Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

It's Now Or Never to Stand up for the Regions

It's Now Or Never to Stand up for the Regions - Rt Hon Winston Peters


Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
4 JUNE 2015


Speech to the Local Government New Zealand Rural and Provincial Mayoral Forum
Wellington

It’s now or never to stand up for the regions

Earl Warren a former United States Chief Justice said that “Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests.”

Chief Justice Warren was on to something.

After all, even as a conservative Republican appointment by Eisenhower he is remembered for liberal decisions that included desegregation of schools.

In other words – he made decisions based on the interests of people – ordinary people.

Sometimes in Parliament we wonder if politics is really about people or whether this institution of democracy exists with a mind, life and function all of its own, separated from people.

It is supposed to be a House of Representatives and not some sort of badly run corporation with out of control executives and directors who squabble and fight at every board meeting.

The last major local government initiative to come out of this mayhem is a “Super” city called Auckland that extends from north of Wellsford in the North to below the Bombay Hills in the South.

Auckland is an oasis of hope for people from abroad but for New Zealanders it’s a bottomless, money gobbling pit where housing prices and reality continue in their separate directions.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

The National government that created the new Auckland and now has been swept into an obsession with it. That is one of many reasons why issues outside Auckland seem to get buried in a pile of paper in someone’s office in Wellington.

We in New Zealand First realise this country cannot make any real nationwide progress unless central government receives some sharp reminders that there is life outside Auckland - and that life actually produces most of our export wealth.

National insults the regions with talk about a “Rock Star Economy.” They know full well the National Government has actually created a “Two Tier Economy. “

The reality is they have created a “Two Tier Economy” with nearly all the regions in the second or bottom tier. In this two-tier economy Auckland sits at the top of the hierarchy, creaming what resources there are while the regions are left to scramble for the leftovers. Many regions are stuck in the economic doldrums.

Just look at the unemployment rate in provincial New Zealand

Northland 9.9%
Bay of Plenty 7.8%
Hawkes Bay 7.3%
Manawatu – Wanganui 7.4%

And that’s an unemployment rate which removes anyone who gets just one hour’s work a week. So, in truth the unemployment and underemployment rate is much higher.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

There is no doubt that many territorial local authorities are looking over their shoulders at plans to change local government.

The Auckland experience has shown that however bad a situation is there will always be a politician available to make matters worse.

The Super City of Auckland has proven to be a Super Stuff Up at great expense and little progress.

No one in the whole of the Auckland Super City voted for this outcome and it truly confirms the old saying that a camel is a horse designed by a committee!

When you have a Port Company owned by a council acting against the interests of that shareholder and the people it represents, you have the very worst of both democratic and business practice.

Auckland residents were assured that the super city would save money, coordinate development and improve the transport system.

To use the Tui adage, “Yeah Right”.

Auckland ratepayers are paying through the nose for this banana republic form of local government.

There is a constant demand from the council for more ratepayer and taxpayer funds.

And the regions have been swept into paying for it as well.

Auckland is a disaster area that cannot be fixed when government refuses to acknowledge one of the key elements in that disaster.

The government is allowing immigrants to pour into Auckland at the rate of over a thousand a week.

The roads are grid locked at now extended peak times, infrastructure is bursting at the seams, social facilities are stretched, the health system is overloaded, and housing demand way exceeds supply.

On Tuesday Minister Nick Smith was boasting of over 9000 housing consents in Auckland in the last 12 months. Now a consent does not equal a house. But, if something like 36,000 immigrants net, of the 114,000 total, came to Auckland in the last 12 months then 9000 consents won’t even accommodate them let alone the rural-urban migrant drift or the natural population growth.


When about 114,000 migrants, or net 56,000, most of who go to Auckland, are forecast to come here each year over the next three to four years then any talk of fixing up Auckland is an exercise in political self-delusion.
And money thrown at Auckland in a vain attempt to ride out this political crisis means a parallel reduction in money to the provinces.

Now the government wants to create a similar super-size mess in Wellington and Wairarapa.

As far as we can see the only enthusiasts are local body politicians who are trying to map out a bright future for themselves at the expense of the residents.

And speaking of local body politicians, we believe it’s time some of the warring factions in the regions called a truce, put aside their political preferences, and started fighting for their regions and the people who live in them.

Unless there is a serious change in economic direction in Wellington that respects the export wealth creating contribution of the provinces then we will not turn the two-tier economy around.

It was provincial and hinterland New Zealand that built our big cities not the other way around.

It is long since time that central government respected that. And dare I suggest that you send them a message that you are not going taking anymore of being ignored.

Surely everyone here understands that the Reserve Bank Governor, with more powers than any Governor of a central bank anywhere in the free world, is operating under legislation counter to New Zealand’s regional needs and highly sympathetic to the needs of the elite in the big cities.

A seriously overvalued dollar is destructive of New Zealand. And, with respect, the provinces are going to have to speak up for themselves and their local economies. If the IMF is willing to say that our dollar has been seriously overvalued, why would the provinces accept that nothing can be done about it?

As the dairy crisis begins to bite, red meat and timber prices fall, and provincial enterprises get ready to confront their foreign-owned banks, we face a harsh reality here. Look at the GDP growth in the provinces, or better still, growth of GDP per provincial person, and in many parts of New Zealand it is a similar scene emerging. Ladies and Gentlemen the prospects are not good for the provinces.

New Zealand First understands that is a most difficult concept to accept when every local politician does his or her best to pain their province in the most positive and best possible light. It’s in the DNA of local government politicians to take pride in where they live. I accept that but that is no excuse for failing to confront blunt, harsh reality.

The number one thing we could do right now for provincial New Zealand is to change the Reserve Bank so that it reflects the fact we are export dependent and the great bulk of our exports come from provincial New Zealand.


REGIONS

There has to be a detailed regional development plan. Small towns in the provinces cannot go on suffering death by a thousand cuts.

Take the West Coast rarely a month goes by without more job losses or another economic blow - the recent cut backs in the Solid Energy workforce at the Stockton mine being a case in point.

Holcim Cement has announced plans to close its Cape Foulwind cement factory in the next few years.

The Coast is rich in mineral wealth, rich in timber resources, rich soils with plenty of rain and major fishing stocks as well as a visually spectacular tourist attraction.
There are numerous past and potential streams of revenue in the area.

At one point there was an industry based on selective logging on the West Coast but this was shut down by the oppression of an urban majority living elsewhere.

In short, to hell with the West Coasters, even if I only come here once in 10 years, then my non West Coast opinion should be respected as much as the domestic West Coast opinion.

The voices of the Coasters pleading for work and a future were drowned out by the indignant screams of liberals in urban areas. Many of these indignant screamers get their inflated incomes on the back of provincial New Zealand wealth but you wouldn’t think so given the speed which they are prepared to oppose all or any plans for provincial development.

These people think a Coaster is something you put under a latte cup to protect the table cloth.

Some of these so-called experts talk about endangered species on the West Coast.

We say the provincial people are the most endangered species there and something has to be done to protect them for a change.

No central government has the right to allow an area to be massively exploited and then conveniently ignored when it doesn’t suit central government.

But you are not going to get a change in the meddling influence of outsiders unless you collectively band together and set out to defend your interests which are far more worthy and less egregious than those who oppose you.

Let’s face it, which area looks more environmentally despoiled, the West Coast and Northland or Auckland?
It’s a no brainer really isn’t it?


ROYALTIES FOR REGIONS

That is why New Zealand First is determined to force the next government to adopt its Royalties for Regions (RFR) scheme to restore some social and economic balance between the regions and Auckland.

Under this scheme 25 per cent of royalties collected by the Government from enterprises such as mining, extraction and petroleum stay in the region where the respective enterprise is located.

This revenue would be held in a special purpose investment fund administered by the relevant regional authority, and used for a wide range of regional community projects and initiatives.

These will include roading projects, building new health centres, creating new community facilities, or improving water and sewer treatment plants and accelerated irrigation grants directly to local councils.

For example, in 2011 the Government collected $383 million in royalties.

Under our scheme, $96 million annually would remain in the regions for investment.

That money – nearly a hundred million – will be used to help regenerate regional New Zealand by expanding job opportunities and building a sound economic base.
Ensuring regions get their fair share of the wealth they generate is a key New Zealand First policy.

NORTHLAND

When the government’s wafer thin parliamentary majority was threatened all sorts of promises were made.

New bridges, super highways, super-fast broadband rollout, taxpayer funded cell tower coverage – all promised in the space of days.

This government is not going to react in favour of the provinces, and against their elitist big city mates, unless they feel electorally terrorised and that is not going

to happen unless some in the provinces think that their political loyalties are more important than the people they represent.
In short you are going to have your province, your people and your local economy, first.

COMMUNITY WAGE

For more than twenty years New Zealand First has promoted the concept of a community wage.

It should be based on a combination of the unemployment benefit and the minimum wage and it amounts to a subsidy for paid work in any region.

A whole change in approach is needed to the traditional idea of employment.

In many cases now there might not be full time jobs available but there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

We are sure that each of you could name a dozen projects you would start if the money or labour was available now.

Our approach means that an individual or a group could be working for a number of employers, including councils, doing specific jobs.

As long as the conditions of work are fair to both parties it would be the answer to help resolve the immediate problem.

Many people who have either never worked or have been unemployed a long time are not used to working and lack life skills.

It is time to help them with a mixture of carrot and stick through the community wage policy.

We believe farming leaders must also help improve the situation by employing locally rather than import thousands of immigrants to work on farms.

The Ministry of Primary Industries says we need an extra 8,300 new farmers for dairying alone if we are to meet targets of doubling exports by 2025.

There was a time when young New Zealanders would make up those replacements and that time needs to return again to this country.

LOCAL OUTCOMES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

In the area of social outcomes and infrastructure we also see the “Two Tier Economy” playing out to the detriment of the regions.

The move to centralise publicly funded services and to keep cutting back at the local level creates more problems and eventually more cost.

Police are closing stations because their budget has been frozen since 2009. Frontline police ratios to population are falling. Local courts are being closed. An increasing number of health services are being centralised into the main centres.
This might please some Treasury accountant but it is far better to treat people closer to their families or keep law and order with a police officer who actually knows the outlaws in the district.

In the area of infrastructure we see projects with billion dollar price tags concentrated in the metropolitan centres, particularly Auckland. In contrast, the Government neglects rural roading and maintenance.

Transport is one of the most vital functions for any Government, but in New Zealand, regional transport is being shunted aside.

Only $97 million has been set aside in the Budget for regional roads, and only $210 million has been set aside for rail. These are drops in the bucket and show no real commitment to regional transport issues by Central Government.

Rail services are being run down deliberately in provincial New Zealand. And we would be the only first world country doing that.

The Government also refused to provide a paltry $4m to restore the Napier-Gisborne rail that would have supported exporters in Hawke’s Bay and East Cape.

Take another example. The Capital-Coast rail service between Palmerston North and Wellington is threated with closure.

If this service is abandoned for a minor cost saving it will be another blow to Levin - one of the many regional towns that should be helped not continually kicked in the guts.

In relation to air services, the Government made not the slightest attempt to offset the impact of Air New Zealand’s recent abandonment of a number of regional services. Air New Zealand is majority taxpayer owned. It should be told that it has a duty to advertise and facilitate the services of private air services to provincial centres which they have abandoned. Sitting back and taking a high and mighty view to the quality and functioning of a service that they once delivered should not be tolerated by the Minister of Transport.

It’s all indicative of a Central Government not giving a damn about the regions. It is not all National’s fault because this neglect started about 31 years ago with the advent of that “economic genius” Roger Douglas who you gave a knighthood to and his “blue” colleague Ruth Richardson.

Well, the result of the Northland by-election showed New Zealanders in the regions have had enough of neglect.

New Zealand First believes the regions are the heartland of New Zealand - and we have the policies that will see their potential encouraged and developed.

As Chief Justice Warren pointed out – politics is about people – and it’s time the people of the provinces receive the treatment they deserve.


ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.