Hundertwasser – an iconic Northland product

What an interesting week it’s been. The Northland Chamber of Commerce has completed a submission to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee regarding the Emissions Trading proposal as it stands, talk of a new Hunderwatsser museum in Whangarei and wholesale changes at the Northland Chamber Board.

Climate Change Emissions trading amendment

Our submission to the Government says that The Northland Chamber of Commerce opposes the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill. We support action to reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gases but we believe the government should not be imposing restrictive measures upon New Zealand businesses ahead of other countries. We have asked the Finance and Expenditure Committee To put aside these measures and reconsider once our trading partners implement. The reason for this of course is that it immediately gives non complying countries a competitive price advantage over us when trading internationally. Another Disturbing effect of the trading and emissions amendment is the potential for job losses in Northland which we would obviously like to avoid.

Hunderwatsser Museum

Every region in New Zealand can boast about parts of their region that entice visitors. Usually these are to do with physical beauty (Mt aspiring) or one off events (Wanganui masters Games).

Smart Regions are being very clever in the cultural Tourism industry. They are taking a local feature whether that be a person, place, event or thing and developing an iconic product around that. This makes sense on a few counts - the foremost being that a region can be very specific about what makes it special therefore giving itself a unique selling point (Just like a business).

We can see a great deal of common sense in the Hundertwasser proposal. Yes for Whangarei but more importantly for the wider Northland Economy. Unfortunately there has been some discord regarding the sighting of the proposed museum. If we are smart about this proposal every small town in Northland could work in with the Museum to have a Hundertwasser iconic piece or feature.

We know that the Cultural Tourism sector is very financially rewarding. We also know that art patrons that travel to NZ to see an iconic work such as the Museum in Whangarei will probably travel to Kawakawa to see the Hundertwasser work there. So why not Kerikeri, Kaitaia, Kaikohe, Dargaville and Ruawai capitalising on this and working in with the Whangarei Museum to get ‘Hundertwasser lovers to travel a circuit. Surely that would encourage these visitors to stay longer, spend more and come back more frequently.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce held its board meeting on 27th February. We have a new board and a few good challenges for the year ahead. Our new board are on our website http://www.northchamber.co.nz/

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Big Changes: Northland Chamber of Commerce Board

Eight new board members were voted on to the Northland Chamber of commerce board at the Chamber AGM on Wednesday night.

Chamber CEO Jeff Smith says ‘there was a lot of interest in standing for our board which concluded in a vote at the AGM on Wednesday’.

‘We had a few retirements during the year so it was good that there was a keen level of interest in the Chamber’

The new board sees 8 new board members and 6 of the current board.

We have an exciting mix among our board with experts in the fields that the Chamber advocates strongly for namely Town Planning, Employment specialists, Construction, tourism, project management with the WDC and NRC remaining represented through co-opted members Greg Martin and Bill Rossiter.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is accredited to the International Chambers of Commerce, is a voluntary self funded organisation whose purpose is to protect the environment that businesses operate in within Northland.

Membership is made up of businesses, organisations and individuals all over Northland. 2007 has seen membership and involvement increase and in particular the Far north and Kaipara districts.

The 2008 Northland Chamber of Commerce Board is


Tony
Savage
President
Urlich McNab Kilpatrick

Tim
Robinson
Vice President
Gen-i

Dean
Subritzky
Treasurer
Sudburys Ltd

Vince
Cocurullo
Board
Cocurullo's Ltd

Richard
Engdahl
Board
Organisational Imagineering International Ltd

Nat
Davis
Board
Renov8

Darren
Mason
Board
Northpower

Jeroen
Jongejans
Board
Dive!Tutukaka

Heather
Tomason
Board
Griffiths & Associates

Noël
Jelsma
Board
Gen-i Northland

Paul
Neshausen
Board
Direction

Murray
Broadbelt
Board
Employer Services Ltd

Andrew
Bourke
Board
Konica Minolta Business Solutions

Alan
Wilkinson
Board
AK Consulting/Surveyors North


The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nzYou can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Northland Chamber submission on the Climate Change Bill








28th February 2008.

Finance and Expenditure Select Committee
C/o Parliament Buildings
Wellington
By email carol.brouwer@parliament.govt.nz.

Submission to:
The Finance and Expenditure Committee

Submission regarding:
Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill - Bill No 187-1

Submission by:
The Northland Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.

General Nature of Submission


The Northland Chamber of Commerce opposes the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill. We support action to reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gases but we believe the government should not be imposing restrictive measures upon New Zealand businesses ahead of other countries.

Decision sought


To put aside these measures and reconsider once our trading partners implement
In place of these measure to implement a broad-based greenhouse gas charge accompanied by a corresponding reduction in income tax as an alternative to the emissions trading scheme.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce


The Northland Chamber of Commerce currently has 363 financial members that employ the equivalent of 5000 full time employees.

Since 1903, the Northland Chamber of Commerce has served the needs of the Northland business community through its public policy and advocacy initiatives and its business development programs and services.


The Chamber also works to ensure that Northland has a business-friendly environment where all businesses can grow and prosper. With this, also comes paying close attention to the quality of life the region offers our members’ employees and families. The Chamber works to make a difference in Northland’s future and to help Northland grow.


The Northland Chamber of Commerce generally favour well researched development projects that add value to the economy, community and infrastructure of the region especially those projects that undergo rigorous scrutiny to ensure that the community and environment are protected.


Our Submission


The Northland Chamber of Commerce opposes the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill.


We support action to reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gases but we believe the government should not be imposing restrictive measures upon New Zealand businesses ahead of other countries.

The measures proposed in the Bill, specifically the Emissions Trading Scheme and the limitation on thermal electricity generation, will result in significantly higher energy and transport costs for New Zealand businesses which our trading partners will not have to face.

These costs will reduce New Zealand’s international competitiveness and result in a loss of investment and jobs as companies contract activity, close down or relocate offshore.

If businesses do relocate offshore, this will do nothing to reduce global emissions. In fact global emissions might increase if that economic activity were to shift to another economy with more lenient climate change policies.

The impacts of supporting the Emissions Trading Bill are job losses and a diminishing of our economic base
The Government’s figures show that 1630 jobs would be lost in Northland alone – a 2.7% contraction.

An impact of this size on the economic base of our region would have devastating consequences and would be unacceptable. We urge you to reconsider this legislation.

We strongly believe that New Zealand should not introduce emissions trading or any other price based mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until our major trading partners face similar costs.

Putting aside the issue of New Zealand moving too far and too fast, we consider the emissions trading scheme to be a flawed way of reducing emissions.

We are concerned that without some sort of mechanism to temper market forces the proposed scheme will result in excessively high and volatile energy prices.

We are also concerned that the free allocation of emissions Units to protect the energy intensive companies will disadvantage smaller businesses relative to larger ones.

We believe a broad-based greenhouse gas charge accompanied by a corresponding reduction in income tax should be considered as an alternative to the emissions trading scheme. This would result in much more stable energy prices.

We would appreciate an opportunity to speak to our submission at the Select Committee hearing.


Yours faithfully

Jeff Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Northland Chamber of Commerce

Graffiti crackdown fantastic but lets not forget the responsible retailers in Northland

Its great to see central Government cracking down on those that wantonly and recklessly inflict their trash on private property and in doing so attempt to drag our regions public face and into the dysfunctional cesspits that these people appear to wallow in.

We wonder about the wisdom in fining perpetrators $2000 for desecrating property when history has shown the NZ justice system only too willing to ‘write off’ fines of people once they rack up $30000 or more in fines.

Our solution is to ‘tag’ these people with their fines that follows them for life until they are no longer ‘drawing an income’ or earning a living with an amount extracted each week as reparation to society.

We must however point out that we have in Whangarei a group of businesses that are often overlooked by media, who have already taken measures to protect our community by signing up to a voluntary code of ethics proposed by the Northland Chamber last year.

Last year we asked retailers involved in the sale of ‘graffiti type material’ if they were doing anything and what they would be prepared to do to assist with this problem.

The following retailers (MITRE 10 Regent, Placemakers, Colourplus Kamo and Wynn Fraser paints) agreed various initiatives put forward by the Chamber to assist in the stem of sales of paint to taggers. Not only did these retailers agree on self imposed ethics but they had already put systems such as security, restricting sales Policies and a responsible attitude in pushing for a solution to stop the tagging scourge.

It is also interesting to note that these businesses have a local content in other words the franchise or business is owned locally and therefore have more than a financial stake in our community with most of the staff being local.

In last weeks announcement from Government one of the crackdowns was to impose fines of up to $1500 on businesses for not having special security arrangements in place. Once again Government has picked the ‘easy’ target, Business, to pick on when societies ills such as tagging appear on the agenda. Why should businesses be fined $1500 because your offspring or cousin can successfully steals spray paint from them?

The message is this. Support these businesses. They are run by people who by there creativity and initiative risk their capital to provide jobs and services to our community. They are also part of the most ‘compliance imposed upon’ groups in New Zealand and the ones that put back into your community in a various number of ways.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

2008 Budget Personal Tax Package – Northland Chamber of Commerce



As the Northland Chamber of Commerce we sometime s get quite pre-occupied with business issues….. and quite rightly so as we are a predominantly business group.


Recently the Chamber of Commerce along with a number of other business groups submitted a proposal to the Government on their 2008 Budget statement which focussed heavily on aligning the top personal tax rates to the company rate.


The reason for this being the personal tax rate is more important than the company rate for many small and medium-sized businesses, and there is a strong case for alignment of the top personal, company and trust rates in the interests of simplifying the tax system and reducing compliance costs.


The government has said that promoting economic growth is a top priority objective reducing high effective marginal tax rates.


The Hon Peter Dunne who came and spoke to the Northland Chamber in 2006 and alluded to aligning personal and company rates has now proposed to align the personal, company and trust rates at 30%. We think that this is commendable and given the government’s fiscal position, this could readily be implemented provided firm control is exercised over government spending.
In the medium term, personal and other income tax rates should be lowered further to make New Zealand more internationally competitive and attract investment.


Cuts in rates are also preferable to adjustments to tax thresholds, and we are opposed to measures such as the introduction of a tax-free threshold. The Submission set out below is affordable and could be implemented without creating ongoing inflationary pressures and without cutting real spending.


Recent tax moves have not been generally focused on growth, and they have increased the tax burden for many businesses and working people. The relative simplicity of the income tax system has been sacrificed in the process.


The wage gap with Australia cannot be closed by redistribution – it requires growth. A bold package that aligns all income tax rates at 30% or below would increase productivity and economic growth, be very positive for business, reduce unnecessary compliance costs, help stem the outflow of enterprising New Zealanders, and greatly improve New Zealand’s economic outlook.


Our Submission - Introduction


Economic growth is a priority objective of the government. Growth requires improvements in productivity and workforce participation. Both would be assisted by lower taxes.
The reduction in the rate of company tax from 1 April 2008 is a welcome move. However, personal tax rates are more important for many small and medium-sized businesses and professional organisations, and for new equity invested in companies by resident taxpayers. A coherent, medium-term strategy for personal taxation is needed which is consistent with the decisions on business taxation in the 2007 Budget. At present New Zealand’s tax policy is lacking in strategic direction and vision.


The Tax Review 2001 (McLeod Review) remains a sound guide for such a strategy. A key recommendation was the adoption of a lower, flatter income tax structure. This would reduce the deadweight costs, complexities and other inefficiencies of the present system.


Proposed tax package


To have the maximum benefits for growth, reductions in the highest effective marginal tax rates are needed, ie those that most influence the productive effort of taxpayers. The top two personal rates (39% and 33%) should be lowered and aligned with the company tax rate and related rates. This would foster greater work effort, including investment in education and training, and encourage unincorporated firms to use resources more efficiently. A reduction in the effective rate of tax (business and personal) on new equity-financed investment could be expected to increase the proportion of investment that is financed by residents.
From a growth perspective, reducing tax rates is preferable to adjusting thresholds because incentives to work, save and invest at the margin are increased. Threshold changes only change marginal rates for a relatively small number of taxpayers. (If the two top brackets were indexed for inflation since 2000, only around 15% of individual taxpayers and about 12% of taxable income payable by individuals would be affected.) Also, as the Inland Revenue Department has documented, tax thresholds induce many taxpayers to arrange their affairs in ways that enable them to avoid higher tax rates, which does little for growth.
Nevertheless, fiscal drag (the increase in revenue collected as taxpayers move into higher tax brackets) is a problem with the present scale. This is best dealt with by flattening the tax scale, as many countries around the world are doing, but adjustments to thresholds, which could benefit lower income taxpayers and others, could form part of an overall package.
This analysis suggests that aligning the top personal, company and trust rates at 30%, as the minister of revenue has suggested, in one or two steps would have major benefits for the economy and New Zealanders.


The case for not reducing higher rates (the 33% and 39% rates) on equity grounds founders when looked at alongside recent tax initiatives (eg the lower company tax rate, tax concessions and the Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) rules) which will reduce the tax rate on much taxable income to 30%. The Working for Families and KiwiSaver schemes also provide significant tax relief for many taxpayers who earn incomes that are subject to the top personal rate of tax. Reducing and aligning the personal, company and trust rates would significantly reduce the incentives and costs of avoiding the top personal tax rate. It would also restore equity between self-employed persons and those subject to PAYE who have less scope to avoid the higher tax rates. The Working for Families scheme should also be adjusted by reductions in assistance to higher income earners (many of whom would benefit from a tax cut), a reduction in the abatement rate and possibly by introducing a universal element.


Fiscal headroom


There is scope, over time, to implement a much larger tax package than that implied in the 2008 Budget Policy Statement (BPS). The BPS forecasts suggest that core Crown operating spending will increase by 0.9 percentage points of GDP by 2011/12. Slower growth in operating spending and a lower provision for new capital spending could help fund additional tax reductions. A somewhat higher proportion of capital spending could also be funded from debt without any significant change in forecast debt ratios. The BPS forecasts take no account of the impact on growth over time of improved incentives that arise from lower effective marginal tax rates. Over the medium term, perhaps up to 40 percent of tax revenue initially forgone might be recouped from higher growth and less tax avoidance. We think that net tax reductions of up to $2.5 billion annually could be responsibly implemented in stages over the next few years.


Tax criteria


We consider the proposed package would meet the criteria laid down by the minister of finance:
· it need not involve increased borrowing for operating purposes;
· it would allow expenditure on public services to be maintained in real terms;
· it would not exacerbate inflation, which is a monetary phenomenon. Firm monetary policy is necessary and sufficient to control inflation. Growth-oriented tax cuts would have a smaller impact on prices than redistributive measures because they would increase output (reducing the problem of ‘too much money chasing too few goods’). At most, tax cuts could have a one-off, not ongoing effect on the CPI; and
· it would be unlikely to have a measurable effect on income inequality since, as the McLeod Review demonstrated, the difference between the impact on the distribution of income of a flatter tax scale compared with a more progressive one is small. Moreover, as their incomes rise, lower income people benefit from facing a flatter tax scale, and it is misleading to look at immediate (static) impacts alone. In addition, prices and wages adjust to changes in complicated ways (for example, the increase in the top tax rate to 39% in 2000 appears to have pushed up house prices) so it is difficult to say which groups might ultimately benefit from tax cuts. A general proposition is that the burden of taxes (in the form of higher prices for goods or lower wages) falls on those who have the least ability to avoid these effects, for example, by emigrating or raising their prices or wage rates. These are more likely to be the poor with limited skills than the wealthy.


Other issues


We do not support the introduction of further tax concessions. Recent moves in this direction have added to the cost and complexity of the tax system. Existing concessions should be removed or reduced.
A general tax ‘dividend’, possibly of a one-off nature, would have no incentive effects.
A tax-free income threshold should not be introduced because the revenue cost of such a move would be substantial and other tax rates, including effective marginal rates for most taxpayers, would have to be set at higher levels than otherwise. This is the Australian experience. The low income rebate is a better means of helping those in need. The case against a tax-free threshold was well argued by the McLeod Review.


A ceiling of 30% on personal, company and trust rates should be lowered in future, having regard to countries in our region such as Singapore and Hong Kong which have top rates of 20% or below.


The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Opportunities and Tax Cuts

Last week Michael Cullen gave a speech to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. Most of the Media comment around this has focused on Tax Cuts and Auckland Infrastructure. In dissecting Minister Cullen’s Speech we actually recognise a couple of positives and opportunities for Northland as well as recognizing some warning signs in the promise of tax cuts.

The Positives

The Minister talked about seizing the enormous business opportunities that will be created by growing consumer awareness of environmental issues. Whether you do or don’t buy into the climate change theory the effects in policy and the way New Zealand Inc does business has to adapt to this changing business environment. From the Ministers Speech we recognise that there are potential opportunities for Northland to actually lead the way in promoting ourselves as the first Carbon Free Region in New Zealand. What opportunities would this lead to for your business? Do your customers – insist and deal with ‘environmentally responsible’ businesses? There are power companies in NZ now that are seeing a raft of new consumer accounts simply because they have taken steps to explain how environmentally aware they are.
The Northland Region has already signed the Sustainable tourism charter which basically says that we will provide first class visitor experiences in Northland however not at the cost of our environment now and more importantly in the future.
Another opportunity the minister alluded to was the willingness to enter into Public Private Partnerships to ensure major infrastructure is carried out. Could this assist Northland in bringing decent data connections up this way? Further roading improvements? Rail links?

In our recent local body elections the number of councilors supporting the PPP model were in the majority.

The Warnings

Recently the Chamber of Commerce and other business associations provided a submission to the Government on what they would like to see come out of the 2008 Budget in regards to taxation.

The joint proposal was based on the view that the main outcome of the budget should be a narrower gap between the top personal and company tax rates. Aligning the top personal, company and trust rates at 30% would have major benefits for the economy and New Zealanders.

The main criteria adopted by the Chamber in developing this submission were to reform business taxation in a way that would benefit New Zealand’s Economic Growth and make New Zealand Tax structure internationally attractive especially in line with Australia.
In speaking to the Chamber of Commerce last week Michael Cullen said “Labour will deliver tax cuts because it is fair - money that we do not need to meet our obligations to New Zealanders should not be held indefinitely in crown accounts”. Unfortunately Dr Cullen could not give specifics around his proposals. Therefore no indication of the amount of tax cuts, for whom and by when. In fact the ‘tax cut ‘ announcement is conditionally made on the premises of four underlying ‘catch 22 type’ principles each of which should give any Government an out of the promise over the coming years.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce has to ask this simple question. If the same Finance Minister from the same party is saying roughly the same things and pushing the same message as before the 2005 election and the result was a very timid movement on business taxation then why should the business community and industry believe that the Finance minister has any other intention other than past performance?

The Northland Chamber of Commerce would like to see BOLD commitment from our future political leaders and reemphasise the call from a multitude of business groups from the past few years namely an alignment of the top personal tax rates with the company rate of 30%.

We encourage all political parties to specifically outline the tax (cut) policy well in advance of the 2008 election so that reasonable people may be able to make decisions based on solid data as opposed to vague promises.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Competition for positions in Northlands biggest advocacy/networking group

The Northland Chamber of Commerce has found for a second year running an ever increasing number of business people wanting to become involved in assisting the organisation with Governance and Direction.

‘Subject to an audit on the nomination we have around 19 people vying for 14 positions on the Chamber of commerce’ said Chamber of Commerce CEO Jeff Smith.

‘We have had enquiries form businesses all over Northland including the Far North and Kaipara wanting to become part of what they believed is an organisation on the up and up’

‘Membership numbers, Income, Advocacy Roles have all increased through the 2007 year’.

‘Our AGM is happening on 27 February as we now need to look to 2008 and beyond and how the 105 year old organisation can best add value to the Whole Northland Community.

We are looking for significant growth in all areas of the Chamber operations in 2008, including membership, income, events, training and the strengthening of our far north chamber and Kaipara chamber brands. It is heartening to see so much interest among our members to assist and govern the organisation.

We encourage all our members to come along to the AGM, try out the Northland Chamber iconic signature dish, Kumara and Mussell Fritters, and vote for those people you see as best being able to lead the organisation to assist make Northland a healthy, vibrant and prosperous place to raise our Tamariki

NZ Chambers of Commerce are the countries biggest networking and advocacy bodies. Enquiries on the Northland Chamber of Commerce can be found online by going to our websites at http://www.northchamber.co.nz/ http://www.farnorthchamber.co.nz/ and http://www.kaiparachamber.co.nz/


277 Words

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and http://www.farnorthchamber.co.nz/

You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on http://www.northchamber.blogspot.com/

Northland Chamber Supports JV with Ontrack


The Northland Chamber of Commerce sees the formation of a JV between the Regional Council and Ontrack NZ as a hugely positive step towards the regional vision of a rail link to the Marsden port.

This is excellent news said the Chamber CEO Jeff Smith, we are aware that the Port industry is slowly consolidating in NZ for various reasons and it would be great to see our Port as one of the major ports eventually for the country. We already have nature on our side giving us the comparative advantage of being NZ’s only Deep water port so we need to put infrastructure in place now to ensure we become a competitive option for shippers, exporters and importers.

Part of this infrastructure is the development of efficient rail links. The provision of a rail link to the port and the upgrade of the rail network from Auckland is also necessary for the future with the likely increase in rail usage caused by rises in fuel costs and ‘climate change’ issues.

2008 A New Year in business …………….begin at the end


Well it’s nearly at an end. Christmas and New Years Eve has come and gone. Northlanders have been able to take time out and reflect on the year that has been and the year to come. Maybe there have been a few new years resolutions? Lose Weight? Give up smoking? Spend more time with family? Start a business?

Some interesting facts on new years resolutions. Most people make several resolutions. Two-thirds of resolution makers commit to start something, and one-third wants to stop or decrease something. Persistence pays off in the resolution business. After six months, 57 percent of the promise keepers were still keeping their resolutions intact.

2008 what does it hold? We know from the regular quarterly Chamber of Commerce confidence survey that businesses have become more cautiously watchful in their planning and outlook. Don’t let these sort of results from surveys affect your business. If you take the time to look at your own vision, have a plan of attack to get you there and take on board others experience and advice then, you and your business will succeed, no matter what the latest business confidence survey says.

How about the business you work for or own? Wouldn’t now be a good time to take some time out with your team and make a few resolutions? Or to put it another way invest some time in strategic planning.

How do we make a new years resolution for your business.

Here is a simple two step process

Step 1 – Begin at the end. What will your business look like when you are finished with it? To describe this you need to ask yourselves questions like; why am I in business? Is it to earn an income for the rest of my life? How much income? Is it a vehicle to create value through capital growth? What value do I want to build my business up to? Will I sell my business? When? Will I pass the business over to family? What plans are in place for these?

Step 2 – With the end in mind put in place a plan to drive your business to that ultimate outcome. One way to do this is to spend some quality time with forward looking accountants, business coaches and anyone that can bring in generic skills involved in building businesses. Invest some time in the Northland Chamber of Commerce and talk to the staff that can put you in touch with some of our member businesses who can assist business reach their aspirational goals. In other words experts who can assist you in driving your business towards that vision you described in step one.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce offers a one stop shop for those looking to start business or needing some direction. Through our Biz Networks agency we are able to steer you in the right direction.

With an active Chamber in your community, there are many things that will happen. Certainly not everything will help to propel your business to some new level of corporate utopia, but many things will indeed create steps for you to get there. Whether through business to business networking or taking advantage of all the work going on behind the scenes (government lobbying, member discounts, strategic planning) the Chamber can only be as strong as the many voices it represents.
So another suggestion for a new years resolution is to get involved in making the business community you work in stronger by building a strong Chamber of Commerce in your community. Your involvement does not have to translate to a major time commitment. Simple responses to a member survey will often be enough to decide how a community stands on important issues. You could also go another step and consider running as a board member at the Chamber of Commerce AGM in February this year.
Enjoy 2008. The Board and Staff of the Northland Chamber of Commerce look forward to seing you at one of the many networking events this year.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Chamber of Commerce Christmas Message

Yesterday seemed like January, and now it’s almost Christmas. Hopefully time to spend some valuable hours with those who are close to you. Sit back, relax and prepare for another successful Northland year. If you can do something for someone who is less fortunate then yourself go for it?

Our Region is up there ahead of the best. I was at the NZ Chamber of Commerce Conference in November and the majority of the people there commented to me on the positive direction Northland was enjoying. We are, and are seen as a region to be part of at the moment.

When appraising the economic and community value of Northland it’s hard to comprehend that this is the same region that was seriously affected by the reforms in the eighties and the following soft recession years.

Today, it is obvious that Northland is a region that is well on its way to realising its potential in the new Millennium and has gone to great lengths to ensure that its residents and businesses will continue to prosper for years to come. Through the hard work and dedication of its business community, Development Agencies, elected leaders and hard working employees Northland is continuing to Stamp its mark within New Zealand.

2007 has been an incredibly exciting year. All districts in Northland voted for a change to the leadership by voting in new mayors. We were hit , not once, but twice by adverse weather causing widespread flooding through the region. The Northland Chamber of Commerce continues to grow in membership and in influence; The 2007 Bayleys Northland Business Excellence Awards was the best one ever yet with another sold out venue and some worthwhile winners emerging.

Business Confidence Surveys in the North reflected a slight decrease of optimism to one of businesses reflecting a cautious approach as external factors such as Exchange Rates, Interest Rates began to bite. Another factors identified the lack of people with technical skills across all sectors, which is now regarded as a major obstacle to some businesses being able to grow.

2007 has also been a watershed year as the Government continues to self cull members through controversy; impose new unbelievable regulation such as anti smacking, electoral finance act and flexible working hour bills. The Chamber of Commerce continues to look after our ‘bottom lines ‘by fighting hard to have proposed legislation either overturned or watered down.

In 2008 The Chamber will be committed to the following goals as mandated by its Board of Directors:

To develop existing business and industry
To secure new industry suitable to the area in cooperation with local authorities
To create new jobs and new income
To build greater pride and self-esteem in the community
To maintain a repository and referral service for professional business information.
To respond to inquiries about the Region to help to unify business and industry into a strong, respected community force
To lobby on behalf of legislative issues that effect this business community
To promote good policy, good projects and initiatives

Membership in the Northland Chamber of Commerce is open to any business or individual providing employment or services in the Region. If you are not yet a member, please call us for details. If you are a member, please let us know what we can do to serve you better

Have an excellent family fun filled Christmas

China or NZ? - if this was 2008 would I be able to write this column……………


The Electoral Finance act is currently going through the parliamentary process and is likely to be adopted before Xmas.

Firstly what is it? According to Parliament the purpose is to strengthen the law governing electoral financing and broadcasting to maintain public confidence, promote public participation, prevent the undue influence of wealth and provide greater transparency on the part of the candidates. These objectives are all good and we would totally support any measures that attempt to bring transparency and maintain a level playing field.

The Prime Minister Helen Clark however says the key question over the Electoral Finance Bill is whether people want money to dictate who wins an election. Under closer scrutiny we discovered that the powers of the bill were in fact far reaching and quite totalitarian

It was only after recent lobbying that the Bills Authors removed the need for lobby groups such as the Chamber of Commerce to register with a pre determined (By the Government) State Authority however the Bill may still curtail the policy, advocacy and lobbying activities of industry organisations. Groups such as Chambers of Commerce may still have to be very careful about the use of words that refer to views on an issue which might persuade voters to vote for a party based on those views. This means it may not be possible for us to publish a summary of party policies on an issue and compare them with our own. Keeping our members informed of what parties’ policies are and comparing them with our own could be deemed to be persuading them to vote for a party under the Bill.

If this was 2008 it is very likely under the proposed bill that group such as The Northland Chamber of Commerce would not be allowed to express dissatisfaction with the Government of the day. The concern I have about this is twofold.

Firstly, The Northland Chamber of Commerce has existed for over 100 years to represent the interests of our members (Northland Business). We do this by questioning policy, suggesting business friendly legislation acting as the voice of business and being pro-active in ensuring our members know what policies the various parties are offering.

Secondly, although I just cant put my finger on it, this type of legislation reeks ever so slightly of moving along a continuum towards suppression of speech as opposed to ‘freedom of speech’
We are issue-driven not party driven. We are not in the business of telling members who to vote for but we do want parties to adopt policies that enhance New Zealand business. We also have a role in keeping our members informed as to where parties stand on particular issues affecting businesses. This legislation could prevent us from doing this.

It is surprising to see the Government really pushing this bill, its not very popular, with anyone. As a matter of fact the only good thing about ludicrous pieces of legislation such as this is the amazing way it has pulled people from all political spectrums together to voice their dissent including major Newspapers, political commentators, The Law Society, Human Rights groups and a new breed of protesters.

This remains a repressive and undemocratic bill. Any MPs who vote for the Bill should expect to suffer the electoral consequences of voting to strip New Zealanders of their ability to easily criticise political parties and MPs.

Therefore – While I can still legally do so, PLEASE take the time to explore whether your local MP, Party List members stands on this issue. Ask you local member whether they will repeal aspects of this bill if they are in power after 2008? If they supported this legislation in 2007 then you must send a very clear message by NOT placing two ticks in that parties column in 2008 at the General Election.

Northland Region A Great Place To Be.

Robbie Burns, the great Scottish poet, once wrote about having ``the gift to see ourselves as others see us''. And gift it is - bringing the ability to stand back from ourselves, take stock of the good and the bad and work on strengths and weaknesses in a constructive way. The key words here are ``in a constructive way'' - and if only a couple of recent letter writers to the Northern Advocate would work on this concept.

These correspondents were obviously itching to have a go at the Northland Regional Council and the Whangarei District Council, with letters written before the respective councils had been sworn in!

We at the Chamber don't have any problem with groups having an opinion (after all, we are one of them), but expressed so vehemently, before the councillors had put sworn to do their best for the region and the district- puh-leese!

While not wanting to appear as an apologist for our councils, the Northland Chamber of Commerce wants to point out the wisdom of objectively looking at issues and initiatives and exploring ways to work with and support authorities, in order to support our members' interests.

Letter-writer number one was of the opinion that the Northland Regional Council was wasting its time in pro-actively pursuing the rail link to Marsden Point. The author points out eight reasons why this should not happen, citing monetary restraints, physical problems and disbelief at budget amounts. The letter writer then goes on to offer advice to our regional council, asking it to concentrate on the core business of environmental control; and also expressing disapproval that the council supported an application for a venture which will bring another piece of the adding-value-to-wood-processing jigsaw to Northland, the proposed Goldpine mill. The NRC did so after a thorough investigation of any potential effects the Goldpine plant could have on the environment and, as always, considered both the economic and environmental impacts.

Letter-writer number two can only be described as ``one of the usual suspects''. He gave us dire warnings of impending rates rises driving most of us out of the Whangarei district.

Dear letter-writers, take a deep breath and remember, New Zealanders who are not Northlanders have a very different notion of our region than perhaps some who have been born and bred here.

Consider - we have some of the most amazing, beautiful natural assets in the country; a subtropical climate, a friendly, hardworking, conscientious population; thriving businesses and a truly exciting future ahead of us.

And this is generally how others see us.

Consider also, last week the Northern Advocate featured several good news stories relating to the Northland economy. For example Marsden Pt port's comparative advantage as one of the countries ports for the future; the Department of Conservation investing in more camping grounds for the north; Northland-born member of Parliament Shane Jones being promoted to cabinet.

There's the data published in the latest Northland Quarterly Review too the good news including more births than deaths in Northland; a nearly four percent increase in the average hourly rate (to $20.94); non-residential consents up by an incredible 25 percent (to nearly $120m); a nine percent increase in the value of cargo loaded at the Northland port.

The report also included projections of increased population; lower still unemployment; higher participation in the workforce, increased retail sales; increased numbers of businesses; increased tourist `guest nights'.

Not bad for a region that has had more than its fair share of tough times.

So letter-writers, rather than putting the boot in at this early stage, how about expending your energies on constructive suggestions for our local authorities charged with governing this fantastic region.

the Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz Have your say on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

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Why Good Privacy is Good Business?


Next month New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner Marie Schroff will be explaining to Northland Businesses and HR people how to ensure that they are complying with NZs Privacy regulations.
Businesses that take privacy seriously have a competitive edge according to the Privacy Commissioner.

Information and technology are increasingly the key to business success in the 21st century. Marie Shroff will talk about how to handle personal information well to give you a competitive edge. She will explain how good privacy practice can help you gain and retain customer and employee trust, and will give commonsense tips on how to improve your information handling.

Marie Shroff was appointed to the independent statutory position of Privacy Commissioner in late 2003. Her responsibilities include independent comment on significant personal information policies and issues, providing opinions on privacy complaints made against government and business, monitoring government data matching and promoting good personal information handling practices in New Zealand.

The Privacy Commission has published a simple 6 step guide that should just about keep most businesses within the law. These are;

1 Tell people what you are doing and why.If you’re collecting information about someone, tell them what you’re doing.
Tell them why you need it, and what you plan to use it for. Tell them if you intend to send the information to another business or person.

2 Keep information safe.Many people, including your customers and suppliers, worry about the security of their personal details.
The more sensitive the information is, the more careful you need to be. Make sure your staff know how information should be handled – this will avoid many mistakes.

3 Obtain only the personal information that you need to do your business.

4 Only use personal information if you’re reasonably sure it’s accurate and up to date.

5 If someone tells you that the information you hold about them is wrong, correct it if you can. If there’s a difference of opinion about whether the information is right, make a note on the file of the person’s view.

6 If someone asks for a copy of their information, you usually have to give it to them – and do so as promptly as you can.

Collecting and using information about people – even if it’s just a phone number and address for invoicing – is an everyday part of doing business. Keeping that information safe and secure should be too. But mistakes happen – and they can have a major effect on a business. For example:

- Oscar owns a panel and paint firm. One day he answers a phone call from a friend about a mutual customer. The friend is concerned about the customer’s credit-worthiness, so Oscar tells him about a large unpaid bill. As a result, Oscar’s friend refuses to give the customer credit. Oscar then gets an angry call from the customer who had actually paid the bill early, though the payment went into the wrong account. The customer says he will tell everyone he can that Oscar’s firm is lousy.

- Anna works at a beauty salon. A man rings asking for a client’s new address so he can “send flowers”. She provides the information. A week later the client threatens legal action. Anna had not been aware the man was her client’s abusive former partner.

Any business or organisation that is interested in attending the presentation by the privacy commissioner on November 15th can contact Janette at Northland Chamber to reserve a place on 438-4771.


The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Whangarei Flood Submission


Submission to:

The Whangarei District Council

Submission regarding:

CBD Flood Management Consultation

Submission by:

The Northland Chamber of Commerce

Decision sought from District Council

Consideration to Vince Cocurullos Submission below and particularly the ‘Viable Options’ and then…

To Commit exploring an extra option and gaining a professional opinion to the concept outlined in the appendixed paper by our board member Jeroen Jongejans

The Application

The Northland Chamber of Commerce currently has 350 financial members that employ the equivalent of 4000 full time employees.

Since 1903, the Northland Chamber of Commerce has served the needs of the Northland business community through its public policy and advocacy initiatives and its business development programs and services.

The Chamber also works to ensure that Northland has a business-friendly environment where all businesses can grow and prosper. With this, also comes paying close attention to the quality of life the region offers our members’ employees and families. The Chamber works to make a difference in Northland’s future and to help Northland grow.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce generally favour well researched development projects that add value to the economy, community and infrastructure of the region especially those projects that undergo rigorous scrutiny to ensure that the community and environment are protected.

CBD Flood Management
The Northland Chamber of Commerce has requested its members to give us a lead on the Flood Control proposals recently put forward by the Whangarei District Council. Two members Vince Cocurullo and Jeroen Jongejans have forwarded submissions to the council as individuals separately (appendixed below) and the Northland Chamber of Commerce recommend the following actions be taken as a result of these submissions

1. In the first instance - Consideration to the proposal appendixed by Vince Cocurullo

Cocurullo has outlined some quick fix or maintenance options below that can be implemented – these are;

Dredging the harbour to depths greater than that is presently being done.
Upgrading sewer and storm-water pipes within the CBD.
Cleaning out the waterways and streams of rubbish and debris regularly.
Cleaning the cesspits and kerb and channel regularly.
Removing the Mangroves within the harbour entrance, and therefore create more spots for the boats to park.
Before all sub-divisions start they must provide approved and adequate methods of dealing with the silt from the area.

The Northland Chamber would support any combination of these activities which would reduce the immediate effect of Flooding in the CBD

2. Further investigation into the ‘Dyke’ option as outlined in the following appendix by Jeroen Jongejans.

Although some excellent work has been done to date on the 7 options we would like to see some professional consideration given to a ‘dyke’ option.

As outlined in Jongejans proposal it is possible that the ‘Dyke’ option has not been considered due to it not being a usual practice in New Zealand as it is in the Netherlands.

Initially, the Chamber can see some clear advantage with a number of additional problems being solved by utilising this option.

Tidal Control – Restricting high tides during periods of high ‘flood’ causing rainfall
Traffic Flows – Improved by double usage of the Dyke as the ‘Second Harbour Crossing’
Potential ‘Iconic feature’ – A unique point of difference for the city to assist with the Destination marketing Effort.
Control of Tide levels in the Town Basin – During times of low flood risk to enable maximum recreational and visitor usage on the water and enhancing the visual effect of the Harbourside by hiding unsightly features such as Mud Flats etc during daylight hours.

The Chamber feels that it would be prudent to invest in a professional opinion due to the potential positive effects this option could have on Flooding, Traffic and Visitor Industry issues.

We recommend that resources be earmarked for an overview opinion from a suitably qualified engineer answering the following questions.

Could a Dyke option around the Lime Burners Creek area reduce or eliminate the flooding problems in the affected area?
Would a harbour Crossing in the same area reduce or eliminate traffic congestion problems in Whangarei CBD?

We would welcome the opportunity to be heard on this application

Chamber of Commerce Business Confidence


One of the great things about being part of an international oprganisation is the ability to benchmark your economy against other regions. The Chamber of Commerce carries out as quarterly survey on business confidence in regions from Taupo to Northland.

Business Confidence measures how confident respondents are in the Economy and their own business prospects.

The decline in business confidence in provincial centres that hit a 12 month low in June appears to have bottomed out

Key messages from the survey that asked businesses to look ahead at conditions for the next six months showed a slight improvement in overall confidence despite a continued fall in demand, and deep concerns over margins, interest and exchange rates, and difficulties finding suitable staff.

Findings could possibly reflect anticipations of a stronger period ahead in the lead-up to Christmas fuelled by the higher returns generated by the dairy sector and relief at the Reserve Bank’s latest announcement holding interest rates for the time period ahead.
But overall confidence remains low, with only 25% of businesses expecting the economy overall to improve and just 53% expecting their own prospects to improve over the next six months, which compares to the 33% and 65% respectively of this view last December.

Main survey findings were:

On Confidence
· 28% of provincial firms believe conditions for business will get worse over the next six months, compared with 29% in the June survey and 13% last December. 25% now believe conditions will improve compared to 23% in June and 33% last December. In urban Auckland 38% believe conditions will get worse over the next six months, down from 40% in June. The result suggests less pessimism in provincial areas than urban Auckland about prospects in the next 6 months.
· 53% of provincial firms believe conditions for their own individual business will improve over the next six months, up from 52% in June and compared to 65% last December, while 10% believe they will get worse, compared to 13% in June and 6% last December. Comparable figures for urban Auckland were 43% expecting conditions to improve and 17% expecting conditions to get worse, reinforcing the view that provincial centre businesses are less pessimistic about the future than their urban counterparts.

On Skills
· 41% of provincial firms believe it will continue to be harder to employ people with the right skills, compared with 44% of this view in June. Comparable figures in urban Auckland were 42% in both September and June surveys.
On Interest Rates
· 49% of respondents believe interest rates will rise, compared with 88% in June and just 38% last December. Urban Auckland shows a similar trend, with 52% in the September survey expecting interest rates to rise, compared with 86% in June and just 37% last December.
· 14% of provincial respondents believe interest rates will decrease in the next 12 months, compared to just 1% in June and the 5% who held this view last December. Comparable results for urban Auckland were 14% believing interest rates would fall in the September survey compared to 1% in June and 3% of this view in December.

In a comparison of responses by city and town, optimism about prospects in the next six months was highest in Rotorua with 36% of respondents expecting the general business situation to improve in the next six months, followed by Taupo (29%), Waikato (27%), Northland (21%) and Tauranga (17%) – compared with 19% for urban Auckland.

Pessimism about prospects in the next six months was highest in Tauranga at 32% followed by Taupo and Waikato 29%, Northland 26% and Rotorua 20% but all less pessimistic than Auckland at 38%.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com

Northland business confidence weakens but holding up better than Auckland

Northland business confidence has dropped for the first time in 18 months amidst signs that persistent skill shortages, impact of high interest rates, a continued fall in demand and concerns over margins are starting to impact on the local economy.

However confidence in Northland about the immediate prospects for the economy continues to remain higher than in urban Auckland even though it has slipped below a number of other provincial centres.

These are among findings of regular surveys of Chamber of Commerce members conducted in metropolitan Auckland and major provincial centres in the last fortnight on how they view business prospects in the period ahead.

Main findings for Northland:

On the general business situation, just 21% of Northland businesses expect the general situation to improve over the next six months – down from 34% in June and 27% last December - and compared to 19% in urban Auckland. The 21% in the latest survey is the first time in seven successive quarters that the level of business confidence has failed to increase in regard to how Northland businesses view the economy’s overall performance.

Reinforcing the drop in confidence in Northland, 26% of Northland businesses expect business conditions to deteriorate over the next six months, compared to 24% in June and 13% in December. In contrast, 38% of Auckland businesses expect the general situation to worsen in the next six months, compared to 40% of this view in June.

However, individual businesses continue to be optimistic in terms of their own prospects. 52% of Northland businesses consider their prospects will improve over the next six months, compared to 50% in June and 48% in March, and compared with 43% in Auckland.

Further, just 8% of individual Northland businesses believe their prospects will deteriorate over the next six months, compared to the 12% of this view last June and compared with 17% in Auckland.

On interest rates, 45% of Northland businesses believe they will rise over the next 12 months compared with 88% in June and matching the 52% in Auckland of this view.

Commenting, Northland Chamber of Commerce head Jeff Smith suggested:

Part of the explanation for the drop in general optimism could relate to higher interest rates starting to bite coupled with less money available for retail.
Spending from the recent positive payout for dairy farmers may also have not yet materialised.
At the same time with 80% of businesses small-medium enterprises, and almost half this group citing finance as the most limiting factor to the ability of the business to expand, the higher interest rates, the dollar and lack of staff able to help businesses expand are a continuing concern.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and http://www.farnorthchamber.co.nz/
You can have a say on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on http://www.northchamber.blogspot.com/
270 Words
Jeff Smith
Northland Chamber of Commerce
09-4384771
027-4441010
ceo@northchamber.co.nz
http://www.northchamber.co.nz/

Northland Chamber of Commerce reflects Transpowers concerns over Transmission line uprating.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce today reiterated the concern by Transpower over the recent appeals lodged to the environment court on Auckland City Council’s decision to approve Transpower’s resource consent to uprate the Henderson – Otahuhu transmission line during forced outages.

This line affects North Auckland and Northland Regional Transmission Security. The Northland Chamber and a group of Northland Stakeholders including Northpower and Regional Council recently made submissions in favour of upgrading the line capacity during forced outages.

The Henderson to Otahuhu line supplies West Auckland, the North Shore & Northland and is the only transmission line that connects North Auckland and Northland with areas further south. Transpower applied for resource consent to operate the line from 750 MVA per circuit to 986 MVA during forced outages and this was approved by the Auckland City Council last month.

“The Northland Chamber of Commerce strongly believes that the Auckland City Council decision to approve the resource consent application was correct, and it is in the best interest of the country that electricity supply to North Auckland and Northland is reliable and secure. “said Jeff Smith from the Northland Chamber of Commerce.

The Henderson – Otahuhu upgrade project is part of a larger ‘suite’ of enhancements to the National Grid in the Auckland region to ensure reliability and diversity of electricity supply into Auckland and Northland. It is vital that we are very pro-active in ensuring that Northland has transmission security and are prepared to support initiatives all the way to ensure that Northlands Power Supply is guaranteed now and for the future.’

For Example - Last Week Transpower submitted an investment proposal to the Electricity Commission to reinforce supply to North Auckland and Northland. The proposed $521 million project involves installing 37kms of 220 kV underground cable from Pakuranga to Penrose and then to Albany. It also allows for obtaining easements, consents and other preparatory work for a second cable between Penrose and Hobson Street in later years.

Local Body Elections



Relative to national politics, there is apathy towards local government in this country as evidenced by low voter turnouts and poor participation in the consultative process.

Councils are also subject to much less scrutiny by the media and independent agencies than central government. This lack of interest in local government politics goes a long way to explaining the creeping growth of local authority activities and expenditure and the consequential increase in the rating burden.

Local authorities are required by the Local Government Act 2002 to consult with their communities about their Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCPs), the financial policies that underpin them, the levels of service being delivered, and the rates that will be required

The local government sector places considerable weight on this consultative process to justify its expenditure and rating policies. However much of the consultation is not meaningful. Busy councillors have a lot of submissions to read and listen to and in many hearings submitters are given limited time to make their points.

Consequently, we consider additional mechanisms are necessary to improve accountability of local government. Complex planning documents should be presented in a transparent way. In particular, they should be independently reviewed against benchmarks to help residents and ratepayers engage genuinely in consultations on them.

In the spirit of transparency the Chamber of Commerce has sent a series of 20 questions out to all candidates standing in this years Elections in an attempt to discover who are the most business friendly candidates in Northland.

A lot of these have been returned and answered by candidates. The suprising thing is that there are a plethors of excellent candidates standing for positions in Northland. We are encouraging all responsible voters to check out the look at their candidates Business Friendly scale when considering who to vote for in this years election.

The Ratins, Candidates answers, questions and ther Northland Chambwer of Commerce Manifesto can be viewed at www.northchamber.co.nz

Please remember when voting - Business is the work engine of the Northland Economy and we mustn’t forget that. Business pays a high disproportionate amount of rate and employs thousands of Northlanders who in turn shop in Northland, send their children to local schools and keep the wheels of commerce turning.

We encourage all responsible voters to vote with a business friendly focus in mind!!

Copy of Questions sent to all Candidates in this years district local body elections


Questionnaire for District Council
Mayoral and Councillor Candidates

The Northland Chamber of Commerce believe the calibre of the local government candidates is an important issue in the coming local elections. We set to identify candidates who support and acknowledge various key actions and policies which will enhance Whangarei, Kaipara and the Far North as good districts to do business in and which is run effectively and efficiently from a commercial perspective. Responses to the following questions will be used by the Chamber to represent our members’ interests.


1. Please outline your vision for (Whangarei / Kaipara / Far North) district in 2011?








2. Name three key issues that you support and will campaign on?








3. Please outline the specific initiatives you will support to ensure that (Whangarei / Kaipara / Far North) has a business friendly environment.








4. Name five key priorities you see for infrastructural investment in the (Whangarei / Kaipara / Far North) district over the next five-years.









5. Do you support the use of public private partnerships when council is looking at building, operating or maintaining infrastructure?








6. What are your views on the council’s use of debt to fund projects? Do you think the council has an appropriate level of debt?








7. What is your position on whether Council should free up more land for residential housing?








8. What is your position on climate change and carbon neutrality?








9. Do you think Councillors should be paid in proportion to the number of meetings they attend, or a through a fixed annual fee, or in some other way?









10. What are your views on Council ownership of non-core assets including trading enterprises of Council i.e. those assets that are not essential to run local government? What do you define as core or strategic assets and why?








11. Do you agree that trading enterprises should be governed by a commercial board of directors and such businesses should be run on a commercial business basis?

Yes  No 

Comment







12. Do you consider there is a further need for local government reform? If so, what are your reasons?








13. What are your views on combining local authority service delivery, and amalgamations with neighbouring authorities?








14. Name three actions that you will take to ensure (Whangarei / Kaipara / Far North) district delivers better service and value to rate payers and residents.








15. Would you support a rates target so that council’s rates income does not exceed the combined rate of inflation and population growth per year?








16. Do you support the use of differential rates whereby business rate payers pay more than residential rate payers per dollar of rateable land? If you do, how would you justify this?








17. What are your views on council use of fees and charges?








18. Do you think the community should pay for its own water on a user pays basis?

Yes  No 

Comment







19. Please identify three courses of action you would want to promote to ensure vibrant towns and cities in your district.











20. List five keys issues that you consider need addressing by the Council in the next three-years












Name of person completing questionnaire:
Date:
E-mail contact:






Thank you for your time and responses.







Please return this survey to:

Chief Executive
Northland Chamber of Commerce

Email: ceo@northchamber.co.nz
Post: P O Box 1703, Whangarei


By 15 September 2007