What New Zealand could be

In the past few days several of New Zealand’s leading politicians have weighed in on the ‘State of the Nation’. Here’s my two cents worth.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled to and lived in a number of places around the world. I moved back to New Zealand in 2021 because I truly believe it is one of the greatest places in the world to live and raise a family.

I don’t know whether every generation looks back fondly on their childhood years, but in the 1990s the world seemed like a safe place - the Cold War had ended, democracy was spreading, and it felt like anything was possible. Since then September 11, the Global Financial Crisis, Brexit, the election (and re-election) of Donald Trump as US President, and COVID-19 have all meant the geopolitical environment my generation has lived with since we came of age has become increasingly unstable. In the current world New Zealand can feel like an oasis, far removed from instability overseas.

That’s not to say it’s perfect, boy is there a lot of work to do here.

Let’s start with the positives. New Zealand is a country that covers an area comparable to the United Kingdom, but with a population the size of Ireland’s - there’s lots of space for everyone. We have 13 national parks covering vast swathes of the South Island in particular, abundant natural resources, 82% of our electricity comes from renewable sources, we produce enough food to feed 40 million people and we have an exclusive economic zone covering an area of ocean 15 times larger than our land mass.

We were the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote in 1893, we rank as the 11th happiest country in the world, we are seen as tolerant towards the LGBT community, and we punch well above our weight when it comes medals won at the Olympic Games.

We are relatively well run and well educated - we are ranked as the fourth most peaceful country in the world, the third least corrupt, sixth on the Index of Economic Freedom, second on the Democracy Index, 16th on the Human Development Index, and 12th in the OECD’s Better Life Index.

There’s always a but though. Our GDP per capita has slipped to 44th out of 222 countries and territories. Our scores in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment for reading, maths and science have been dropping for 15 years now. 80,200 of our citizens permanently left the country in the 12 months to June 2024. NZ is the sixth least affordable country in the world to buy a house. Inequality has worsened. And our productivity is among the worst amongst developed countries.

Since returning to New Zealand there are a few things I’ve noticed. Some have been issues for a long time, but others are more recent:

• Our health system is struggling (Health New Zealand has a $1 billion deficit), and dental care is still not subsidised - leading to people ending up in the emergency room because they can’t afford dental treatment

• We are short of key workers in a number of areas - Immigration NZ’s Green List identifies 205 roles

• The downtown areas of our major cities are struggling, areas like Queen St in the Auckland CBD and Broadway in Newmarket are in desperate need of rejuvenation

• So many people are struggling to make ends meet, and 1 in 8 children live in households experiencing material hardship

• It is really hard for the younger generations to get ahead, especially if they don’t have wealthy parents

• Our roads seem more clogged than ever, but there are precious few public transport initiatives really going on, but there are a lot more cycle and bus lanes

• Our economy is still heavily reliant on agriculture and forestry

• Some of our biggest companies, including the banks, supermarkets, and electricity providers appear to be making outsize profits

• Our inability to build infrastructure has gotten even worse - last year ASB estimated we’d need to spend $1 trillion over the next 30 years to bring our infrastructure up to scratch

• Childcare remains unaffordable to most

• Many of us live close to the beach, however our creaky sewerage system system means that from time to time beaches are unsafe for swimming

• Instead of showing leadership on climate change we seem to be going backwards on climate (our Prime Minister remains adamant New Zealand is on track despite the Climate Commission warning more needs to be done)

Fixing the issues above will cost money, but it isn’t just a case of spending more. Public money must be spent well - the lesson from the past few years is that a massive increase in government spending doesn’t necessarily equate to a commensurate rise in living standards. We also need to innovate and grow - a stronger economy means more money for public services. At the same time we are not a highly taxed population, and we do need to decide whether we are prepared to pay more . We may also consider whether a more adequate provision for retirement saving might unlock funding for future infrastructure projects.

Maybe we need bipartisan agreement on a few more things - both major parties have signed up to the 2050 net zero target but we are way off track for 2030, now they need to agree on a road map to get there. At the same time a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure would give certainty on what projects were going ahead.

We need politicians with vision and a long term view, who aren’t afraid to shy away from the big challenges and make the tough decisions. We need them to challenge the status quo and continually require innovation to lift productivity and ensure we can adapt to a changing world order.

We have the potential to be world leaders in so many areas. We could set an ambition to be the first OECD country to reach net zero, we could lead the way in reaching 100% renewable energy, we could commit research and development funding to making breakthroughs in agriculture, we could make our tax base fairer and collectively put more money aside for our retirement to properly fund our infrastructure and other public services, and start to make a dent in inequality, lift our education scores, and become a more prosperous society. We could incentivise our young people to train in the right areas, and convince them to stay here.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers, and these issues are far more complex than a single blog post. However it seems pretty obvious to me that if we keep doing what we’ve been doing for the past few decades things won’t change much. We need to resolve these issues to fulfil our potential as a country. Who will be brave enough to take a chance and do something different?