Backroads to the Beehive: Fuel, food and the future at top of the south

Across the South Island, voters have singled out fuel, food and the future as the big issues on their mind at the ballot box and people at the top of the south are no different. Politicians are calling it a cost of living election. With five days until Election Day, RNZ South Island correspondent Tim Brown and camera operator Louis Dunham head to Tasman for the fifth journey from the 'Backroads to the Beehive'.

The character of the top of the south is hard to pin down, with sprawling vineyards, hop gardens and orchards, golden beaches, a military base and some of the country's most well-known alternative lifestylers.

Tasman has long been a Labour stronghold and Marlborough an equally staunch National heartland, but there has been little enthusiasm for either Chris Hipkins or Christopher Luxon during a campaign many have dubbed a cost-of-living election.

Toni Marshall, who runs Mrs Smith's Cafe in Riwaka, says families are struggling and financial survival seems harder than ever.

"What they say is you get paid in sunshine around here," she says. "Basically, there are not huge amounts of money to be forking out to make people's life easier, that's for sure.

"Pricing in the supermarkets is just getting more and more horrific. I go in there and think, 'Wow, how do some families do this?', especially families who are on a single wage.

"I just can't even comprehend how they can afford to get week to week."

Business is also tough, affecting workers and the families they support, Marshall says.

"So many businesses have shut down over the last couple of years. It's been quite the talk of the town.

"People can't afford all the increases. There are the fuel costs, the overheads, the wages and staff wanting more wages.

"They should be able to rely on a bit of a bonus every year or at least their wages increasing slightly, but it's just not doable, because the money's not there."

Riwaka's Georgina Fry has also seen businesses struggling.

"I worked on the High Street for 21 years and I've never known it to be so quiet," she says. "Even at peak times, like a Thursday or a Friday afternoon, it's just so quiet."

'The longer we've been here, the harder and harder it gets'

Leigh Knowles, from Murchison's Hampden Hotel, says winter was horrible and truck drivers are no longer a reliable source of income.

"I've got 22 rooms upstairs, so I do rely on them a lot, but the way the economy is going at the moment, a lot of truck drivers are sleeping in their trucks," she says. "The owners are putting beds in their trucks, so they can stay in there."

Murchison's Tutaki Bakery owner Lee Morgan says margins are tight.

"There are so many businesses now that are looking tired, because people haven't got the money to re-invest in the businesses, like a lick of paint or just making it presentable," he said. "Before, you'd have a little bit of money to be able to put back into the business.

"Now, they can't, because it's just surviving."

The cost of living crunch has exacerbated economic pain that has been decades in the making.

Morgan says today's New Zealand does not compare to the country he arrived in 20 years ago.

"When I first came to New Zealand, there was so much opportunity there for people, but the longer we've been here, the harder and harder it gets," he says.

"I don't see anything getting any easier, at all. I think, as the years go by, it's going to get harder and harder.

"There are so many businesses closing and it's not because there are not people there, people just haven't got the money to spend."

{h] 'It is quite scary'

From Murchison to Motueka, a dollar is hard to come by and even harder to hold onto.

Fears about the future are a common theme, especially for young people.

Motueka student Mareikura Ikin wonders if her future will even be in Aotearoa.

"I have worries of securing a job, after I get my degree," she says. "A lot of my friends and family have gone over to the likes of Australia.

"What are our government doing to ensure that our students and just people have job security here in Aotearoa, as opposed to going overseas?"

The cost of living is hurting young and the old, Ikin says.

"It's tough out there, you know, whānau are doing it really hard," she says. "No matter who you are, where you come from, everyone's doing it tough."

Jacinda Piggott grew up on Tākaka Hill and returned to New Zealand four years ago, after a decade living in Australia.

She is pregnant, and says the contrast between being a mother in New Zealand and Australia is stark.

"My husband owns his own business, so we're trying so hard to get ahead, but I can't be a stay-at-home mum.

"In six months, I'm going to have to be working again and childcare is expensive. It is quite scary, all of that.

"I don't really want to think about it. I'm trying to ignore it, but I know that, in Australia, I didn't have to work.

"I could be a stay-at-home mum for my kids and here I know, in July next year, I'll have to be back at work and my baby will be at daycare, costing me probably half my wage, so it's crazy.

"It's absolutely crazy."