Responses from the Te Tai Tokerau electorate candidates who submitted their
response within the deadline given. Question 1: With our current high level of
unemployment, what are your policies around taking our raw materials to
finished goods to add jobs and value to our region?
Kelvin Davis, Labour:
High unemployment and the processing of our goods overseas are two important issues Labour will address. We're very concerned that the proportion of our forestry products exported as higher value processed goods is decreasing. Every year, New Zealand is exporting more and more raw logs; millions eachyear. A Labour Government will change that. We will give targeted tax incentives to encourage much-needed capital investment in the wood processing industry.
This is needed to overcome the increased risks which wood processors face in a small economy. This will encourage the substantial capital investment needed to maximise value from our wood industry.
Labour wants to partner with industry to ensure an increasing amount of the output from forestry moves up the value chain - from raw product to light processing; from light processing to elaborate processing; and from elaborate processing to high-technology and product innovation. We will also make suspensory loans available (repayable on harvest) to cover the costs for planting new forests, with the option of joint planting ventures with iwi. We'll establish forestry taskforces for the long-term unemployed. We'll support iwi forestry clusters to analyse options for their land. We'll provide business stability for the forest and wood products industry and complete the National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry. Labour will formalise the Government's approach to the forestry sector in a New Zealand Forestry Policy document. And we'll ensure the sector is underpinned by suitable infrastructure and a skilled and safe workforce. Ultimately, all these improvements don't matter, and won't happen, if our workers aren't safe.
According to the latest government report on regions, Northland has the highest unemployment rate and lowest household incomes in the country. How do we change that? Firstly, changes cannot be made from the opposition or cross-benches. We have to be at the table where the decisions are made - where the budget funds are allocated. Only the Maori Party is guaranteed a seat at that table, whoever wins the election, because Labour has said they will not work with Internet-Mana, and Internet-Mana have said they will not work with National. That means only the Maori Party is guaranteed to have influence, whoever wins.
That same report tells us: "Northland's natural resources are a foundation for economic growth ... Similarly, enhancing local skills and employment opportunities would help improve economic and social outcomes. There is also potential to develop cultural and special interest tourism products to leverage Northland's proximity to Auckland."
To deliver on this vision we need education and training for our people, so that we can identify and take advantage of opportunities, more apprenticeships and strong support for business developments to get new businesses off the ground, initiatives to get the most out of multiply-owned Maori land, all underpinned by improved infrastructure of roads and rail to allow the region to profit from these opportunities. I pledge to work across the political spectrum to ensure that the North receives its fair share of funding to make this happen. The Maori Party do not stand for left or right, we stand as Maori, for Maori and with no other agenda - N reira Hoki Mai, Tautoko Mai, T Mori Mai.
