Opinion: Keeping the money moving

THERE is only so much money to go around, but the more it moves around, the better.

It is the role of the Trust House Foundation to distribute surplus profits back to the community, as shown with their grants evening on Monday. I have often thought of it as a sort of "make good" concept, perhaps a leftover of the days when alcohol and gambling were seen as the bringers of immorality into a God-fearing community.

Today, trusts administer venues involved in alcohol and gambling, and in return distribute large amounts of money to worthwhile causes.

It is a sophisticated acceptance of society's basic urges, which are legal and have been around for hundreds of years. But good can come of it.

Trusts can be strong if their asset base is wide-ranging, varied and involved in businesses that provide useful turnover, such as hospitality and rentals. Someone has to provide these services because people need affordable roofs over their heads, and they want the recreation offered by hospitality venues. When you consider the problems with Housing New Zealand, we can consider ourselves lucky we have a Wairarapa-based operation that has housing in order.

Nothing's ever perfect with low-cost housing, but it is a service we badly need.

What we have to consider is the turnover of money.

If the trust pays out millions in wages, and spends money on services within Wairarapa, then that is the definition of economy. Money needs to move, not remain static. It would be very easy for a private business to build its funds, ensuring the few who run it enjoy substantial salaries and rewards.

But a trust keeps the money flowing, which allows other businesses to thrive.

Before money, economies relied on exchange by barter. Now it's exchange by money.

And that "movement" is further enhanced by grants.

A grant to something like a MenzShed means purchasing of equipment, which means a supplier benefits. But grants are also about investment in skills and resources. It's about the bettering of a person, a community, by helping to create people who contribute to the community as skilled assets - and continue to grow our economy.