Editorial: Sensible move
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
"We want to create new jobs on the East Coast and we need freight transport to do that," says Hamish Cave, Federated Farmers Gisborne-Wairoa provincial president.
"It's no secret we've got constraints with our roads and this is why we need the Government to sit down with us, employers and the council to look at all the freight transport options we need. This isn't an 'either/or' as we need better roads, better shipping and of course, a rail line.
"Government policy is too skewed to the cities where Roads of National Significance are about solving congestion. There needs to be recognition regions like Gisborne need our own Roads of National Significance to help us develop economically.
"Rail is also vital but to secure a viable rail you need to start with a rail line in the first place."
Cave believes it will cost $3.4 million to repair a line that hasn't been touched since 1988's Cyclone Bola.
Even if it's twice that, it's still small compared to the "massive $1.6 billion government-funded upgrade to the Auckland metro rail network," announced only last year, he says.
"We just want a fair shake of the stick and the infrastructure to grow our region. Doing this doesn't just help Gisborne-Wairoa but the big cities by creating more export wealth, more jobs and more opportunities.
