Southland wants us - and we want their policemen

By ELEANOR BLACK

Southland is pitching itself as a sunny paradise to northerners in a bid to fill about 500 job vacancies.

At the same time, South Island recruits are being sought to boost Auckland police numbers.

More than 700,000 copies of an eight-page colour supplement praising Southland's lifestyle and work opportunities were inserted in all North Island daily newspapers yesterday.

A collaboration by the Southland Chamber of Commerce, Venture Southland and the Southland Times, the campaign featured photos of sunsets and Bluff oysters alongside glowing testimonials from former Aucklanders.

Venture Southland acting chief executive Foster Price said a series of conventional newspaper ads and a television promotion would follow.

Outsiders who had associated Southland with freezing winters, isolation and unsophisticated locals with "check shirts and funny haircuts" would be impressed with its low crime, comparatively cheap housing and recreational opportunities, he said.

Southland was the fastest growing region in the year to June and its workers made the third-highest weekly wages in the country, after Aucklanders and Wellingtonians.

Driven by the nationwide dairy boom, Southland, which has lost 15 per cent of its population in the past 20 years, is turning the tide.

Downstream effects from dairying mean there are more job vacancies than locals can fill, from medical positions to labouring jobs.

"We didn't expect the boom to be as strong as it is," said Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

Those who have already made the move southwards wish theyhad done it sooner.

Erica Hanvey, who left Auckland with her family two years ago, said she was willing to put up with changeable weather to live on a lifestyle block with her horses.

"We love it down here and we'd never go back."

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Lyn Provost said the police move targeting South Islanders was part of an active recruiting campaign to bring Auckland police numbers up to the desired level.

The head of the Canterbury branch of the Police Association, Mike Wall, said the move was indicative of the difficulty in recruiting police in Auckland. "If they can't find their own recruits in the country's biggest city, it is a bit of a worry."

The perceived dangers of working as a police officer in Auckland, or the northern culture, appeared to deter recruits.

- NZPA