Govt to be made aware of North's key issues

Issues that Northlanders think are holding the region back will be the subject of a report from Treasury to the Government to help set its policies.

Treasury chief executive Gabriel Makhlouf was in Whangarei on Wednesday visiting the Chamber of Commerce, business leaders and social agencies to find the issues that are affecting them. Mr Makhlouf said he would take the issues back to Wellington and include them in a report for the Government to use when setting policies.

Issues raised included the lack of skilled workers and skills training; infrastructure and transport difficulties; broadband internet access; expanding NorthPort; unemployment and lack of employment opportunities.

"Part of why I'm here is to get a much better understanding of the issues in the region," Mr Makhlouf said. "I've been travelling around the country to find out as much as I can about the issues concerning New Zealand. I can then give good advice to the Government to help Government make the decisions they need to make."

He had found that many of the issues worrying Northlanders were similar to those in many other regions, but it also had its own unique issues, with poor educational achievements and lack of opportunities standing out.

"What struck me about Whangarei was that the concerns of a lot of business people are quite common with other areas around the country. They are wanting people with the skills to do the jobs they want them to do. We also talked about infrastructure issues up here and transport issues, that's roading and rail and planes, while they also were interested in (expanding) ultra fast broadband to the region," he said. "We also talked about the issue of attitudes towards oil and gas exploration. When I was in Tauranga and New Plymouth we talked about similar things there."

He said the chamber raised the issues of employment and unemployment - Northland has the highest unemployment rate in the country at about 10 per cent - and the importance of maintaining a rail line to Auckland and getting a rail link to Northport at Marsden.

Education was one of the keys to improving Northland's economic situation and it was a concern that so many young people lacked qualifications.

He heard about social issues when visiting The Pulse, Stand Children's Services and the Family Works Genesis Centre.