Better roads needed before rail link to North, Key says

John Key said there was huge potential for partnerships and development with iwi when he visited the Far North yesterday.

The Prime Minister says he would like to bring the new Minister for Roading up to Northland to take a took at the state of the roads.

Roads, tourism, poverty, immigration, international free trade, mining and the Ngapuhi settlement were among topics John Key effortlessly covered while addressing a public meeting organised by the Kerikeri District Business Association (KDBA) at the Turner Centre yesterday.

There were murmurs of approval when Mr Key told the packed meeting that the new minister Simon Bridges should familiarise himself with the Northland roads situation.

Mr Key said the Government has committed a lot of money to roading. Although there was an argument for rebuilding a rail link into Northland, the need for better roading was far more pressing, Mr Key said.

He said he'd like to do away with the misleading implication that a four-lane motorway between Auckland and, in a few years, Wellsford was a "holiday highway" for Omaha holiday home owners like himself, rather than about a better infrastructure for Northland.

He talked about tourism potential for the region, saying New Zealand's domestic market was the obvious key target.

Earlier in the day he had attended a Northland Tourism Association meeting at Waitangi.

Mr Key also said there was huge potential for partnerships and development with iwi, and the "Ngapuhi [Waitangi Treaty] settlement is important".

"Ngapuhi have the capacity to do a lot of good. The Government has a stated goal to have that deal settled. It's disappointing after an overwhelming number of people gave the mandate."

Mr Key said there was little planning by private or public sectors in which Ngai Tahu in the South Island and Tainui in Waikato were not deeply involved.

After the meeting Mr Key told the Northern Advocate the Government was frustrated about the lengthy Waitangi Tribunal process now to be undertaken over which iwi authority had the mandate to work on the Ngaphui settlement.

He had earlier told the meeting that Northland was doing okay in some respects but could do better.

What was needed to reduce child poverty was better education, more employment and more people prepared to start businesses.

"How do you make the boat go faster for a longer period of time?" he asked.

"It's not as simple as the Government throwing money at it. If you want to lift people out of material deprivation you have to get them working."

He hinted that the skills base and business-based economy could be boosted by awarding extra qualifying points to immigrants wanting to start businesses if they agreed to set up in, for example, Whangarei.

But that raised other questions, such as if the immigrants then moved elsewhere, "Do we make them leave New Zealand."

After the meeting Mr Key said he congratulated Andrew Little for winning the Labour Party leadership, and wished him luck.

"It's never an easy job, being leader of the Opposition. It's my view, given the state the Labour Party's in, he's in for a very tough job."