MPs visit hightech businesses
LABOUR’S economic development caucus visited Dunedin yesterday, MPs viewing a range of hightech and digital businesses and stockpiling ideas to take home with them.
‘‘Coming from Northland it is really useful to see what is happening in other areas and then take that back up north and share it with my community,’’ list MP WillowJean Prime said.
‘‘Last week I went to the opening of a collective space in Kaikohe which is in its infancy and developing the idea and having seen [Stafford St shared workspace] Petridish, I will be taking that experience back and sharing it with the people in Kaikohe.’’
MPs started their tour at Petridish, visiting digital games company Runaway, before moving to Innov8HQ.
They also received a briefing on the new Dunedin Hospital, before meeting Mayor Aaron Hawkins, Dunedin City Council representatives, and the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
East Coastbased list MP Kiri Allan planned to follow Ms Prime’s example and apply the examples of Petridish and Runaway to her own area.
‘‘It’s quite epic what they are doing, so we’re asking what sort of support do you need?
‘‘Then the question is how do we take the model that they have here and how can we look to develop that in our regions?’’
The visit was organised by Dunedin South MP Clare Curran, who said she wanted her colleagues to see the digital economy burgeoning in Dunedin.
‘‘Now that we have announced the Centre of Digital Excellence this week, a national project but based in Dunedin, that is setting the groundwork for the careers of the future.’’
New Lynn MP Deborah Powell, who chairs Parliament’s finance and expenditure select committee, said it was easy for politicians to think New Zealand ended at the bottom of the Bombay Hills, even though she was in Wellington every week.
‘‘We can’t just focus just on Auckland or just on Wellington, we have to build the whole of the country,’’ she said.
‘‘We can’t do everything everywhere but we can build hot spots of excellence, and Petridish is a wonderful example of that.’’