The focus of Government Ministers at present is very much on developing, and then rolling out, support packages for people affected by the Kaikōura earthquake and its aftershocks. This recent display of the force of nature has been a timely reminder to all New Zealanders about the need to beprepared for potential natural disaster events.
It is important we ensure to be prepared not just for ourselves, but for the ones we care for - families, friends, elderly neighbours or the young family next door. We can't be shy about sitting down with family to talk about a plan and how we might work together and check-up on each other in the event of an earthquake. Just as it is prudent to have a personal plan of action for challenging times, so it is with the economy.
The best-performing societies in the world don't get there by luck. They get there by adopting polices which reward investment in job-creating, and income growth-supporting enterprises. In these times of somewhat turbulent geopolitical events in parts of the world, we've also been reminded in recent weeks of the benefit of living in a country with a strong, and increasingly diversified economy.
New Zealand's regional economies are reaping significant employment and income growth opportunities due to the success of the National Government's tourism strategy. In this year's budget, we invested a further $45 million in tourism over the next four years, on top of the over $130 million National was already investing every year to facilitate tourism sector growth.
Evidence that this strategy is paying growing dividends to our regional economies was confirmed in data just published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment or MBIE showing tourism expenditure grew in every single region in the 12 months to 31 October 2016. Expenditure in the Nelson region, for example, increased 16 per cent over the year to stand at $334 million, while spending in Otago was up 14 per cent to $3.4 billion.
Tourism spending in the Bay of Plenty was up 10 per cent to stand at $1.7 billion in the same period.
MBIE's analysis indicates National's strategy to ensure all regions benefit from the exceptional growth happening right now in tourism is working to diversify our economy and strengthen its resilience to deal with any unexpected local or global challenges on the horizon.
