John Banks Has A Plan

John Banks Has A Plan To Create Auckland Jobs

The sight of thousands of people queuing for just 150 jobs at a Manukau supermarket is proof a Greater Auckland urgently needs a job creation strategy that can help the region fight the recession, says Mayor John Banks

John Banks says, “It’s tough out there for so many Aucklanders Dole numbers are up, and unemployment is running at over 9% in Manukau City, almost 50% more than the national average. It’s simply not good enough to see those huge queues for so few jobs at a new South Auckland Countdown.”

“As the economy starts to improve, we need to maximise job creation opportunities,” he says. “In Auckland City, we focused on economic stimulus during 2008-2009, investing in a record amount of capital works and brought forward a number of projects like the $20 million Marine Events Centre to help keep Auckland working." Once completed, the Marine Events Centre is estimated to add at least $54 million per annum of economic benefits to Auckland.

“We have also announced a film friendly policy for Auckland. Film, TV and commercials bring almost $900 million of GDP benefit to Auckland, and provides 3600 jobs. The ‘Yogi Bear’ film brought in an estimated USD $40 million into NZ, mostly spent in Auckland, mostly staffed by young and bright local talent.”

Stressing that the ‘flow on’ effects from film and TV production boosts a wide range of Auckland industries and businesses, John Banks says he is determined to boost this business further.

“We’ve also helped bring companies to Auckland like Fujitsu, who chose our city as their new Asia-Pacific based call centre, creating up to 100 jobs based in Newmarket. We are also focusing on helping skilled migrants through funding OMEGA, which provides targeted assistance to skilled immigrants looking for employment in their chosen profession like engineering and medicine.

John Banks wants to extend these kind of strategies into the new single City. “With one Auckland, the responsibility for job creation and attracting investment becomes even more critical. Bringing all the players together including education providers, government agencies and employers is one of the things an empowered Greater Auckland Mayor can and must do if we’re serious about creating more jobs.

“By focusing on those industries where we can bring in overseas dollars like films, international events and new companies, and by building infrastructure like the Marine Events Centre and the upgrade of the Auckland Art gallery, we can provide hope and opportunity for our jobless citizens across a Greater Auckland", concluded Mr Banks.

ENDS

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