Callum Bircher said he nearly fell off his chair as he listened to the announcement by Finance Minister Nicola Willis promising relief to 140,000 families with children.
His phone ran hot with calls from other frustrated business owners, angry at what they see as an "ambulance at the bottom of the cliff" approach.
They argue relief should have gone to the supply chain instead, as it did during the Covid-19 pandemic, would not only help businesses stay afloat but also stop rising costs being passed down to consumers. Not just to the 140,000 families specified, but to everyone.
Bircher owns Dash Transport in Gisborne, delivering rocks and aggregate to roading projects in Tairāwhitii that are critically needed. His trucks cover about 500km a day. Over the past two years, he’s had to cut his fleet from seven trucks to four. He says further cuts would be the end.
Most haulage companies he says, run only small fleets, yet all are grappling with diesel costs that have doubled since February.
Pressure showing
A worrying development is they’re now seeing a spike in fuel theft. One company he works with had three trucks targeted in one night. Farmers are complaining the same is happening to their harvesters.
He now makes sure his trucks are parked overnight only where there is security — either in his own yard or at a mate’s place further away. Leaving them in remote locations is no longer worth the risk.
His biggest fear is that projects will be delayed and work will dry up — especially with the quieter winter months approaching.
A pie company at risk
Up the road in Ruatoria, Bobbi Morice is another small business owner who feels "deflated". She was genuinely taken aback that the Government is leaving small businesses to cope, especially in areas like the East Coast which have already been hit hard by repeated extreme weather events.
She lost four significant customers recently and worries that more may cancel their orders. "Mince has gone up, power’s gone up and now fuel." She says they have to increase prices to cover the rising costs and worries her usual customers, like truck drivers, will start to see her pies as an occasional treat rather than a daily snack. "They’re not going to be buying them like they used to."
'Back flips' to get bank help
Morice said Willis seems unaware of how hard it is to get a bank to listen – a suggestion Willis made today at a press briefing as a solution to small businesses doing it tough. Morice explains that "being isolated up the coast and going through all the events that we've been through in the last four or five years doesn't make you a Top of the Pops pick for a bank. They see us as high risk.”
“I'm actually wondering what we what we're going to do."
Her deliveries require 650km of driving each week on roads she says are among the most poorly maintained in the country.
Staff layoffs may be unavoidable
If fuel prices stay high for months, laying off staff will be necessary. It’s the last thing Morice wants to do.
She values her staff and knows it would mean the jobs all fall to her and her husband.
"Because it's your own business, you're passionate … you do crazy stuff."
At times, she and her husband have worked for nothing so they can keep on top of paying all the bills. They’ve also called on family, which may have to happen again.
Hard to hand out lollies
Richard Burke understands the Government’s predicament.
“I think they're in a really difficult position because it's not their making, and it's pretty hard to hand out lollies," he says.
Burke was chief executive of horticulture business LeaderBrand for 14 years and now works as a consultant to agri-businesses across the East Coast / Tairāwhiti region.
He describes the fuel crisis as a kind of detonator, forcing growers to rethink the viability of their crops.
"The gun’s always loaded, and you're just looking for the thing that pulls the trigger and starts the whole thing off. There's going to be a lot of hurt from growers, particularly in the fresh produce world."
He says there's a huge dependence on fuel in the region and expects the fertiliser costs to really bite too. He worries there’s already a lack of confidence to invest in Tairāwhiti due to the poor condition of the roads, and rising fuel costs will only make that harder. There’s a real concern among the business community that the region won’t survive.
However, Burke doesn’t think a wider financial handout from the Government, as seen during Covid, is the answer. Instead, he'd like to see more moves to reduce the costs for businesses.
"We've got to be really proactive on being business friendly. If business is going well, particularly the primary sector, then the regions have got an opportunity because people are prepared to work pretty hard as long as they get a good reward."
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