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Bad Decision Economically for Northland

Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
26 AUGUST 2016

Bad Decision Economically for Northland


The Northland economy will suffer if the decision goes through to stop the use of powerboats on Lake Waikere, one of the Kai Iwi lakes, says Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“The Dargaville economy in particular benefits from people using the Kai Iwi Lakes, and a significant number use Lake Waikere for water skiing.

“This brings much needed spending into the town as they stop over for food, drink and to purchase supplies.

“The Taharoa Domain Governance committee (the government appointed commissioners for the Kaipara District Council) appears not to understand the fragile state of many regional towns, like Dargaville, which need to retain any sustainable activity or enterprise that contributes to the local economy.

“Commentators like Shamubeel Eaqub have been talking about rural towns dying and one of the principal reasons for this, is that politicians and bureaucrats fail to grasp just how important the maintenance of business activities in these towns really is before they make bureaucratic decisions.

“Small activities might not seem to add much economic value, but the more there are the more chance a town has to keep ticking along - public servants would do well to recognise that in their decision making.

“For more than 40 years the Kai Iwi Lakes Waterski Club has been using Lake Waikere, but it seems in one foul swoop it may be defunct.

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“The great pity is that early in the process all the community should have been made aware of how critical these local activities are for the well being of everyone when it comes to small town economics, business and employment. Seen that way it does not matter so much what one’s ancestry is but how job opportunities and community wealth is maintained.

“Dargaville and the Northern Wairoa have suffered hugely from appalling central government planning where key enterprises like the dairy company were shut down without any regard to the consequences. In a Scandinavian or Swiss setting it would have been maintained producing high-value boutique products. Anyone can see now from Fonterra’s mismanaged low-value dairy product mess just how short sighted this decision making has been.”

ENDS


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