The Bush Telegraph asked candidates from the major parties for responses on various issues. Here are their responses in full by candidate.
These are the issues we raised:
Medical access
The regions have a growing populace of retirees, and yet access to doctors is at a crisis point. Waiting times to see a doctor are now measured typically in months, which is totally unacceptable. There is way too much pressure on the existing nurse practitioners and doctors. Immediate financial incentives are needed to attract more doctors and nurses to regional towns and reward those already in the trenches. Local healthcare providers (often private companies) are not doing enough to satisfy local needs. Significant and immediate government intervention and investment is needed to address this crisis. Couple this with long wait times in ED, often leaving patients going several hours without food or even a drink.
There is angst from commercial building owners in main thoroughfares regarding earthquake-strengthening compliance under the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016. This issue wasn’t even on the agenda at the 2023 LGNZ. Yet this issue will likely suck the lifeblood out of our already-struggling regional town centres. Unlike in the cities, such buildings are owned typically by families and individuals. Rent revenues are low, and most do not have the resources to undertake the requisite works. As a result, many older buildings face being red-stickered, with councils and ratepayers then being saddled with what to do with the vacant buildings.
There is a real question whether, especially for one-storey buildings, the requisite standard (34% NBS) is too strict, or even the appropriate measure to assess risk. Legislative amendment is needed to balance public safety with pragmatism. The measure for one-storey buildings needs to be reconsidered. Territorial authorities must be given legislative discretion to find that older buildings, particularly one-storey buildings, may not pose a genuine safety risk.
Promotion of the regions to business and immigrants.
Central government needs to give more incentives to promote regional investment. Tax breaks, and contributions to moving costs, should be provided to medium and large enterprises to shift operations to regional towns. This would have a flow-on effect for local employment, and growth of service and retail industries. Similarly, New Zealand’s immigration approach should be geared more to attracting immigrants to regions, rather than allowing for the sprawl of main centres. A part of that is attracting young people to rural communities.
The lack of public transport in the district as well as the lack of other services, such as banking.
Given that a good number of the population are retirees, many of them either don’t have the facilities to do internet banking or are unable to. Poor cellphone signals in remote areas also create additional stress on farmers transacting business.
Mobility issues may prevent some retirees from using regional bus services (if available) and some Intercity buses could still be an issue.
The cost of living, including the price of petrol.
New Zealand is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Rents are up, mortgage rates are on the rise, the cost of food is up, petrol is up - but wages aren’t keeping up.
More assistance in paying property rates for those on fixed incomes.
Three Waters Reform
Tararua District Council has seven wastewater treatment plants and seven water treatment plants. Yet the concern with the Three Waters reform was that communities like the Tararua would miss out on their share of funding to provide a sustainable water network across the district and the bulk of the share would go to the big centres.
The health workforce is simply the most important component of the health system. Our doctors, nurses, midwives, allied workers, hospital porters and healthcare assistants do an amazing job keeping all of us well. We’ve done historic pay deals for health workers to help them make back the ground they lost under a national government.
We recognise the skills and knowledge the international workforce brings to our health workforce. However, to address inequities in the system and build a sustainable workforce, we must grow and invest in our domestic doctors, especially when there is global competition for internationally trained doctors. Labour will train 335 more doctors every year from 2027. This includes our existing commitment of 50 more places in 2024, and an extra 95 places in each of 2025, 2026, and 2027. Our health system needs to cater for everyone, which is why we have a comprehensive plan to grow the general practice trainees to 300 a year by 2026.
Labour has greater aspirations for our health system than just managing demand. We’re focused on fairness – that everyone is entitled to care no matter who they are or where they live – or whether they can afford it. That’s why the health reforms are focused on offering more convenient services in the community near where you live.
We’ve got a strong track record on taking the tough decisions on prevention – like smokefree and fluoridation – and we’ve invested in better breast and cervical screening programmes.
A key part of our approach is early intervention to give everyone the best chance at enjoying good health and to avoid the need for costly hospital treatment. We’re already taken steps down this path. We’ve removed the $5 co-pay off medicines to ensure people get the medicines that keep them well and out of hospital.
Since removing the $5 prescription co-payment on July 1, 2023, almost three million free scripts have been provided to around 900,000 New Zealanders and has saved them around $8.4 million. One hundred and thirty-five thousand people did not pick up their medicines in 2021/22 because of the costs. Reinstating the $5 prescription co-payment, while giving tax cuts to Christopher Luxon and millionaires is unfair and out of touch. National’s plan means that millionaires would get tax cuts but working families would have to pay for their life-saving medicines.
I have delivered on every promise I made the Tararua District at the last election. And if re-elected, my primary focus will be on improving local access to medical services in Dannevirke and Pahīatua.
Earthquake compliance
New Zealand is a seismically active country; our buildings need to be safe for occupants and users and we use a consistent way to manage earthquake-prone buildings throughout the country. There are many variables for seismic assessment and there can be uncertainty in estimating the relative life safety risk for a particular building. Among other factors, this uncertainty comes from the random nature of earthquakes, the complex response of buildings to earthquake shaking particularly at the point of structural failure, the variability in construction quality, and the lack of accurate records of buildings’ construction. The uncertainty arising from these factors mean that %NBS should be viewed as indicative of the engineer’s confidence in the expected seismic performance of the building rather than an exact prediction.
%NBS building ratings were not intended to be used to support building occupancy decisions. Building owners or tenants who have received a seismic assessment with a low %NBS rating should refer to MBIE’s Seismic Risk Guidance for Buildings to understand their seismic assessment and options for how to respond. If changes to the earthquake-prone buildings legislation need to be considered in the future, these would be well-planned, subject to Cabinet approval, and brought in over time in a considered manner, in consultation with New Zealanders.
Promotion of the regions
I am proud of my record of delivery for the Tararua District. For too long we were ignored, overlooked and taken for granted. We never saw our MP and we didn’t receive our fair share of investment. I have turned that around and delivered record investment into the region.
Some examples include funding the Manawatū Gorge replacement, returning social housing back to the Tararua District for the first time since 1999, upgrading Route 52, building improvements in every state school in the district including a new block for Tararua College, $4m for Pukaha and increased police numbers locally.
New Zealand’s regions are vital to our economic future, with each region having its own opportunities and challenges. Labour wants to support all regions to achieve their potential, so that we see improved living standards for all New Zealanders. Since 2018, the Government has allocated $4.5 billion towards a range of funds that helps our regions build their economies and communities.
This investment should give businesses the confidence to invest more into our region and give the existing companies confidence in their future within Wairarapa. We want to see sustainable growth that directly benefits the local community. This investment will help with resilience and business confidence, and I’m stoked that Carterton, Masterton and Wairarapa will benefit.
Lack of public transport
While public transport remains a regional council responsibility, the Government has backed public transport throughout our time in office. I have delivered record investment in public transport south of the Tararua District, including improving the Wairarapa rail line and securing funding for new trains. My priority now is to push for an upgrade to the track between Masterton and Woodville, with an eye to eventually introducing passenger rail between Hawke’s Bay, Manawatū, Wairarapa and Wellington.
The latest numbers show that New Zealand’s economy is turning the corner with projected growth meaning no recession, wages ahead of inflation and more people in work. Labour’s number one priority is to make life easier for New Zealand families. Our cost-of-living plan will deal with the pressures whānau are facing right now, while laying the foundations for a better future – without making inflation worse, like tax cuts would.
A re-elected Labour Government will introduce the biggest ever increase to the Working for Families In-Work Tax Credit, putting an extra $25 back in the weekly budget for those who need it most. We’ll also raise the income threshold so people can earn more without losing eligibility. This isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. Helping out families and easing the stress on New Zealanders struggling to get by is good for our kids, and our future.
We will also:
Take GST off fruit and veg
Labour will begin New Zealand’s journey to universal dental care by expanding free basic dental care to under 30-year-olds.
Protect free prescriptions
Protect cheaper childcare
We will keep a lid on debt and maintain prudent levels of Government spending and return inflation to the Reserve Bank’s target range
We’ll also take steps to tackle the causes of inflation through improving competition and transitioning away from volatile fossil fuels.
National will increase the cost of medicine, ECE and childcare, public transport and fruit and vege. Now is not the time to put Labour’s support for families at risk.
Rates/Water
This is an issue I am very hot on and determined to sort out. As Minister of Local Government I have committed to the local government sector to sit down with them and come to an agreement as to how we can limit the increases of rates. Limiting future rates increases was a prime rationale behind the affordable water reforms. These are essential. And since I made changes to the proposals, the reforms have been received much better. The Tararua District needs to find $600m over the next 30 years to upgrade and maintain water services. This is unaffordable. Make no mistake, the National Party’s policy is the status quo. That is not working for the Tararua District, and ratepayers will face unaffordable bills as a result. They are promising a lot but not backing it up. I am passionate about this because if the reforms are reversed it will be ratepayers left to foot the bill. That is unconscionable.
We’ve spent more on road maintenance, including pothole repairs, than any previous government. In this year’s Budget we established the $419 million Transport Resilience Fund to support these investments that support our region’s recovery. Investing in resilience creates savings down the road, as well as ensuring communities aren’t cut off and isolated after extreme weather. Waka Kotahi is fixing a record number of potholes across the state highway network. It repaired 54,544 potholes in calendar 2022, compared with 39,652 in 2018.
Our roads are among New Zealand’s most significant strategic assets – they’re lifelines for communities and businesses. We inherited a road maintenance crisis. National chose to freeze road maintenance funding during its time in office in order fund high-profile new highways. We have since remedied that, and we are catching up, but they caused the problem.
Listening to locals
I take great pride in being told that I am the most visible MP the Tararua District has had in a very long time. With both sides of my family coming from Eketāhuna I was determined to ensure Tararua was no longer ignored if given the chance. I have been a regular presence in the District since becoming local MP, including even after becoming a Minister. I take pride in this and will continue doing so if re-elected.
A hoarding for Democracy NZ. Photo / Andrew Warner
Increasing people’s access to healthcare professionals in a timely manner will take a multi-faceted approach.
Financial incentives: We would allocate funding to attract more doctors and nurses to regional towns. This could include student loan forgiveness or scholarships for healthcare professionals who commit to working in underserved areas. Create tax incentives for people and companies who hold private health insurance – to recognise that this reduces pressure on an overstretched public health service.
Increase the workforce. We will bring back experienced health workers into our workforce by instructing government agencies to remove Covid-19 vaccination mandates.
We would consider adopting a system similar to Germany whereby school leavers are encouraged to take a “gap year” in service industries (eg. healthcare, military).
We will increase the number of qualified nurses by creating a new model to train nurses which is vocational, and apprenticeship-based.
We will help address the shortage of health workers by directing the medical, dental, nursing, allied health councils and speciality colleges to immediately review and fast-track pathways for the registration of qualified overseas healthcare professionals.
We will increase the number of doctors by increasing medical school places, and remove ancestry-based medical school quotas.
Prioritise care based on need: Disestablish the Māori health authority and remove criteria prioritising access to health services on race. Health services should be accessible to all New Zealanders, and prioritised on need.
Prevention over prescription: Work to reduce the cost and increase the availability of nourishing food, with particular focus on low-income areas, including supporting direct farm-to-consumer initiatives. Refocus public health on evidence-based disease prevention, and review and reassess medication guidelines, and other mass medication carried out for public health.
Earthquake Compliance
Review building standards: Re-evaluate the strictness of earthquake compliance standards for one-storey buildings in regional areas to balance safety with economic feasibility.
Financial support: Offer financial assistance or tax incentives to building owners to help them meet earthquake-strengthening requirements.
Local decision-making: Give territorial authorities more discretion in assessing and addressing earthquake risks in their communities to avoid unnecessary red-stickering of buildings.
Promotion of Regions
Tax breaks and incentives: Provide tax breaks and financial incentives to medium and large enterprises that relocate to regional towns, creating jobs and stimulating local economies.
Immigration policies: Reform immigration policies to encourage immigrants to settle in regional areas, with a focus on attracting skilled workers and entrepreneurs who can contribute to local development.
Youth attraction: Develop programmes and initiatives to attract young people to rural communities, including educational opportunities, mentorship programmes, and affordable housing options.
Public Transport and other services
Invest in public transportation infrastructure to connect rural areas and provide convenient access to essential services and amenities.
Banking access: Work with financial institutions to expand banking services in rural areas.
Cellular coverage: Look into the partnership between Starlink and One NZ to assess if this would be a viable option for rural NZ.
This is another multi-faceted issue which needs detailed attention, our economic policy will help to alleviate these concerns.
Property Rate Assistance
Implement property rate relief programmes for seniors and individuals on fixed incomes to alleviate the financial burden of rising property taxes.
Three Waters Reform
We oppose co-governance (Five Waters, He Puapua, centralisation and over regulation). When it comes to Three Waters Reform, different areas have different needs and this needs to be organised by local experts in the know, not middle managers in central government.
Allocate funds for road maintenance and repairs, prioritising areas with the most critical infrastructure needs, including pothole repairs. Implement a proactive maintenance schedule to address potholes and road deterioration promptly. Involve local communities in identifying road maintenance priorities and solutions through consultation and collaboration.
Comment
We absolutely agree that the people know best. Our role in government will be to advocate for, and facilitate the needs of the people of New Zealand.
National will reintroduce the health targets Labour got rid of and we’ll hold ourselves to account on delivering shorter stays in ED, faster cancer treatment, improved immunisation and shorter wait times for first specialist assessments and surgery.
To achieve these better outcomes, we’ll increase investment in health every year, focus on frontline services instead of bureaucracy in Wellington and we’ll be relentless in our efforts to fix shortages in the health workforce.
We’ll pay up to $4500 per year of nurses’ and midwives’ student loan repayments if they stay working in New Zealand with our bonding scheme. This has already attracted interest in the Tararua region from residents wanting to train. We’ll also establish a third medical school to train more doctors, particularly for placement into rural and provincial areas such as the Tararua District.
Earthquake compliance
As a local MP, I’ll be an advocate for pragmatic responses to these sorts of issues and making sure our local voice is heard in Wellington.
More broadly, National has announced our plan to make construction work more affordable by streamlining building consents to cut compliance costs, allowing innovative products into the country to make building materials more affordable and resolving water shortages. We’re also going to reform the RMA to transform how we get things built in this country.
Promotion of the regions to business and immigrants
National’s key priority is rebuilding our economy to grow incomes and reduce the cost of living. This means backing our farmers to do what they do best without adding more unnecessary costs and red tape, and by opening up new markets for them to sell our high value products, like India.
If I earn the chance to be the next local MP, I’ll be a relentless advocate for our region to attract more young people to live and work here. Growing our businesses relies on an economy that’s really humming and hardworking Kiwis being able to keep more of their own money to invest how they want, instead of it being funnelled into more wasteful spending projects.
Public transport and services
I’ll advocate for the right transport options for the Wairarapa electorate. For most people this is making sure we’ve got safe and efficient roads that aren’t being unnecessarily slowed down by Labour’s silly speed limit reductions. As a farmer I understand there’s still work to do on mobile blackspots and I’m proud of the work National has done with this in the past.
National will stop Labour’s planned fuel tax increase and deliver meaningful tax relief for hardworking Kiwis, up to $250 a fortnight for a family. We’ll balance the books, stop the waste and rebuild our economy to get the cost of living under control.
More assistance in paying property rates for those on fixed incomes.
Rates are going up in large part thanks to Labour’s rampant inflation, driving up councils’ costs across the board. We’d like to see councils focused on the issues that matter, instead of having to enact things like Labour’s ridiculous speed limit reduction programme. We need to get the cost of living down for our seniors, which is why we’ll increase super every year, retain the Winter Energy Payment and reduce the cost of living.
Three Waters
National will repeal Three Waters and will instead sit down with each council to discuss tailor-made solutions, that are fit for purpose, as we recognise that each council is different and has differing needs.
National will focus on building and maintaining roads, not lowering speed limits, installing expensive raised pedestrian crossings, and running ad campaigns. We will reallocate this wasteful expenditure and introduce a $500m Pothole Repair Fund focusing on fixing our roads throughout provincial areas such as Tararua.
Comment
My view and the National Party’s view, is that locals understand their issues, they also have thought of the solutions, therefore they need to be asked and listened to, then empowered and trusted to resolve their challenges.
Act candidate for the Wairarapa Simon Casey.
Act
Medical Access
Act has released a variety of policies which will improve regional and rural health outcomes. Foremost, Act is committed to increasing GP capitation funding by 13 per cdent. An initial investment of $163 million for General Practice capitation in 2023/24, with ongoing increases in outyears, is the equivalent to the subsidy for 2.5 million extra GP visits. This investment is also $26m above the annual General Practice net deficit of $137m per annum. By increasing GP capitation, Act will allow GP clinics to break their debt cycle and invest more in retaining and hiring staff, reducing staffing pressures and wait times.
Act will also create an easier pathway for doctors trained in comparable overseas jurisdictions to practise in New Zealand. Currently, even a top Harvard doctor would have to be supervised for 6-18 months before being allowed to independently practise. Act would cut this red tape so that New Zealand, particularly regional New Zealand, can once again become an attractive location for internationally qualified medical professionals.
The Act Party has released a suite of further policies as a part of its comprehensive health workforce policy. You can read more about this here: https://www.act.org.nz/health-workforce
Earthquake Compliance
In 2016 Act opposed the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill on the grounds that it failed to exempt low risk areas and imposed arbitrary standardised costs across New Zealand. This one-size-fits-all all approach may need to be reconsidered and a genuine risk-based approach implemented.
Promotion of the regions to business and immigrants.
Act believes that government handouts are not the answer to growing regional New Zealand. What is needed is cuts to unnecessary red tape which inhibits productivity and growth. Act has a variety of policies which will achieve this. They include:
Replace the burdensome Natural and Built Environments Bill with a new Environmental Protection Act and a new Urban Development Act. This clarifies the twin goals of resource management: protecting the natural environment and managing the built environment. The new Environmental Protection Act would recognise fundamental private property rights and reintroduce local management of freshwater resources and land pollution control. The new Urban Development Act would ensure that limits for urban development would continue to be based on locally decided plans. Changes to local government financing and building laws will ensure that councils are incentivised to allow development under these plans. Act’s proposal to increase the role of special-purpose vehicles and private equity in infrastructure development would ensure that councils could rest assured that their balance sheets will not be unduly burdened by expansion. Further, our plan to share 50 per cent of the GST received from new dwelling construction with local governments will give them the fiscal room to deal with new residents.
Act will get rid of the complicated and burdensome system for temporary work visas and replace it with demand-based pricing. This will allow employers to decide if their need is worth the price instead of clunky bureaucracy. Act will also ensure that the Skilled Migrant Category offers an efficient and predictable pathway for migrants of all skill levels and occupations and introduce a sustainable solution for parent visas. This will allow for increased attraction and retention of skilled migration, seasonal workers, and migrant families to fill skill shortages and boost productivity in the regions.
Act will cut the 30 per cent tax rate to 17.5 per cent and the 39 per cent tax rate to 33 per cent. This will give all New Zealanders a tax break and leave more money aside for private investment and development. Act will also provide New Zealanders with a Carbon Tax Refund equivalent to $1558 for a family of four in the next fiscal year. Act will reverse Labour’s divisive interest deductibility rules and abolish the Brightline test to allow more affordable housing in the regions.
Public Transport/Connectivity
Although Act currently has no policy on rural connectivity issues, mobility issues and regional public transport issues, we do acknowledge that these issues are inhibiting growth in regional New Zealand.
To reduce cost pressures on everyday Kiwis Act has proposed the following measures:
Abolish remaining tariffs.
Replace the RMA with fit-for-purpose environmental and urban development laws.
Require councils to accept any ‘equivalent material’ certified by MBIE for use in building projects.
Exempt OECD members from the Overseas
Investment Act, allowing foreign supermarket chains to invest in New Zealand with certainty.
Implement a Carbon Tax Refund returning revenues from the ETS to New Zealanders.
Simplify immigration laws making it easier for migrants to move between employers.
Return the Reserve Bank’s mandate to taming inflation alone.
Delivering a tax cut for every earner. The two-rate tax structure of 17.5 per cent up to $70,000 and 28 per cent thereafter would leave the average fulltime worker $2185 better off annually.
Implement a system for real-time road pricing. This would mean that New Zealanders are taxed on the distance they actually travel, the road they travel on, and when they travel on it. This system would replace unfair and indiscriminate taxes on fuel consumption.
More assistance in paying property rates for those on fixed incomes
Act’s GST sharing policy would see Government share 50 per cent of the GST revenue of a new house with the local council that issued the consent to help them cover the infrastructure costs associated with new housing developments. This system of funding would reduce the need for councils to increase rates to cover the increased costs associated with resource consenting.
Three Waters
Act is committed to scrapping Three Waters. As an alternative, Act will:
Fundamentally New Zealand’s transport network suffers dual problems: the network is straining under the weight of population growth, and the costs for delivering new projects are high.
Act will address these issues by:
Implementing a world-class toll road and real-time road pricing system. This will allow users to pay for their road use dependent on when and where they use them. It will replace the unfair fuel tax which sees rural New Zealand’s paying for roadways in urban centres which they will never travel on themselves. Most importantly, it will generate the revenue required to maintain the road and invest in new projects as it is being used, in real time.
Act will also allow the use of public-private partnerships to fund transport infrastructure. A fully mature public-private partnership for roads would not only contract the private sector to build and maintain the road but would enable the private sector to gain revenue and cover its costs as well. Doing so may attract more or different kinds of bids for contracts, by making the contract more lucrative. Opening the possibility of revenue raising may also lead to more realistic and higher quality contracts and delivery by increasing the incentive to develop roads that people actually want to use.
Green candidate for Wairarapa Celia Wade-Brown.
Celia Wade-Brown – Green Party
The issues of medical workforce, transport, regional development, climate change and hard-pressed councils and ratepayers are all connected. Keeping our rural and provincial towns attractive, safe, and connected by rail, road and digital access will support the Tararua communities.
The Green Party will build an inclusive low-carbon country that works for everyone. Previous governments have managed periods of economic change badly, so a few at the top amassed a larger share of wealth, where banks and investors got richer while thousands of families and communities were left to struggle.
Our climate plan will create thousands of well-paid meaningful jobs, and provide training opportunities, and decent secure work for people moving out of carbon-intensive industries. At the same time, our plan will reduce household bills by switching from fossil fuels to clean, affordable energy. Farmers will be able to diversify their income from being over-reliant on global commodity prices, and contribute to energy supplies.
Medical access
Our health and wellbeing rely on having enough to live on, a healthy home, good food and access to mental, dental and general treatment when we need it.
Thousands of people are living in damp, mouldy homes and can’t afford healthy kai.
Our Rental Warrant of Fitness and Income Guarantee will help basic health. The Green Party will train more doctors, dentists and nurses and support rural communities to have quality care for patients. Our free dental care plan includes dental vans and portable clinics.
Primary care has by far the most patient interactions compared to hospital level care but is chronically underfunded. The crisis in ED departments can be linked directly to difficult access to primary care but the focus is always the “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”, ie. hospitals rather than focusing on prevention and high quality timely primary care. There is much research to back this up worldwide. A co-ordinated drive to recruit more GPs and nurse practitioners is required and practice nurses should be paid the same as colleagues in hospital.
Training of staff should encourage not discourage a pathway to primary care but as most training is hospital-based, this is often not the case. In the Wairarapa, rural immersion training for sixth year medical students is aiming to change the pattern.
Good quality end-of-life care especially in rural areas will enable people to stay at home and out of the hospital system but family and rest homes need to be supported.
The time is now to invest in our collective health and wellbeing so everyone can lead a healthy life.
Earthquake compliance
A GNS Science Report commissioned by Horizons Regional Council mapped known fault traces within the region. The Tararua District straddles the active Australian-Pacific plate boundary and has a history of large earthquakes and many known active faults. The Eketāhuna Fault runs through the town and the whole region is in a high seismic risk area. Even single-storey buildings can damage customers and passersby in an earthquake. During the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake 16 people were killed on one block of Colombo St from falling masonry facades and parapets. The recent quake in Morocco showed that low-rise buildings can still be deathtraps.
People’s safety is important. Successive governments have created more regulations for local government to follow but not provided the funding to address the issues arising. I think there should be more government support to modify older earthquake-prone buildings in town centres or we risk unattractive, unsafe town centres that no one can afford to fix. An interest-free loan could be made available to groups of adjacent building owners. The DIA grant for Three Waters funding could assist.
Quoting Eugenie Sage in 2016: “So there is a very real risk of heritage buildings being demolished in the wake of the legislation. That would be a tragedy for cities and towns across New Zealand because of the contribution that many of our older buildings make to their character and identity.
“That is one reason that the Green Party is supporting the bill, but we are also supporting Ron Mark’s Supplementary Order Paper 160, because instead of weakening the regulatory regime that the bill sets out to provide, as one of Mr Seymour’s Supplementary Order Papers does, we have got to provide more incentives to the owners of heritage buildings so that there is some recognition of the benefit that the community gets from the protection of that heritage character and to assist them with the costs of strengthening.”
Promotion of the regions to business and immigrants
Central government needs to give more incentives to promote regional investment. Tax breaks, and contributions to moving costs, should be provided to medium and large enterprises to shift operations to regional towns. This would have a flow-on effect for local employment, and growth of service and retail industries. Similarly, New Zealand’s immigration approach should be geared more attracting immigrants to regions, rather than allowing for the sprawl of main centres.
Our manifesto commits us to continue to invest in regional development, with a focus on sustainable building, regenerative agriculture, and horticulture, improving low-carbon infrastructure and local economic activity. I agree that major cities and provincial towns shouldn’t sprawl into greenfields, creating car-dependent communities and concreting over productive farmland or indigenous forest remnants.
We would commit to government departments buying more goods and services from New Zealand businesses. We will expand the Rural Capacity Upgrade to enhance digital connectivity.
I’ve personally been involved in supporting new migrants moving to Masterton and there are real benefits to smaller centres too. With good passenger connections to the Hawke’s Bay, Palmerston and Wellington, the Tararua District would be more attractive to young people.
The Green Party will provide local authorities with new revenue tools to better enable funding of local programmes without relying solely on rates.
The Tararua District has great opportunities for a clean energy future and the Greens are committed to train more people for careers in those industries.
We support local wood-processing to scale up manufacture of products that add value to plantation forestry, such as cross-laminated timber that is a strong and resilient material that also locks up carbon for decades to come. We also strongly support the use of wool carpets in schools.
We need a balanced transport network with more regional and inter-regional rail, including in the lower North Island, connecting more people where they want to go, not more urban motorways. We need a greater emphasis on road safety such as median barriers on busy regional roads. Funnelling billions into building more roads and new motorways as National is planning, instead of investing in low carbon transport options like regional rail will not protect the climate.
Labour and National seem to be in a road race this election to come up with the most expensive waste of money on new roads. People want better, and they deserve better. Investing in rail to get more freight and private vehicles off our state highway network is absolutely essential - and must be scaled up as quickly as possible to meet the challenge of climate change.
The rail lines between Hawke’s Bay and Palmerston North and to Wellington need upgrading for passenger rail and we must get more freight off our roads and onto rail or coastal shipping. The Greens will support regional councils to run smaller buses connecting with rail stations.
Our Green Party plan includes improving digital connectivity. Support for people to use these services is also necessary, including avoiding internet scams.
The Green Minimum Income Guarantee means we can all have peace of mind that we will be able to put food on the table, have a safe healthy place to call home and live a good life – and we’ll pay for it with a fair tax system. The money we need to support each other is already there but successive governments have made the political choice not to use it. Only the Greens will show the political leadership to make sure those most able to pay contribute more through fairer taxes to support people who are struggling.
There are far too many people living in insecure cold damp homes. The Green Party Pledge to renters is a simple set of enforceable rules. We will build warmer affordable homes in places people want to live.
More assistance in paying property rates for those on fixed incomes
Many of the revenue recommendations in the Future for Local Government review are sensible. We need greater revenue sharing between central and local government. I hope that councils will make it clear which of the revenue recommendations they favour so that there is a consensus on mechanisms for government to implement.
Three Waters
I understand that the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA grant amount was $3.8 million for stage A. The council application had to meet some or all of the following criteria:
Supporting communities to transition to a sustainable and low-emissions economy;
Delivery of infrastructure and/or services that enable housing development and growth;
Delivery of infrastructure that support improvements in community well-being.
Projects applied for had to support one or more of these criteria. Funding proposals had to also be for:
New initiatives/projects; and/or to accelerate, scale-up and/or enhance the quality of planned investment.
A template provided by DIA required each of the possible projects to be assessed against the four wellbeings, as well as a requirement to consult with iwi on project selection. Projects had to be completed by June 2027.
After considering many possible projects council included a range of projects to satisfy the above criteria. council received approval for these projects from DIA in December 2022. Since then the community and council have experienced Cyclone Gabrielle, major cost of living increases and the start of an economic downturn. In light of current events council intends to review the projects selected, in consultation with our iwi partners, and the budgets assigned to them. There is some flexibility in the DIA funding to do this.
Note - The second part of this government funding into the future for local government, with a focus on community wellbeing, is scheduled for July 1, 2024 and for Tararua has a maximum amount of $11.39 million.
Roading
The introduction of heavier trucks, from 44 to 53 tonnes, in 2010, which many local authorities advised against, in the last National Government, together with freezing the maintenance funding in order to fund Roads of National Significance, made a huge problem of which we are now seeing the consequences. Dramatic increases in rainfall, made worse by climate change, have compounded the maintenance problem, especially for small rural councils with huge roading networks that are essential for residents, workers, school buses, and visitors alike. We don’t see a return to smaller trucks, but the Greens are committed to keeping roading maintenance funding rather than spending on multi-lane urban highways. More freight onto rail and coastal shipping will help, too. Councils now being able to put resource consent conditions on new forestry may reduce the heavy traffic on unsuitable rural roads in the future.
Comment
Green MPs and candidates seek to connect with as many people as possible and talk to them about issues important to them. I can be contacted by email on celia.wade-brown@greens.org.nz or on 0212478360.
