Whangarei MP Dr Shane Reti is claiming an early victory on his election promise, 3000 new jobs in 3 years.
Statistics New Zealand's Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) showed there were 6,200 more people working in Northland in the September 2016 quarter than at the time Dr Reti was elected. The MP said the majority of these roles were in Whangarei, an area of high growth over the last two years.
He said the target had been reached, but he still wanted to "push for more".
"I acknowledge that many of the large employers are in fact in Whangarei and when I speak with them their job numbers are positive, but Northland is stronger when business is an integrated consideration across the whole region," he said.
When asked what role he had played in facilitating job growth in Whangarei and Northland, Mr Reti said he had continuously lobbied Central Government on behalf of the region.
"The pre-eminent example was that we needed a Government signal towards Hundertwasser [Art Centre] and we got $4 million," he said.
He said he had also been instrumental getting major roading projects off the ground, including the $25 million four-laning between Toetoe Rd and Springfield south of Whangarei, and the Road of National Significance, at this point planned for Puhoi to Wellsford. The latter was Northland's "single biggest economic driver" in Mr Reti's opinion.
Pushed further, Mr Reti said there were several "commercially sensitive [job creating] projects that I can't reveal, that have my fingerprints on them".
When asked whether he could give any clues to what these might be he said: "I can't, but one of these - within the next six months will come to fruition - and they are multi-million dollar projects."
While the raw number of people in work had grown, so too had the population.
Meanwhile the Northland unemployment rate had fluctuated across Mr Reti's term: It was 8.4 per cent when he took office and now sat at 7.6 per cent. And it peaked at 10.6 per cent last quarter, according to the HLFS.
Mr Reti said there were still a lack of skilled workers, and an abundance of unskilled ones in the region.
"We have jobs available for skilled people, which talks to why some people are coming in form overseas. We have a young workforce and one we need to upskill," he said.
He said there were moves afoot to improve Whangarei's tertiary education offering, with interest from AUT and Massey universities.
"I am aware of tertiary interests in the region, and I agree that to get a certain level of tertiary education, you need to leave [Northland]. Some come home, some do not."
Tertiary providers NorthTec and The Design School both recently announced they would likely have to do away with their Level 2 courses next year, due to Government funding cuts. Mr Reti said he had approached the Tertiary Education Minister about this and said the courses would not move out of the region, but may be re-distributed to other local providers.