply one of the vertebrae. The truckers who cart the produce and the fertilisers, the factory workers who process the milk, beef and mutton, the engineers, mechanics and technicians that keep everything farmers rely on running, the waterfront workers, the seaman operating the ships are all vertebrae in the backbone of our economy, if anyone of them fails they all fail. Stop whining farmers, be grateful that you live in a tolerant society and try giving once in a while, not just taking.
Agree with previous comment!
A whole lot of privatising profits in farming, while socialising all losses and public negatives. Outrageous watching the wetlands screwed, flaura and fauna disappearing from water and land, and exploitation of wateretc etc etc. Coupled with the rebellion against rectifying these issues swiftly.
It's time to PIVOT THE BUSINESS MODEL FAST and become very environmentally savvy and proactive ... And proudly tell those stories to the consumer, rather than fighting change. Or within a decade consumers the world over will be eating fake meat and overwhelmingly eating produce from places where farmers "do good" publicly and support ecology etc., Rather than just acting as private profit gathering business. Consumers are quickly pivoting the world over - they will want to buy products that start healing the climate and have real "feel good" authentic stories about positive change, profit % donated to saving species etc etc.
If farmers don't pivot fast away from a story of "extraction" for production, who knows who their customers will be in 10 years ...
Totally disagree with the above comment.
- Farmers are proactive
- Farmers are very environmentally savvy.
-Farmers are proud and we do tell our story of our produce.
-Farmers dont just ask for handouts they have as much right as anyone else.
-Without farmers we dont have supporting industry.
What you said in your comment is a load of rubbish i could load this comment with examples from my points above but it's like flogging a dead horse sometimes trying to explain that farmers are the backbone of the country. .... Now more than every we should be supporting the rural sector you know the thing that kept the country going alongside other essential services during a global pandemic.
My gripe isn't with hardworking farmers, truck drivers or supermarket workers.
It's with the tens of thousands of kiwis sitting on benefits who think rural jobs are beneath them.
As a result, immigration is out of control, causing crazy house prices and struggling overloaded infrastructure.
Cut back on benefits. Cap the length of time anyone can stay on the dole. Boot people out of emergency housing after a year, freeing it up for those in real need.
ALL of our problems in this country trace back to too few workers and too many bludgers. "Tolerance" and "kindness" have limits - and I've long since reached mine.
I'm heartily sick of paying for them all in my ever-increasing taxes!
Farmers live on the farm, it is their home-you honestly believe that they are recklessly polluting their own property? Think about it. About time people look at their own behaviour. How often people in towns use detergents to wash their cars & plates? use fertiliser & chemical on their lawns and gardens? are the products used always environmentally friendly? Should they now all be charged to have scientists to come out and inspect the water in the drains, test the soils, see how much has changed every 6 months and the environmental impact caused? Wake up. The real issue is the central communist party govt of China and their influence in NZ economy & politics. Good men killed and were killed protecting our way of life, right to vote and freedoms from this monster in WW1 and WW2. When central govt tells us how to farm, what to farm and how much we're allowed to produce we are no different that the communist state that is currently infiltrating and influencing our democracy. It will destroy all freedom for future generations. Look at Xinjiang, Tibet & Hong Kong. Think they are enjoying life there? Why are we be in bed with the 21st century nazis? Be warned NZ, this is real.