May 17, 2023
Regional investment on Jones’ wishlist
Former regional economic development minister Shane Jones wants to see a renewed commitment to the regions in tomorrow’s Budget.
Mr Jones, who’s again standing in Northland for New Zealand First, says the Government can find more than $50 billion by ditching overly-ambition projects like Auckland light rail and the Onslow pumped hydropower project in the South Island.
That can be redirected into true bread and butter projects like roads, bridges and stopbanks.
“I tried strenuously to get enough putea to boost the resilience of our stopbanks and around all our rivers because I knew that food grows in areas that are prone to flooding. The way to cope with flooding in our Maori communities and our broader New Zealand community is to borrow the technology and engineering successfully implemented in America and other places and constantly adapt to cope with the weather,” Mr Jones says.
He’s alarmed at what seems a lack of urgency in the bureacracy to repair the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, with communities in north Hokianga still struggling with damaged roads three months later.