Northland now 'Third World' according to Taitokerau councillor

Northland could benefit from government attention, says Rihari Dargaville. Pictured is Kawakawa toilets.

Northland's state of "crisis" has reached a point that is tantamount to Third World status according to Taitokerau District Maori Council chairman Rihari Dargaville.

And he blames the current government.

"They and we are all familiar with the terrible statistics of depravation, social disorder, family violence, high unemployment and so on," Mr Dargaville said.

"The Government is continuing its decade-long practice of ignoring the matter, or merely giving trivial or band aid-style cures. If there is to be a new government post-September it will need to recognise that Northland is tantamount to a Third World country, where the majority have low incomes, poor life expectancy, poor educational outcomes, a commodity-based economy, high levels of criminality, poor housing and very stark divisions between the rich and poor."

The vast majority of young people were leaving for advanced education or simply economic survival, and not returning until their 50s, leading to disparities in terms of both age and wealth.

What was needed, he said, was a long-term cross-party plan that addressed all aspects of capacity-building, including better port, road, rail and air infrastructure, a feasibility study for an international airport, a rail link to Ruakaka, road improvements (including a motorway beyond Whangarei to Auckland), and an upgrade of Opua's wharf to take smaller liners.

The view within government that many social and economic issues would abate when Ngapuhi were "pushed" into Treaty settlement was nonsense.

"Far too much energy and impetus is being directed around the settlement, resulting in my Ngapuhi people falling further into the dark hole of poverty," Mr Dargaville said.
"This is real. I see it in Moerewa, Kawakawa and Kaikohe, the places with the highest populations of Maori in the North."

He called on the Government to establish special economic zones to nurture sustainable industries; to lead major reforestation projects to lay the foundations for a sustainable native timber industry; to re-examine electricity pricing policies; to launch a building programme to bring houses up to a habitable standard; and to establish a research centre in the North to investigate means of adding value to commodities such as timber, cheese and the pharmaceutical potential of native plants.

"Treating the North as some kind of Third World colony from which you extract labour in bare commodities has got to stop," he said, noting that many of the region's commodities, including fish, milk, logs, ceramic clay, manuka honey and swamp kauri, were exported for processing.

"Many skilled people who were born in the North and are now scattered throughout New Zealand, Australia and the world would wish to return, but the colonial construct of the northern economy precludes them from participating," he said.

"There is also a need for a development bank that is not driven by security against land but acts as a venture capital source.

"Northland has a wonderful climate, sufficient water, fertile soils, a wide variety of flora and fauna capable of economic use, and a large, young population. These attributes should be used rather than frittered away.

"The people of the North do not want anything more than the ability to earn based on their own efforts and talents. The difficulty is the North, as it is currently constructed, completely handicaps enterprise.

"The Maori and Pakeha governance institutions of the North need to look to themselves to ensure that they support these initiatives rather than feeding off the welfare revenue streams that merely keep the sick patient alive."