Government Spending

The allocation of most Government services such as police, hospitals and social welfare is based on population tweaked a little to reflect specific regional differences.

However there are some areas of Government spending where the playing field seems far from level, and where Hawke's Bay seems to miss out rather badly.

The first of these is Government funded institutions.

For instance there are universities in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, ( Palmerston North also has a teachers training college ) Wellington, Christchurch ( where there are two universities ) and Dunedin. These are hugely beneficial to local economies through the employment of many well paid staff, as well as through general spending.

Local economies are also boosted by student spending, especially those students attracted from other parts of the country or from overseas.

Where there is a university the population is likely to be better educated giving these areas a competitive advantage when trying to attract new businesses. Undoubtedly lack of a university is one reason why we rank poorly for the number of people with tertiary qualifications.

We are the largest major centre in the country without a university. Many of Hawke's Bay's young people must travel outside the area to obtain skills and training. This is a huge drain on theirs, and their families finances, and extracts vital spending out of our own economy.

Military bases are another important boost to some areas, but not Hawke's Bay. Palmerston North is clearly a winner with two. An air base at Ohakea, and a major Army Base at Linton. Auckland also gains with an air force base at Whenuapai, plus the Navel facility at Devonport.

Of course the big winner from Government spending has to be Wellington as the capital city, where not surprisingly incomes are the highest in the country.

Some areas also seem to get a very generous share of Governments spending on one off projects. Te Papa museum in Wellington was built entirely with Government money and a major part of its annual running cost is also met by Government.

Helen Clark generously promised some 190 million dollars to upgrade Eden Part for the Rugby World Cup when she was Prime Minister. An upgrade that will provide huge long term advantages over other parts of the country when competing for major events in the future.

The present Government has thrown in another $20 million for a half share contribution to purchase Queens Wharf in Auckland to provide a giant party centre for the rugby world cup with more on promise.

Infrastructure spending by Government is also significant. Hardly a week goes by without an official announcement of some major new public works somewhere in the country.
Wellington looks likely to get a billion dollars to build a new motorway through transmission Gully to the north of the city, one of the seven roads of national significance to be given funding priority.

The new Victoria Park Viaduct & Tunnel Project in Auckland is expected to cost over $400m and there are several other huge roading projects proposed for our largest city.

Only a few years ago Tauranga was given a 250 million dollar harbour bridge as part of the deal to gain Winston Peters support for the minority Labor administration.

Commuter rail systems in our two major cities are also being upgraded at tax payers expense. Double tracking of the line north of Wellington and extending the electrification to Wakanae will cost $90 million.

These are all important projects which could not proceed without Government funding but Hawke's Bay seems to be missing out.

With 150 000 people Hawke's Bay is about 1/10th the size of Auckland. On a per capita basis we might expect to get about 1/10th as much as Auckland and perhaps a quarter to a third as much as Wellington. It doesn't seem to happen though.

For instance the $190 million spent on Eden Park equates to $19 million for McLean Park. Well as I recall we got just $2.1 million.

So who is responsible for this sad state of affairs?

Well I blame the politicians starting with our local Mayors and Councils. Compared to the endless string of demands coming out of Auckland we seem to insist on nothing.

For instance our two Mayors let the Crown refuse to contribute to the airport upgrade , when there was a legally binding agreement that specified Government was to pay half of any development costs.

Of course both our Mayors seem to have developed separate but parallel career paths in Wellington so perhaps their willingness to compromise Hawke's Bay's interests are understandable.

I think we also have a problem with our Parliamentary representatives. In spite of having up to five MP's including two cabinet ministers living locally until recently we seemed to have no effective voice.

Unless we start getting a better share of meaningful Government spending we can expect our local economy to continue performing poorly.