Hawke's Bay scrapes up Budget crumbs'

The Government's "zero Budget" will give some stability to local businesses, says Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Murray Douglas.
But Hawke's Bay was on its own for economic development, he said.
Yesterday's Budget aimed to reduce Government spending and cut overseas borrowing of more than $300 million a week.
Mr Douglas said the Government had difficult decisions to make under current economic conditions and it was a courageous Budget for an election year.
The region had "got its share of some very modest crumbs" from yesterday's Budget, but he doubted there would be any direct benefit.
Reducing national debt, avoiding a credit downgrade and giving stability to the dollar would give businesses certainty, he said.
But while the budget predicted 170,000 new jobs created by 2015, Mr Douglas doubted if Hawke's Bay would see a share.
"Jobs will happen through people having the confidence to invest in businesses that will grow."
Changes to Working For Families meant some middle-income families would be worse off each week.
Hawke's Bay families currently receive $117 million through the family support scheme. Under cuts announced yesterday, many families would receive a few dollars less each week, while those on the lowest incomes would receive more.
Napier Family Centre spokeswoman Kath Curran said times were tough already, and she expected the changes to be felt across the board.
"We work with a lot of parents and working couples and we're seeing a rise in lower wage workers who are really finding it tough," she said.
"A $10 cut doesn't seem like a lot but it actually is. People are that tight. And people are still facing reduced hours, or there's more time between jobs, because of the economy.
"Perhaps that $10 was going into a school fund. Everything is earmarked," she says.
Labour revenue spokesman and Napier list MP Stuart Nash said families would be hardest hit by this year's Budget.
"When you count in the cuts to Working For Families and KiwiSaver, it is always going to hurt a region like Hawke's Bay that has one of the lowest levels of income in New Zealand," he said.
Napier MP Chris Tremain said the Budget was a "great step forward for Hawke's Bay" because it addressed basic structural flaws in the national economy that needed to be fixed before the region could benefit.
"If you get the framework right then the private sector will grow."