Independence not an issue but its causes are

Press, 17 November 1981, Page 21

Independence not an issue but its causes are

By

KAREN MANGNALL

General election issues: REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT j

Remember the South Island Movement — selfgovernment, discount electricity. the northward population drain, and the general feeling that the Government was not doing right by the Mainland, and Canterbury in particular?

Public fervour on these topics has diminished slightly but the underlying grumbles remain to be answered by the three political parties contesting this month’s General Election.

These grumbles are highlighted by the loss northwards or overseas of 5000 Cantabrians (1 per cent of the population) between censuses. and the nearly 6000 registered unemployed or on special work in Christchurch by the end of September. So, while none of the parties promise to return the Ranfurly Shield to Canterbury, they do promise various boosters to the province’s industry, agriculture, and employment. Canterbury’s economic powerhouse is still its agri-

culture and primary products — wool and meat. Mr J. M. T. Greene, president of the Chamber of Commerce, says that Canterbury needs to export more products directly overseas instead of incurring prohibitive transport costs by selling to North Island markets. He also believes that Canterbury needs to process much more of its own primary products to give them added value on overseas markets, offsetting transport and distribution costs, export more horticultural products, and lure more tourists directly to the South Island instead of allowing them to come via Auckland. In many ways, the three parties are offering Canterbury similar sorts of development, especially as none of National’s energy projects are in the province. National has no special package for Canteroury, says the candidate for Selwyn, Ruth Richardson. All regions are being treated equally and will get the same benefits from the over-all strategy. National expects the growth in wool and meat processing and Canterbury’s exports to flow naturally from the growth strategy. The export incentives and myriad small business

incentives which the Government has operated for the last six years will continue, she adds. Miss Richardson believes that massive irrigation will provide the most significant boosts to business and employment in Canterbury. "I don't accept that irrigation development is just going to be a bonanza for the farmers,” she insists. “The rural base is a significant part of Canterbury’s economy and the benefits in terms of jobs will follow through to townships and cities.” Labour’s member of Parliament for St Albans. David Caygill, agrees that irrigation needs a lot of work, especially in North and South Canterbury. It would not only provide jobs installing the schemes, but the increase in agricultural products would provide more jobs on farms, in freezing works, and in transport. Social Credit's candidate for Yaldhurst, Norman .Davey, also agrees that irrigation needs to be pushed along as one of Canterbury’s prime natural resources to be developed. Miss Richardson says that large-scale irrigation would be the National Government’s top priority for

Canterbury. Social Credit and Labour do not give it the same importance in their lists of priorities. Miss Richardson says that Canterbury's fishing industry has already benefited from the growth strategy — through the 200 km zone and finance for ocean-going fishing boats. She sees Lyttelton, Akaroa. and Timaru as centres for expansion, and adds that a National Government would provide finance for better equipment, boats, and processing facilities. She admits that small fishermen have resisted ocean-going boats and their accompanying joint ventures,

but says this resistance is already fading. Canterbury also has a horticultural goldmine, particularly in research at the D.5.1.R., Lincoln College, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Miss Richardson says. It could supply new plant strains, crops, and technology best suited to New Zealand conditions — with National Government funding. Herb and blackcurrant growing were just two horticultural possibilities to provide jobs for the young and unskilled unemployed. With Canterbury’s arable land awaiting, energy farming has a great future, Miss Richardson says. The Government is already funding Lincoln College’s researches into biomass fuels. Initially, biomass units could provide for individual farm’s energy needs and ultimately — given the technology — for part of the nation’s energy requirements. Finally, the growth strategy holds special promise for the expansion of Canterbury’s tourism, she says. However, the infrastructure needs a lot of up-

grading to meet international standards. “The Government is trying to strike a balance between quick government upgrading and the slower but more desiraole way ■ of involving private enterprise.”

The Labour Party takes a dim view of National’s treatment of Canterbury — what David Caygill calls a pattern of benign neglect — and says that the province has not deserved its slower growth record compared to other provinces. Mr Caygill promises that Labour will immediately apply resuscitation by designating Canterbury a regional development area, eligible for cheap finance for small businesses and additional transport subsidies. This meets with enthusiastic approval from the president of the Manufacturers’ Association. Mr D. A. Bowron. Canterbury’s manufacturers have, only picked up heart in the last six months and need the sort of remedies implied in the regional development area. “In our policy we see the South Island and Canterbury moving more towards pro-

cessing rather than exporting raw materials,” Mr Caygill says. Labour’s policy for the province therefore' calls for more freezing works and carpet mills. “If we got 3 per cent of the American carpet market in the long term, we would be able to employ 10.000 more people in New Zealand. I consider that to be a particularly realistic aim.

“the share of the market we will aim for will be where the quality, durability, and the look of it — the snob value almost — is more important than the carpet’s' price. “Christchurch itself would

be the first and obvious place to set up such a carpet factory. “We are not talking about state-run carpet factories or fishing industries in our policies. We are talking about making finance available and assisting, with marketing and market exploration.” Government, he adds, is not in the business of running business, but of facilitating it. A Labour government would want to restore the vital missing link in Canterbury's small business — the entrepreneur who has been foisted off by the National Government. Labour also wants more biomass fuels produced in South Canterbury, especially ethanol, to provide alternative energy sources for industry now that gas has been removed. The big Labour and Social Credit goody for the householder is a promised discount of electricity costs to the domestic consumer. While Labour is still doing a cautious pas de deux with the various large energy projects, Social Credit won’t dance at all. Mr Davey says that such capital intensive projects reduce the investment funds available for small business, industry, and

farming, and provide a small job return for the investment. Therefore, Socred’s main thrust for the South Island and Canterbury is toward developing the processing of wool and meat before export, closely followed by a big development in the province’s fishing industry — also mainly for export. The fishing centres would be Lyttelton. Akaroa, and Greymouth. “In Canterbury, we want to establish industries based on alternative forms of energy, set up wherever possible in smaller provincial towns, to keep local people in their own environments

and their own homes,” Mr Davey says. “We have to get small industries in the South Island. The more big industries you have the more industrial trouble you have. Because of the high. unemployment, emphasis will be placed on labour-intensive rather than capital-intensive industries.” Cheap finance would be available from a National Credit Authority or Regional Development Banks to industries creating more jobs and using local Resources. Preference for funds would be given to those encouraging local shareholding and worker participation. “Tourism will earn a lot of overseas funds but won’t provide that many jobs. There are other ways of spending money to create more job opportunities,” Mr Davey adds. Social Credit has produced a long list of South Island development projects — help for Nelson’s tobacco industry. a coal utilisation plant at Buller, planting exotics south of the Waitaha River“Regional development is really an attempt to revive industry in general. If the whole nation is in a similar rundown state then every area needs development,” Mr Davey explains.