West Coast Leading On Conservation Front

Published date24 May 2023
AuthorRino Tirikatene
Publication titleWest Coast Messenger, The
By the time this column is published, this year's Budget will have been released and before we know it, the election will be upon us

So what has been happening since our last update? In short, from a King's coronation to floods, there has been plenty going on.

One major update that touched on my own ministerial portfolios, was the announcement of the NZ-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) being brought forward to enter into force by May 31, 2023. The agreement gives us preferential access into the UK's $NZ3 trillion consumer market, and is a gold standard FTA that sees one of the best market access packages New Zealand has ever had in a trade deal. From day one of entry into force will save New Zealand exporters $37 million a year on tariff elimination alone. It is great to see trade deals like this unlocking new opportunities, driving growth and boosting jobs to build prosperous futures.

But with the floods of export news, came floods from the skies themselves for a large part of the country, including the West Coast.

April saw heavy rainfall once again, and even more recently has been the state of emergency flooding in Auckland.

Thankfully, Westport has just received additional funding of $22.9 million to protect against flooding, for measures such as stopbanks in the immediate term...

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