Didn’t Labour claim the provinces were not sharing in the recovery?

The Herald reports:

The South Island has had bigger median income gains than the North over the past seven years, Census figures show.

But an expert cautions that the figures may point to changing work and migration patterns, rather than real growth in income for the same people.

Statistics New Zealand figures drawn from last year’s Census show all regions in the South Island, except for the Queenstown-Lakes District, have had growth in real median income.

Buller District’s median income increase was up 19 per cent on 2006. Ashburton and Southland District had increases of 14 and 11.7 per cent.

In the North Island, New Plymouth and Stratford District had the largest increases with 8.5 and 7.4 per cent.

Median incomes in Auckland, the central North Island and some East Coast regions were down on the 2006 Census.

So median income down in Auckland and massive growth in Buller, Asburton, Southland and Taranaki. This is what Labour calls the provinces missing out. I never knew they regarded Auckland as a province.