Jobs on minds of local voters

Internet giant Google revealed jobs as one of the election issues most important to voters in the Wellington region, including Masterton.

Wairarapa voters care more about jobs this election than anything else, Google search data shows.

Internet giant Google collected and analysed search data over the past three years - revealing the election issues most important to voters in the Wellington region, including Masterton.

Results looked at search numbers for health, economy, employment, education, housing and other key election concerns around the country and ranked them according to the level of regional interest.

The data showed Masterton residents showed the highest interest in jobs and employment in the lead-up to this election, followed by health and education.

Within the Wellington region, Masterton voters were more interested in job creation and employment than those in Wellington and Paraparaumu, but less so than their counterparts in Lower and Upper Hutt.

Across the wider region, voters were also concerned with climate change and housing, while child poverty, housing and crime ranked low on the scale.

Masterton District Council chief executive Pim Borren said local economic development focused on population growth and job growth.

"If we have more people living in our town, by definition, they will use more local services, which will in turn create more jobs."

The best areas for growth were the industries that had been doing well during the recession, as they were best-placed once it finished, Mr Borren said.

"We need to get more value out of our primary produce by concentrating on quality rather than quantity. There's a huge opportunity around our quality products such as honey, eggs, wine and forestry."