Covid 19 coronavirus: Queenstown goes from richest to one of poorest districts

In just over a month the Queenstown district has been flipped upside down. Photo / File

The "chilling" facts facing the region set to be hit hardest by Covid-19 have been laid out by Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult who says it has gone from the most successful region to potentially one of the poorest in a little over a month.

In a speech to councillors made yesterday and published today, Boult outlined the stark reality facing a region hugely reliant on tourism and said he had been told by a "noted economist" the district's economy would shrink by 40 per cent.

"Literally in little over a month, we have gone from New Zealand's most successful district, with a growing population and a growing GDP, to potentially one of the poorest districts in New Zealand.

"I'll come back to the effect on our people later, but the sad and harsh reality is that the cold breath of what has struck us now will be felt for years to come," he said.

He said the massive impacts would result in younger people from the area leaving Queenstown and outlined the efforts the council was making to help those most in need.

Read the full speech here:

I'd like to address this to all our residents across our entire district.

Yesterday, a noted economist sent me a prediction that our district-wide economy will shrink by 40 per cent as a result of the downstream effects of the Covid-19 lockdown. By a massive margin, we will be the most detrimentally affected district in Aotearoa New Zealand. Coupled to that, our unemployment rate is likely to reach somewhere between 25 to 30 per cent.

These are the sobering, chilling facts of the reality before us.

Literally in little over a month, we have gone from New Zealand's most successful district, with a growing population and a growing GDP, to potentially one of the poorest districts in New Zealand. I'll come back to the effect on our people later, but the sad and harsh reality is that the cold breath of what has struck us now will be felt for years to come.
Many in our community understandably worry about their future in our district. Regrettably, we are likely to see a migration of some of our younger people away from the district simply through lack of job opportunities.

We have a massive task before us. It is a task that we must undertake together. The time for squabbles over matters that are no longer relevant is gone. For a very long period of time, growth will cease to be a subject for discussion and instead our mantra will be survival.

So, where to from here?

Next week, we will move from complete lockdown to level 3. I doubt that this will make a lot of difference to most of us. That will more likely come when level 2 is declared in (hopefully) a couple of weeks' time. Our concentration at this time must go into how we recover, how we ensure that there is a meal on the table for those who can no longer provide for their families and how an adequate level of support is provided for those in real trouble within our communities.

We are a mix of resilient communities, though. I remind you all, that most of us moved here because we understandably fell in love with the district. That will not cease simply because of the wall of problems we now face.