Winston Peters MP: Who's pulling the handbrake?

Winston Peters MP. Photo / File

Until National lost the Northland by-election two years ago, central government barely knew Northland existed. And what about National's promises? The roads, the bridges, the cell tower coverage and super, super-fast broadband. And job opportunities.

Northlanders have had enough of economic plans that sound good on paper, but end in the "sometime-never" basket. With the resources and advantages Northland has - proximity to Auckland and to international shipping routes - our region should be thriving.

We are not. Over the last 10 years annual economic growth in Northland averaged 1.4 per cent, compared with a national average of 1.8 per cent. Both figures are bad, but ours is worse.

Neglect by central government is a major factor. With its depth of water and land availability not seen anywhere else in New Zealand, Northport is way short of the utility it should be. But narrow-minded parochialism from Auckland, condoned by central government, has choked Northport's potential, and we have seen it again with pie-in-the sky schemes to develop a port in Auckland rather than expanding ours.

One thing Northport needs is a rail service, and New Zealand First is working hard to make sure that happens. Also, Refining New Zealand must be supported in its plan to dredge the harbour to keep Northport financially competitive. If oil tankers continue to leave under-loaded because the harbour is not deep enough, the economic viability will be challenged.

Rail is critical for the future development of the North and Northport. We can't develop our region when the very means vital to our region's potential is being destroyed by stealth. Unfortunately KiwiRail is on a trail of self-destruction in the North. They shut down the Dargaville-Whangarei line three years ago; last year they shut the Kauri-Otiria line and Portland connection. Then they slashed the rail freight service to Auckland line by half, from 20 trains a week to 10.

Like other regions, Northland urgently needs infrastructure to handle growing tourism. In March the government took $1.5 billion in GST from international visitors alone, a huge jump on the $950 million the previous year. So why isn't the government giving back more of those billions to the regions where tourists go for infrastructure like toilets, parking and other amenities?

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett made a song and dance about giving $5.5 million for tourism infrastructure - nationwide. Last year they gave councils $12 million for seven toilets. A fair slice of the GST the government is pocketing from international visitors must flow back into regions like Northland. And it is not.

For too long Northland, and other provinces, have had to put up with the two-tiered economy, Auckland and the rest of us. That must change. Northland deserves to receive its share of economic development resources.