A new report aims to map the geography of advantage and disadvantage. We talk to someone who's lived in communities on both sides.
Brad Olsen. Photo: Tom Furley
High unemployment, low income and a rapidly aging population contribute to Northland, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay being the least fortunate parts of the country, according to a report released by the Salvation Army this week.
The most fortunate regions in the Mixed Fortunes report are listed as Canterbury, Wellington and Otago, but it warns that in time there’s a risk of the country being split in two - wealthy Auckland and the rest.
Young people are being lost from smaller communities to the big cities while older people move to outer areas where there’s more sun or where housing is less expensive. This means provincial regions in both the North and South Islands are already much older and are aging faster than the national average, the report said.
Up until this year, Brad Olsen, 18, had spent his whole life in Northland, New Zealand’s least fortunate. According to the report, it had the highest rates of unemployment, joblessness and the lowest median income.
The region also had one of the lowest rates of school leavers finishing with University Entrance.
“There’s a greater push on young people to excel at university, I think, from the major centres, whereas in Whangarei we realise that not everyone goes to university,” Brad said.
He’s one of those who has left to study, following the trend of young people being lost from smaller communities to the cities.
Last year the region had the highest rate of people age 15 to 24 not in education, employment or training. However, many of Brad’s year have gone on to pursue other interests.
“I know a lot of people who’ve done, quite weirdly, quite a number of different things. A lot of my friends have gone to university, but equally a number have gone to the likes of NorthTec; which is the polytech in Whangarei, to gain qualifications while staying in the district.
“A couple of others have gone into apprenticeships either in plumbing, building, or welding and such. And even more have gone straight into a job, whether that’s through a family friend or whatever, they’re working” he said.
“I really think that needs to be recognised a little bit more, that young people, we don’t all need to go to university.”
However, with many moving like Brad, the size and importance of major cities is being strengthened.
The dominance of New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, seems set to continue, recent population projections by Statistics New Zealand suggest Auckland may account for over 60 per cent of New Zealand’s population growth and, in time, will make up about 40 per cent of New Zealand’s population.
“In general, Aucklanders will be younger, wealthier, better skilled, and more ethnically diverse than the rest of New Zealand,” the report said.
For Brad, more work needs to be done back at home.
“I wholeheartedly agree with the report’s assessment of where the balance falls in terms of the two different New Zealand model, because there is a lot of work to do in Whangarei, there needs to be better investment, there needs to be increased focus on education and different opportunities for young people.”
“I guess it’s making sure there're some longer term jobs in Whangarei that provides some stability.”
While the picture painted by the Mixed Fortunes Report may seem bleak for regions such as Northland, Brad suggests it isn’t set in stone.
“I don’t think that is necessarily the end of the story. Whangarei and Northland have been tipped as a potential IT hub in future years. It’s the first place that’s 100 per cent connected to the ultra-fast broadband fibre rollout. If there’s a second internet cable run into New Zealand it’ll likely be landed there which gives a lot of scope for IT in the north.”
“Those opportunities, that investment in IT, and better infrastructure around IT in the north would lend itself to more young people going back.”
Despite the report, Brad is confident of getting a job back at home.
“There are options in Wellington of course, and the options that I’m looking at probably lend themselves more to Wellington, but I would never discount Whangarei as a work destination.”
He blames the unique, relaxed lifestyle of the place and even though many of his friends won’t return for work, it’s the call of a more rural life which will bring them back.
“They say, even if I don’t come back to Whangarei immediately to work, I will come back to settle down, to have a family quite possibly, in some later years.”