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Primary sector begs for Kiwi workers
Beefed up biosecurity and more resources for trade training are on top of the primary sector’s wish list for the Government’s Budget, due on Thursday.
The Government has already indicated what it intends to do in terms of increased spending on irrigation and trade.
In addition, the sector will be looking at greater protection from pests and diseases, said Federated Farmers economist Nick Clark.
In the big picture, he said increased spending on infrastructure and public services, while paying down debt, would be welcome moves for the primary sector, which brings in $36 billion in export earnings a year.
The Government, in the leadup to the Budget, has already announced a number of initiatives, including:
Additional funding of $26.7 million over the next three years on irrigation schemes, plus a capital boost of $63m for irrigation investments.
New funding of $35.3m to help support primary sector exporters succeed in overseas markets. The funding will be made available to the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) over the next four years.
An additional $27m will be invested in improving access to international markets for New Zealand exporters, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Federated Farmers’ Clark said additional spending on tourism infrastructure, to help alleviate the pressure put on the regions resulting from increased visitor numbers, would be welcomed by farmers, as would extra spending on biosecurity.
“What we would like to see is increased funding for biosecurity to keep the nasty diseases and pests out of the country — that’s a high priority for farmers,” he said.
Federated Farmers welcomed individual research and development initiatives but Clark said more investment in the science “system” was needed.
Farmers have already spent an estimated $1b over the last few years on fencing and riparian planting to improve water quality and Clark said farmers would “certainly support the Government if it [helped] with that”.
Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Mike Chapman said the extra spending on irrigation was an important step on the road towards lasting food security.
“A true food security policy will do much more than just protect water and land — it will ensure New Zealand can feed itself, keep rural New Zealand thriving, and make New Zealand financially and economically sustainable,” Chapman said.
Chapman said increased spending on trade training was sorely needed, particularly as the sector goes through a growth spurt.
To that end, the sector needed assistance “to take Kiwis who are not at work and to put them through programmes to enable them to become work ready”.
Horticulture employs about 60,000 people. The last two years have seen horticulture exports grow by 40 per cent.
In the forestry sector, there was a need for more spending on rural roads and on trade training, according to NZ Forest Owners’ Association president Peter Clark.
“We have got forests that are basically stranded assets at the moment. It’s a lost regional development-growth opportunity if these forests are not harvested,” he said.
The association said there was a need for more trade training as the sector faced a shortage of skilled harvesting crews and logging truck drivers.
The latest official data showed the Government’s operating balance was running ahead of forecast by around $1.3b as at March this year.
“If this trend continues, the Budget is likely to signal an increased surplus to end the 2017 fiscal year”, ASB Bank said a pre-budget commentary.
“However . . . we expect the Government to remain focused on stated goals around further reducing net debt.”