On Monday, I attended Massey University's New Zealand Forum in Hastings, where Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley gave a presentation on his Hawke's Bay demographic research.
We are soon going to have more retirees than those entering the workforce and this will challenge our province. It was fascinating to hear ProfessorSpoonley's projections on the ageing of our population. He suggested we could encourage our older residents to invest or we could introduce a regional migration policy.
Good ideas, but we also need to attract young people to come back and work, rather than just return to retire. To do that, we need to be innovative and create jobs.
There is just one problem - our political leaders (be they mayors or MPs) seem to be generally talking at cross-purposes. The issue of amalgamation has divided our province and it is time for our leaders to work together on a long-term plan for our economic upliftment.
The current level of co-operation is not enough. Our local councils work together well on some things. This week's signing of the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Facilities Plan Memorandum of Understanding is a case in point, but we need more. Our cities and towns should not be competing with each other for the same investors and businesses.
A task force, made up of our mayors, MPs and selected business and community leaders, needs to be set up as a matter of urgency to find real ways to attract businesses, investors and skilled workers to all parts of the province. Not a talk-fest, but something that produces results.
It is time for our leaders to stop disagreeing and step up.
