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thewanakasun.co.nz
THUR 30.04.20 - WED 06.05.20
PAGE 12 EDITION 972
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Mayor Boult: Sobering, chilling reality before us
Mayor Boult: Our district-wide economy will shrink by 40 per cent as a result of the downstream effects of the coronavirus lockdown.
Pat Deavoll
editor@thewanakasun.co.nz
t a full council meeting on April 23, Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult addressed councillors and the community on the QLDC response to coronavirus and the emerging recovery programme. Yesterday, a noted economist sent me a prediction that our district-wide economy would shrink by 40 per cent as a result of the downstream effects of the coronavirus lockdown, Boult said. “By a massive margin, we will be the most detrimentally affected district in New Zealand. Our unemployment rate is likely to reach somewhere between 25-30 per cent. “These are the sobering, chilling facts of the reality before us.” In little over a month, QLDC has gone from New Zealand’s most prosperous district, with a growing population and a growing GDP,
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to potentially one of the most impoverished communities in New Zealand, Boult said. Many in the community worry about their future. The district will see a migration of younger people away from the region directly through a lack of job opportunities. “Next week, we will move from a complete lockdown to level three. I doubt that this will make a lot of difference to most of us. That will more likely come when level two is declared in (hopefully) a couple of weeks. Our concentration must go into how we recover, how we ensure that there is a meal on the table for those who can no longer provide for their families and how an adequate level of support is provided for those in real trouble within our communities,” he said. “Our community is very much based on the tourism economy. We must diversify our economy. Our immediate concern right now, however, must focus on getting our economy moving to ensure those in our community have
an income. “I have asked councillors for their support for the council to be the catalyst to form two task forces. One is concentrating on community recovery and ensuring we look after the vulnerable. The other will focus on economic recovery. “In the immediate future, we need to do all we can to encourage visitors back here. The international markets will be some time in returning, but given that last year 36 per cent of our visitor mix was domestic, we need to do all we can to welcome Kiwis here. “In addition, the council has, along with many others in the district, asked the government for assistance to undertake and support some of its “shovel ready” projects in the QLD. This work has the triple intentions of getting some of the major infrastructure projects we have sought for years underway, providing an economic boost to our economy and creating jobs for our struggling
PHOTO: QLDC
community,” Boult said. As of 9.00 am ( last Friday), QLDC had received 8,422 requests for welfare support via an online registration portal on the QLDC website. Approximately three-quarters of this number are in New Zealand on employment visas, and one-quarter have dependents or other family members requiring support, Boult said. Queenstown Lakes has a significant population of migrant workers, many of whom are newly unemployed as a result of the coronavirus lockdown and not eligible for government financial support due to their visa status. The migrant workers are a vital part of the economy and community in the district, and the continued stress under which they are currently living is having a wide-reaching effect, he said. “All of these underline how important the work of the emergency response team, and in particular the welfare team, has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future,” he said.