PM hints at partnership options

Regional development may get a financial boost from the Government, which is considering numerous new partnership options, according to Prime Minister John Key.

In his first visit as Prime Minister, Mr Key was in Dunedin yesterday and toured the Hillside Engineering Group, officially opened Fisher and Paykel Appliances' new design and call centre, met students at the Dunedin Community College, then attended the Otago Daily Times annual Class Act awards function.

Following his tour and the opening ceremony of Appliances' new design centre, Mr Key said in an interview New Zealand had to provide "cutting edge technology" and innovation in order to compete internationally.

"It has been tough times for Dunedin; tough times for New Zealand," he said about redundancies at Fisher and Paykel Appliances and Cadburys which saw a total 570 jobs lost from the city during the past 17 months.

Appliances made 430 Mosgiel staff redundant in April last year, relocating its dishdrawer manufacturing offshore to low wage economies because of Asian competition, rising costs and the high New Zealand dollar which had undermined the company's future.

Mr Key, having described the new Appliances facilities as "very impressive", was asked if the Government was considering any financial initiatives to aid regional development, such as public-private partnerships or joint ventures.

There were some "new ideas" being considered, with options covering the range of partnerships mentioned but it was otherwise "too early" to provide any further details, Mr Key said.

He had earlier spoken of evolving partnerships between universities, noting the University of Otago and its medical school "were the heart and soul" of the city.

Since closure and sale of Fisher and Paykel Appliances' Mosgiel plant to Fonterra for $20 million, it has leased premises in Wall St from the Dunedin City Council, at present employing 110 design staff and 40 global call-centre staff, with potential for more of the latter.

Following the tour of Fisher and Paykel Appliances' design laboratories, due to open in two months, Mr Key met design and call-centre staff before a private briefing on new designs.

At Hillside, following a briefing on forthcoming contract initiatives and plant capacity, Mr Key toured the entire site, from its foundry through to its near-completed 70th passenger carriage of 104 being built for Auckland's rail system in a $140 million contract.