Growing our regions - inaugural Regional Growth Summit speech

Regional Development

It's a privilege to be here today to welcome you all to our inaugural Regional Growth Summit - the first of 15 to be held across the country over the next eight months.

We are starting strong in Te Tauihu today, a region that contributes around 3 percent of New Zealand's GDP.

I would like to acknowledge Nelson Mayor Hon Dr Nick Smith, Tasman Mayor, Tim King and Marlborough Mayor, Nadine Taylor.

We are here today to hear about your priorities for Te Tauihu, how we can leverage existing opportunities and investment and, most importantly, how it all grows the region in a way that reflects the ambitions of your people.

Before we talk about how we can work together, I'd like to share more about the work the Coalition Government is doing to rebuild the economy and the importance of the regions in achieving this.

Our economic plan

This Government is getting New Zealand back on track. Our focus is firmly on rebuilding a more dynamic and productive economy, increasing prosperity and boosting opportunities for New Zealand. We are focused on growth.

To do that, we are targeting the major barriers to our growth and development, and our plan is framed around five key pillars that will turn the dial for our country.

The first pillar is building infrastructure for growth and resilience. It's no secret New Zealand has longstanding infrastructure problems - a 2021 Infrastructure Commission report estimated New Zealand's public infrastructure deficit to be approximately $104 billion, and that figure jumps to $210b over the next 30 years.

Public infrastructure investment, particularly in our regions, is not happening at the scale or pace needed to make a noticeable difference in our productivity and resilience.

I understand Te Tauihu has identified a number of infrastructure investments that would provide opportunities for growth, such as the Nelson Marina Masterplan which would support the expansion of marine engineering servicing and increase the availability of berthing sites for the marina.

We are taking action - you'll know that this Government has committed $1.2b over three years for investment into regional infrastructure through the new Regional Infrastructure Fund. I'll have more to say on this shortly.

Our second pillar is improving educational achievement and growing skills. Growing New Zealanders' skills and attracting the right talent is essential to driving productivity gains.

This is all about developing the skills of our people and driving productivity, and includes redesigning vocational training to make it more regionally responsive, efficient and relevant. We are equipping our youth with the skills to take and make opportunities for themselves, in their own communities.

Our third pillar of our economic plan is strengthening trade and investment to boost the value of our exports, grow international markets and attract investment for our firms.

This region is a strong contributor to the 'blue economy'. Te Tauihu accounts for 31.4 percent of New Zealand's economic activity in fishing, aquaculture and seafood processing. A total of 71 percent of the country's green-lipped mussel production and 52 percent of salmon farming happens here. This is extremely important to our national economy.

Further investment into these types of opportunities, as well as horticulture, food & beverage, and innovation have all been identified by your region as key priorities for supporting resilience and growth in Te Tauihu.

Science and innovation systems are critical to boosting the number of knowledge-intensive, internationally connected firms, and that's whypromoting innovation, science and technologyhas been prioritised as our fourth pillar.

Per capita, this region has the second highest number of scientists of any New Zealand city, supported by the strong presence of science and research organisations that lead aquaculture research and innovation, such as the Cawthron Institute and Plant and Food Research.

We need your help to shift New Zealand away from its default setting of volume production, towards high-value innovations such as what you are doing with your world-class aquaculture businesses.

The final pillar of our plan is one I have made no secret of championing -better regulation to remove obstacles and reduce compliance costs for business.

To unlock New Zealand's potential, we need the right policies and settings to allow development in the right places at the right time.

The length of time it takes to deliver infrastructure projects in New Zealand is costing us - in inflated costs, delays and in terms of our international reputation for doing business. We see shovel-ready projects trapped in cycles of over-regulation and legal challenges.

New Zealand needs a planning system that promotes economic development and productivity, and is efficient, affordable, and easy to navigate.

We have already taken huge steps to speed up consenting processes and through the Fast-track Approvals Bill, we want to enable major projects by improving decision-making timeframes and giving greater investment certainty, with well-designed projects having a clear and fast path to consent.

A national plan applied locally

The pillars guide a collective and cohesive direction for this Government and, by now, you should be starting to see that this plan won't be delivered in Wellington - it sits in our regions.

I want to build on this context with what I'm working towards as your Minister for Regional Development.

While I see a vital role for Government as an enabler of growth through getting the policy and regulatory settings right and strategic co-investment, I want regions to be forging their own paths, leaning into their own strengths, leading with the mana of their own people.

I want to boost regional opportunities and jobs, increase New Zealand's self-sufficiency, and position the work that happens in our regions as a critical part of our export-led focus - but that needs to be done in partnership.

I want diverse regional economies over economies that have all their eggs in the same basket. That requires local leaders to be thinking outside of the box and approaching new opportunities with curiosity, not fear.

I want people living in regional New Zealand to have the opportunity to work a good job for a good wage without having to leave for a bigger city or worse, a bigger country.

I want regions to leverage their natural resources and unique strengths, from minerals to productive land to waterways and coastlines. How can we maximise innovative uses of these natural assets to grow our economy?

I want partnership in the truest sense of the word meaning when Government, our partners do too. We work together to maximise impact.

And most importantly, especially in the short term, I want to build physical and economic resilience. Persistent underinvestment in resilience is limiting our ability to respond to shocks when they come, and is holding us back from further growth. Change is upon us, more change is coming - we need to be ready.

Green light for 42 flood resilience projects

That brings us back to the Regional Infrastructure Fund, or RIF.

The RIF is a capital fund with the primary purpose of accelerating infrastructure projects that will make a material difference in our regions.

The RIF drives productivity, prosperity, and resilience by focusing on two key investment categories: Resilience infrastructure and Enabling infrastructure.

Resilience infrastructure is infrastructure that improves a region's ability to absorb, adapt and respond to stresses and shocks caused by things like weather events, energy and water security issues or connectivity challenges.

Resilience infrastructure is deeply interlinked with enabling economic growth and development. It's the foundation of your whare, if your economy was a house.

Infrastructure done well protects your existing assets, improves investment confidence and enables people, goods, and information to keep flowing during and after an event.

Through Budget 2024, an initial $200 million of the RIF was dedicated for flood resilience infrastructure with up to $101.1m committed to 42 flood resilience projects. These are priority projects, most of which were identified by local governments in their Before the Deluge 2.0 report on flood management.

I am delighted today to confirm, after assessing each of the 42 projects, that RIF co-investment is being made available so this important work can begin.

All projects are consented, and are ready for a 2024/25 summer season start.

Six flood resilience projects will receive funding in Te Tauihu

In Nelson:

• $5.4m to provide substantial flood risk protection to the suburbs of Maitai and The Wood
• $3.6m towards a range of sediment removal and flow management work on waterways in Nelson.

In the Tasman District:

• $6.6m for the Lower Motueka River Stopbank Refurbishment
• $900,000 for the Peach Island Stopbank Repair

And in Marlborough District:

• $3.6m for the Lower Wairau River Flood Capacity Upgrade
• $2.88m to construct a range of groynes and extend rock armour on the Wairau River.

Together, these projects are estimated to improve flood protection to farmland, industrial and residential areas across Te Tauihu. For example, Spring Creek will be further protected alongside SH1 and the Picton-Christchurch main rail line, and in Motueka approximately 1400 hectares of fertile and productive land will be protected by the Lower Motueka River Stopbank Refurbishment.

Beyond resilience, enabling infrastructure next priority

I mentioned the second focus of the RIF is supporting 'Enabling infrastructure', infrastructure that enables growth by ensuring regions are well-connected and productive.

We are seeking to co-invest in regional assets that are or will be used by, and generate benefits for, multiple businesses or many parts of a community. This could be a shared service such as an innovation park or facility, or a supply chain and transport solution.

A great example of an enabling infrastructure project in your backyard is the New Zealand Wine Centre -Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, which Government granted a co-investment loan of $3.79m towards. The Centre is an integrated innovation, research and education centre for viticulture at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology in Blenheim.

The centre includes the newly opened Experimental Future Vineyard, a state of the art facility enabling research to futureproof the next generation of wine, ensuring the sector continues to thrive and diversify through innovation.

Another example of an enabling infrastructure project is the upgrade of Golden Bay's Port Tarakohe. The Government invested $6m, alongside Tasman District Council's $6.7m investment, to update and expand port infrastructure to enable access to commercial marine berths while creating more safe working wharf space, a new food-grade wharf area and a harbour master building. It's great to see this work now underway.

These projects are tangible examples of why enabling infrastructure is important. Co-funding unlocks and expedites the growth potential in the regions.

Bring us strategic partnerships opportunities, not wish lists

The RIF is different to previous Government regional development funds. Our focus is on how the Crown can better deliver in the regions by accelerating major regional infrastructure projects through larger transformational capital investment.

$1.2b is a substantial amount, but it will only go so far to reducing the infrastructure deficit.

I've talked this morning about the priorities of the Government, my priorities as Minister for Regional Development and for the rest of this session, we're here to talk about your priorities and aspirations for Te Tauihu.

We are looking to you to identify what's most important for your region in terms of future growth and development. The question you need to be asking is in what ways are the projects you are putting forward increasing the resilience in your area of New Zealand?

How will you leverage existing opportunities, investment and strategies to grow? Where do our priorities meet, and how do we work together?

This is a conversation we will be replicating with regions across the country, hearing about each region's aspirations and opportunities for growth.

My message to you all is that we are seeking opportunities for strategic, enduring partnerships and we want to see considered proposals that reflect that and will help transform our regions, not just now but for the future. I'm telling you now, this is not a fund for wish lists.

Remember, we are investing for cumulative impact. Keep working together with each other, and with us to align your priorities and the projects that you put forward for consideration for RIF funding.

Thank you again for joining me today and I'm looking forward to the conversation on how we grow Te Tauihu together.