The Front Page revisited: How a Country Calendar episode sparked national controversy

Geoff Ross of Lake Hawea Station. Photo / Supplied

Over the next few weeks, The Front Page podcast is revisiting some of the major stories covered in 2022.

Over the last year, the divide between rural and urban New Zealand has only seemed to widen. And there was no better example of that than an episode of Country Calendar in June that became a strong contender for Aotearoa’s most controversial TV moment of the year.

In the episode, businessman Geoff Ross sparked heated debate when detailed some of his more unconventional approaches to farming, including switching music in the wool shed from AC/DC’s Thunderstruck to Vivaldi in an attempt to improve animal welfare.

The episode sparked heated online debate and a wave of negativity towards Ross for his actions.

NZX head of insights and rural analyst Julia Jones joined The Front Page and pointed out that the kerfuffle surrounding the TV show was reflective of a fear of change.

She also added that there was probably a Geoff Ross sitting in every sector around New Zealand, shaking things up and challenging the status quo.

“The world is transitioning and things are moving a lot faster than they’ve ever moved,” said Jones.

“We’re all feeling a little bit tense and fatigued. And so, anything like this can trigger someone.”

Jones notes that this resistance to change isn’t limited to farming.

“If you looked at any sector, anywhere, where changes are happening and it’s driven at pace, it can be overwhelming. It’s scary… Some of the change coming at farmers has been overwhelming and it has come with too much pace.”

Jones went on to say that the criticism of Ross wasn’t necessarily reflective of the thoughts of everyone in the rural sector.

“If we broke it down, there’s a good portion of the sector that is trying hard to embrace change… These are people who are constantly thinking about how to better the environment. Yes, there are some bad ones. You will have some people who aren’t doing the right things, but that’s the same in every sector. So let’s not punish a whole sector based on one or two bad ones.”

So was this the most controversial television show of the year or little more than a kerfuffle in the sheep shed?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page to get find the common sense behind the outrage.