I dont give a bugger about the JAFA comment - I have no time for Auckland, its drain on the finances of the country etc. Why dont they give Aucklanders an extra tax to cover all the stuff in Auckland that CHCHians have paid for over the years?
Check your maths on that, it's arse about face.
One third of the population lives in Auckland and that is more than live in the entire South Island.
Half of the population of New Zealand lives north of Otorohanga.
What does that tell you about where tax payers live?
What does that say when one third of the GDP and tax comes from Christchurch? Which city produces the greatest drain?
Regional Gross Domestic Product (1)
Current prices
Year ended March
2000 2001 2002 2003
Region $(million)
Northland 2,787 3,106 3,370 3,243
Auckland 39,518 40,277 43,301 47,689
Waikato 8,930 10,119 11,087 10,598
Bay of Plenty 5,721 6,134 6,551 6,689
Gisborne 916 960 1,001 1,031
Hawke's Bay 3,569 3,839 4,122 4,318
Taranaki 3,743 4,600 4,678 4,414
Manawatu-Wanganui 4,847 5,201 5,557 5,594
Wellington 16,790 17,046 18,283 19,286
Total North Island 86,820 91,281 97,951 102,863
Tasman / Nelson 1,943 2,080 2,282 2,343
Marlborough 955 1,045 1,161 1,193
West Coast 662 755 804 779
Canterbury 12,538 13,237 14,195 15,074
Otago 4,344 4,683 5,127 5,411
Southland 2,434 2,861 3,120 3,023
Total South Island 22,875 24,661 26,688 27,824
Gross domestic product 109,696 115,941 124,639 130,687
(1) Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.
http://stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/GDP/regional-gross-domestic-product.aspxmmm...could that be something to do with Canterbury having a hell of alot more land therefore more agrecultural exports than the mostly industrial Auckland region?
If GDP is directly comparible to govenment tax income note the figures I found above (sorry,couldn't find anything more recent).
The GDP of Canterbury is roughly a third of the GDP of Auckland and the GDP of the entire South Island is somewhat less that that of Auckland.
Canterbury doesn't equal Christchurch however Auckland region not much bigger than Auckland City these days.