The installation of a new milk powder drier is expected to generate 800 jobs for the South Waikato during the construction phase and 50 more people will be employed in the completed plant.
The project has yet to be approved by Fonterra’s board, and resource consents are needed but the company has applied to the South Waikato District Council for the necessary resource consents and Mayor Neil Sinclair said he would be surprised if approval is not given.
This and other significant capital investments on Fonterra’s development agenda will help boost primary sector export growth that is expected to generate 33,000 more jobs nationwide by 2025, according to a recently published Ministry for Primary Industries report on capability needs for NZ’s primary industries.
But the extent to which the economy has become dependent on dairying – and forestry – was the subject of parliamentary questioning this week.
Finance Minister Bill English was asked if he agreed with economists who say «outside of dairy and forestry, export receipts have effectively flatlined since April 2009» and «the risks inherent in such a narrowing of our export base should be of concern to all».
English said high prices for dairy products and logs in recent years explained changes in the composition of NZ’s export receipts.
Over the next few years a burgeoning IT industry, tourism or service exports might be the star performers.
«The Government does not believe it is a problem that the dairy industry has been successful and profitable,» he said.
The dairy industry’s success and profitability is not in question, of course.
The issue is whether economists should be heeded when they warn against NZ having too many eggs in its export basket in the form of dairy products.
A similar concern is a heavy reliance on the Chinese market.
English acknowledged that «export receipts for categories other than the growing ones have been flat».
But this, he said, was like saying that, apart from the All Blacks scoring some tries and kicking some goals, they actually lost to England.
Concerns about our export mix should not be treated so glibly, although for now Waikato should deal with immediate realities and prepare to make hay while the sun shines.
Source: Stuff