Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is holding a regional summit on the Chatham Islands, where he wants to hear "ambitious plans". Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
The Regional Development Minister is taking MPs, experts and officials, business leaders and the Rātana Band to the Chatham Islands.
Shane Jones will be leading the delegation on Wednesday for a regional summit, aiming to encourage Chathams locals to apply for project funding through the government's Regional Infrastructure Fund.
"Energy, fishing, tourism and alternative land use are all areas which could benefit from the connections made at the summit tomorrow and I hope to hear some ambitious plans from the islanders," he said.
"It is important, given the relative isolation of the islands, to take the summit to the people who live there.
"The Chathams has an infrastructure deficit and I am going there in person to share with the locals the criteria of the Regional Infrastructure Fund and how they can apply for project funding."
More than $580 million from the $1.2 billion fund has been committed so far, particularly focused on projects for water storage, energy infrastructure, Māori economic development, growth and resilience.
Jones said he expected a big turnout from the locals to the meeting.
Chatham Islands mayor Monique Croon welcomed the visit.
She said the summit was focused on creating a sound economic future for the island.
"The cornerstone of anything we're doing is what is the future for our children, and some of the things we're focusing on during the summit are renewable energy, farming and fishing, housing, local public service reform, resilience, roads, waste, water and walls."
But Croon said the the Chatham's has an infrastructure deficit to make up.
"One of the things the coalition government has talked to local government about is back to basics - our line is we need to get up to basics."
She said the Chatham's economy would decline if appropriate investment was not made, and the four groups that lead the island's governance - the Chatham Islands council, Hokotehi Moriori trust, Chatham Islands enterprise trust and Ngāti Mutunga - were working together on how best to support the island's growth.
Croon said there needed to be a clearer infrastructure pipeline to secure more stable government funding to replace ad-hoc funding of the past.
She pointed to the frequent break downs and repairs required for the fault-prone 38-year-old supply ship, the Southern Tiare, which had created drastic supply problems in recent years.
"We got funding in 2022, but she was an old vessel then, probably that should have happened five years ago.
"We've experienced some serious interruption to our farmers, we've just about run out of diesel and petrol a few times and it's really had an impact on our economy over the past few years - we don't want to deal with that again. We need much more certainty in the critical things we need to keep our island going."
The mayor said she hoped the summit would boost recognition of the value of the Chatham Island's economy to the country.
Croon said she also wanted to discuss how the island could access the regional infrastructure fund "to be able to invest in the infrastructure we need to be able to grow our farming, fishing and tourism, and reduce the cost of living for the community so that we've got a much more certain future".
Jones had held 11 other "regional summits" around New Zealand, with more planned for Wairarapa and Kāpiti on 9 May, and Otago on 16 May.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
