Ruapehu Alpine Lifts Can Be Saved At No Cost To The Taxpayer Says Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group

The Government and MBIE have so far failed to engage with the Mt Ruapehu mountain community and seem to be unwilling to provide any further funding to stop Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) going into receivership. Jason Platt from the Save Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group says:

“If RAL does not get any financial assistance from the government, then PwC as Administrators will put RAL into liquidation as there is no money to pay the bills. They have no other option, because as we understand, there are no alternative deals on the table and time is running out. A decision on whether to place RAL into liquidation has to be made within the next 10 days.”

If the government's decides not to provide further temporary funding it would be astounding and lack common sense. If RAL goes into liquidation, the taxpayer will have to pay the clean-up bill of between $100 to $150 million. In addition, the local Ruapehu economy will lose approximately $100 million per year in income related to the skifield operations as well as thousands of jobs.

The Save Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group, PWC and MBIE themselves have already found via surveys that the mountain community are willing to contribute between $10 million to $30 million dollars towards the re-capitalisation of RAL. With contributions being offered from a mix of local business, alpine clubs, life pass holders and mountain users.

Based on financial modelling by The Save Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group, this means MBIE’s contribution would be between approximately $5 million to $23 million. PwC Administrators have said they need $9 million to get to a position where they can issue a season pass campaign to get the company to the 2023 winter season.

RAL have been loaned $4.5 million by MBIE & ANZ which only gets them to the end of December 2022. This means continuing to operate the company as a going concern until a long-term solution can be found is not an option and immediate liquidation of the skifields is a high possibility.

We believe that Ruapehu Alpine Lifts can be saved at no long-term cost to the tax payer, this is basic math. MBIE can choose to invest between $5 million to $23 million dollars to save the local economy with a 1 to 2-year payback based on GST alone, or lose over $100 million dollars of taxpayer's money for the clean-up.

We seriously urge the Government to review their position, or explain their decision to the locals, mountain users and taxpayers of New Zealand, and engage with the various local community groups who have shown that they are willing to contribute financially to support the skifields.

The skifields are a regional asset that provides employment and revenue to the community and happiness to thousands of users and visitors to the Ruapehu region. This makes them worthy of MBIE’s support to traverse these difficult times.

We recommend that the government considers supporting The Save Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group Proposal which would result in a debt-free crowdfunded skifield entity that can be financially viable for future generations to come.

This crowdfunded business model was successful for 70 years until it became overburdened in recent years with increased borrowing to support a corporate approach and the Sky Waka investment which was a provincial growth fund project intended to support the Ruapehu region.

Peter Thomson from the Save Mt Ruapehu Skifields Group added: “The mountain community have been crying out for a chance to put their money where their mouth is. No one is sitting around hoping for a hand-out. We’re ready put real money in to support the skifields. We just need the government and PwC to give us a chance.”

The Save Mt Ruapehu website has more information including copies of the proposals to PwC, detailed results of the community crowdfunding surveys and updates on the voluntary administration process:

www.savemtruapehu.org.nz

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