Steven Joyce spent about three hours in Westport yesterday, talking to community leaders and to companies keen on developing local projects.
He acknowledged the district was hurting from Solid Energy layoffs and prospective job losses at Holcim and OceanaGold.
"From my perspective, I feel quite passionate that we've got to do some things around -- particularly Westport and Buller -- if we can help facilitate some new things to happen.
"The district has had three significant knocks in recent times, I would say more significant knocks that the rest of the country. It's quite a special case as far as we are concerned."
The West Coast might be a candidate for a regional study, similar to those carried out in areas such as Northland and Bay of Plenty.
Mr Joyce said he had telephoned Buller Mayor Garry Howard after Solid Energy announced its most recent Stockton layoffs and asked Mr Howard to come up with ideas for helping Buller. Mr Howard had been very proactive.
One idea -- to allow mining, subject to known conditions, in designated areas -- had been caught up in proposed Resource Management Act reforms.
Mr Joyce said Mr Howard was keen on setting up an information communications technology hub in Westport. The minister was putting Buller in touch with Wanaka, which had set up a similar hub.
He revealed that Westport and Hokitika were "very high on the list" to gain ultra-fast broadband.
Mr Joyce yesterday met representatives of three companies with possible Buller projects: global environmental solutions giant Veolia, the Stevenson Group, which proposes a coal mine at Te Kuha, and a company he named as Garnet before his assistant told him it was supposed to be confidential.
He was unsure whether the proposal for a Veolia waste to energy project at Cape Foulwind would proceed, but said it was "very interesting". Government's waste minimisation fund might help finance a feasibility study.
Stevenson was proposing high-value uses for Te Kuha coal, such as carbon fibre production, he said. The company had told him the mine could provide 40 to 50 jobs and more employment downstream.
When Mr Joyce visited Westport last August he touted opportunities in tourism and dairy and said the coal industry would become sustainable over time.
He said yesterday that the Government was considering a Tourism West Coast request for more funding.
He acknowledged dairying was struggling but said the industry shouldn't get too down in the mouth about poor prices.
"Yes, dairy prices are low at the moment and they are going to be lower than people thought at the start of the year. That will be challenging for the dairy sector for the next little while but it will come back and I suspect it will come back stronger."
Westland Milk Products' investment in infant formula and nutritional products was "exactly where they need to be going because that's the high value stuff", he said.
The recent 19 per cent rebound in the value of the New Zealand dollar would be good for dairy and industries such as gold mining.
Asked what the Government was doing for Solid Energy and KiwiRail - whose failing fortunes are hurting the Coast -- Mr Joyce said the state-owned enterprises had to help themselves.
"They've both got to get themselves into a position where they can survive and prosper and unfortunately aren't there yet."
The Government and taxpayers should not just write out cheques for them, he said.
He noted that while Solid Energy wasn't making money from coal, others like the Stevenson Group said they could.
Coal would never reach the record prices of a few years ago, but prices would improve, he said.
He denied that the Government lacked a regional development policy south of the Bombay Hills. Those claims came from parties "sitting in Wellington writing press releases", he said.
He cited roading, broadband, infrastructure and tertiary education as some of government's regional initiatives and said it was trying to encourage new development and investments on the West Coast.
Asked whether Development West Coast (DWC) was doing enough to help the region, he said that was for West Coasters to judge. DWC had told him it was making new investments. Working alongside DWC would be more beneficial than criticising it, he said.
Mr Howard said the minister's visit was highly successful. "We are real pleased -- it's been a great day."
Mr Joyce was genuine about helping the Coast, he said. "I feel he's taken a bit of a shine to the West Coast. Everything is on the table, from whitebait breeding to waste fuel."
Mr Joyce had assigned various officials to different projects and given Mr Howard a 'go to' person in his department. "Having that communication and support and being able to road map how things go from A-Z has just been huge."
- Lee Scanlon of the Westport News
