Good morning Chamber members, 

It’s been a tough year, but 2021 beckons and most of us cannot wait. Here is the last of our musings for 2020. We will be back in mid-January with more thoughts for your edification, enjoyment and to engage your thinking as we continue the battle for business prosperity.



1. Reflections on Covid & 2020

What a roller coaster of a year we have had. May your 2021 be a great deal better than 2020. Black Swan events such as Covid-19 and Lockdown are never easy to negotiate and simply surviving 2020 is a credit to your resilience. 

Roll on 2021, everyone is hanging out for you to arrive.

2020 will also be remembered as the year of real internet connectivity for everyone and appreciation of the high-speed internet infrastructure that we invested in the post the GFC. Changes to the way we connected due to Covid has made us experts at working from home, meeting on Zoom or Teams, joining webinars, podcasts and much, much, more.

In lockdown business was crippled, the Government came to the party with fast and furious support. All of which is appreciated. 

The trick for all our members is to take the lessons, pivots, and scars of 2020 and revitalise our businesses to take advantage of the opportunity that 2021 offers.

Enjoy your Christmas break and we look forward to seeing you in the prosperous new year.


2. E-bikes

e-bikes are a revelation. If you haven’t had a go, give it a try. Our pick is it will be the Boomer choice of present to themselves in 2021.
 
The team at the Chamber rode the Victoria St to Ngaruawahia section of the Waikato River Trail last week on e-bikes. We are converted. One in our group was able to navigate the whole way back from Ngaruawahia without pedalling until his battery hit empty on the steep hill that is Rostrevor St as you ride up to Victoria St from the river. The rest of us arrived with our battery packs still well charged. 

The Waikato River Trail is magic and a real credit to those who created it. The e-bikes take the sting out of any hills, and some of the flats, making your enjoyment of the scenery and the river vista a real pleasure to take in. 

Make taking your team on the Waikato River trail a must-do activity in 2021.



3. Long term plans and who pays for infrastructure

All local councils in NZ are in a bind during this term. The Government has imposed a large number of requirements on them across water and other infrastructure that someone has to pay for. These are all high ticket items. The issues can no longer be avoided.

Some of our infrastructures is new and fresh but much of our country’s infrastructure is old, inadequate, unreliable, and in need of investment. To get a feel for the dire state of council infrastructure to see Wellington’s issues with broken pipes spilling sewerage on the street which flowed into the harbour and Auckland’s highly publicised water woes, to highlight just a few.

Several of our local Waikato Councils have been working hard to keep up with maintenance and re-investment. But for some time, successive Councillors have been elected on a promise to hold rates. The chickens have now come home to roost in many Council territories around the country with old, undermaintained council infrastructure that is failing.  

Investment is required and rates are going up. The question is by how much, and how quickly and crucially how much of this investment should come from Central Government.

As a country, we need to invest in infrastructure and not kick the can down the road for our children to pay for. We are a growing country that requires substantial and on-going investment in infrastructure to underpin our well-being and that of our environment.

All councils are giving you plenty of opportunities to give them feedback into their Long Term Plans. Their planning processes run through January and February next year where you can have your say. Please take advantage of the opportunity to participate. The more business voices the better the Councillors decision making.

Your bank account will be affected.



4. Hats off to HCC

With an interest in their long term plan, I watched Hamilton City Council’s video broadcast of their debates. Not all of it as it was over three days, but sufficient to understand the complexities of the budgeting that is going on, the significant scope of the expenditure they are doing on our behalf, and the projects competing for funding. 

It was well chaired, personal pet projects were put aside in the face of having to see rate increases into double figures, and Councillors worked hard to make cuts to expenditure. 

Hats off to Hamilton City Council for having the proceedings available for all to watch. Transparency is important if you want voters to buy into your budgets. 
This process, in many ways, mirrors what our members are doing as they conclude their business budgets for the next financial year. For most the revenue line in 2021 will be made up of a lot of guesswork and hope that customers will be buying and paying at good margins. Whereas for Council they can set rates and have a fairly good idea of their revenue streams. Where it becomes difficult for Councillors is deciding which projects to prune or put aside in the face of selling an increase in rates to you the ratepayer that will be well over 7%. 

Our members would have difficulty selling that sort of price jump to their customers. 

By and large all our Waikato Councils have reasonable and polite debate unlike other Councils in NZ. All of our councillors are aware that everyone has had a tough year economically, All will be mindful of the impact on businesses of huge increases, while also ensuring they get much needed infrastructure projects underway.

It is a balancing act so when the next round of Council debate on the Long-term plan comes up, tune in and watch or take a seat in the debating Chamber.


 
5. Immigration Facts

When debates about topical issues such as housing, congestion, transport, and others erupt around the beach BBQ or whilst consuming the Christmas ham, it pays to look for facts.

In the seven months from April - the first full month under the border restrictions - to October, 119,400 people departed New Zealand, and just 65,900 people entered, a net reduction of 53,500, according to the latest data released by Statistics New Zealand on Monday. 

The majority of people who arrived in New Zealand between April and October were overseas residents - people who were living overseas for more than 12 months prior to their arrival. Of the 42,700 overseas residents, almost two thirds were New Zealand citizens.

We do live in a great part of the world.

Have a great break and we will see you back in January.


Best Regards
Don