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Source: ONE News
Farmers are challenging the government to explain how they will benefit from the $1.5 billion investment in ultra-fast broadband.
"Urban New Zealand is getting a multi-billion dollar boost while rural New Zealand appears to be left with crumbs," Federated Farmers said on Wednesday night.
"The government shouldn't need to be reminded that while farmers are a very small part of the general population, they directly generate 64% of everything New Zealand sells to the world."
Communications and Technology Minister Steven Joyce on Tuesday announced public-private partnerships would be established to deliver ultra-fast broadband to 75% of New Zealanders within 10 years.
That 75% was based in the 25 biggest cities and towns.
Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesman Donald Aubrey said he wanted to meet Joyce as soon as possible.
"We need a solid, workable and costed plan so that rural New Zealand can benefit from the revolutionary potential of ultra-fast broadband," he said.
Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn wasn't happy with the announcement either, saying the entire West Coast was left out.
"We're all in this together. The West Coast is booming. We're adding a lot of overseas exchange to the government coffers so we shouldn't be missing out down in the South Island," he said.
"We're a special part of New Zealand and we've got the highest economic growth at the moment, so the government needs to really have a good hard look at itself."
Westland Mayor Maureen Pugh said the West Coast was one of the few areas nationwide not suffering from the economic decline.
"It hasn't got the volatility that the rest of the country has got so in terms of potential, I think that we probably warrant it more than most because when everything else fails, it's your primary producers that are going to be propping this country up," she said.
Joyce said a further $48 million had been set aside for improving rural broadband but announcements around that were still several weeks away.
It was not practical to install the cables needed for ultra-fast broadband to all rural homes, he said.
"I haven't yet seen anybody sensibly arguing that we're going to put fibre to the home to every remote farm in New Zealand," he said.
