Boorish? Lange's team blamed for changing our tune

Boorish Kiwis could all be the fault of the fourth Labour Government, says Auckland University sociologist David Bedggood.

He believes the sweeping market reforms that began with the advent of the David Lange-led Labour Government in 1984 moved people's mindset away from egalitarian ideals of the past to an "every man for himself" individualism.

"Rudeness and boorishness is a consequence of that," Dr Bedggood said this week.

His comments come after Australian Chief Justice James Spigelman criticised his countrymen for becoming rude and selfish.

He said the "vulgarity and rudeness" of reality television, road rage and noisy cellphone users were symptoms of Australians' descent into a morass of bad manners.

Dr Bedggood, who lectures on New Zealand society and its future, said rampant individualism was an international phenomenon, but one particularly noticeable in New Zealand and Australia because of their strong history of providing social welfare support.

"In the past people saw some kind of collective responsibility ... Today, there's a much more ruthless attitude to that."

Many New Zealanders believed they were responsible only to themselves.

Dr Bedggood said people living in larger cities were more likely to suffer the ill-effects of individualism, chiefly because bigger centres offered more anonymity.

"It doesn't matter if you are rude. Who cares? They are not going to come back at you, they don't know you."

Dr Bedggood said the best way to stop our increasing rudeness was to "stand up and reclaim control over our own lives, and the way to do that is resist the international market".

People were taught bad manners and boorishness, just as they could be taught good manners and sensitivity, he said.

"Good behaviour is learned. If you are in a situation where you have to put the other person down to get ahead, then you learn a new set of rules ... rudeness."

Russell Sinclair, the northern regional manager of the New Zealand Retailers Association, said 95 per cent of customers were reasonable but occasionally people expressed opinions or objections that were "not in good taste."

Most New Zealanders were not rude, they just demanded a high level of customer service, he said.

"A great number of people expect expert opinion on products and become annoyed when they don't receive the attention they deserve.

"Many retailers spend millions of dollars on advertising but often, when you go into a shop to find the product, staff are searching around for the manual rather than being skilled up on it."

Mr Sinclair believes attitudes have changed over the years because while many stores had invested in staff training, others had not.

"There was a time when people just put up with bad service and voted with their feet by not returning to a restaurant, but now people are not afraid to speak up."

Richard Umbers, managing director at supermarket operator Progressive Enterprises, did not think New Zealanders were becoming rude.

"People have a right to be treated civilly and with good service. If they're not then I fully understand if they're upset as we should be doing a better job."

Bruce Robertson, chief executive of the Hospitality Association, said New Zealanders' expectations continued to increase. However, on a global scale New Zealanders were generally "pretty laid-back and tolerant".

"We just don't go back if we don't like what we got."

Simon Nikoloff, managing director at customer service training provider Kiwihost, said New Zealanders were only rude when the person serving them did not deliver what had been ordered.

Mr Nikoloff said New Zealand's economy was growing and the more people earned the fussier they became about how they spent their money.

But New Zealanders were non-confrontational by nature, he said. "When we receive cold cups of coffee we sit there and drink them because we don't know how to resolve the problem."