We have recently read in the Dominion newspaper the Prime Minister, John Key’s, statement that Wellington “is a dying city”.      He further stated that they did not know how to turn it around.

The Government has encouraged business and people to migrate into Auckland and now paying the price with a traffic grid lock and poor infrastructure to support the increasing population.    The Prime Minister stating, “That’s put a lot of pressure on the infrastructure of Auckland”.

Solutions to the problem:

The Government should stop spending money in Auckland and spread the investment to other locations in New Zealand, e.g. how long has Wellington being waiting for Transmission Gully’s finalisation.     How long has the city been waiting for a cross city link to the Airport?    How long will we had to wait for the Airport extension?   These on  their own would create incentives and with the number one University in NZ this would encourage more international students to study in the Greater Wellington Region.

For the past 20 years money has been spent by the Government in Auckland as that is where the majority of the votes come from, and this coupled with the fact that Auckland is the backyard for the succession of Prime Ministers.    The biggest issue, we have had too many Prime Ministers with their home base in Auckland, we do not have enough high ranking Cabinet Ministers from Wellington.

Let us look at what the Government could do to spread the population in New Zealand:

1. Immigration: Provide greater points incentive for living out of Auckland when applying for Residence under Skilled Migrant.
2. International students being encouraged to go to other parts of NZ out of Auckland
3. Trade & Enterprise should encourage Investors and Business people to look at other locations and not consistently advise them to look at Auckland.
4. Fast track an Airport extension in Wellington to handle international flights other than just from Australia.
5. Science and Technology: The Hutt Valley has unused facilities that could easily be promoted with its flat open spaces. Already reported in the media regarding US Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs arriving and establishing themselves in this location.     An excellent campus with Callaghan Innovation in Seaview and the Wallaceville facilities are good starting points. With modern day technology there is no need to be located in a city.

There is not too much produced in Auckland it all happens outside the region, but Auckland reaps the benefits.