In the picture: Gisborne.

It’s an election year. We know this because various types of carrot are being placed in front of us.

Ranging from greater welfare support, more houses, improving the quality of water to…financial support for the regions. Especially on the East Coast where the levels of youth unemployment are rampant.

Seeing it’s the regions that bring in the maximum revenues for government coffers this is welcome news indeed. But why does it have to take an election to put forward this plan? The problem exists in the region perpetually, so last year and the year before the financial support would have been very welcome!

In bolstering the regions, we can look towards more people in employment, and hopefully the ability to commit more money to R & D.

It is the regions where New Zealand’s ‘pot of gold’ lives. Primarily in land-based industries which are a far greater contributor to the economy than almost anything else apart from tourism and the construction industries which have on-going work for a while, especially in Auckland.

Australia – widely known as ‘The Lucky Country’ – has done very well from the mining industry. Over recent years exports just about looked after themselves; which is good because Australians choose a lifestyle first and have been called too casual in their dedication to growth. After all, they need time for the AFL and test cricket!

Our luck has not been different. It is the world’s continual need for agricultural and horticultural products of a high quality which we are renowned for. Markets that won’t fade out and offer New Zealand success for years to come.

Because this is regional business it makes sense that investment in the regions can assist with the manufacturing processes of food manufacturers. By making products and offering services by newly trained staff who are beneficiaries of the push to provide more capital to regional economies.

This, of course, depends on the party pushing this policy to be elected. But now that the ball has started to roll any elected party can activate the same vision.