Brain drain ad farcical, say youngsters overseas

By FRANCESCA MOLD

Angry young New Zealanders have launched a counter-campaign against a brain drain advertisement, saying it is farcical to suggest the Government's economic policies are driving them overseas.

Auckland marketer Richard Poole this week launched a full-page advertisement in the Herald naming 700 people who wanted political leaders to stop the overseas exodus of talented young New Zealanders.

But a group of Kiwis says the advertisement was politically driven by the Business Roundtable and used young, ignorant people as pawns in a sinister campaign.

London-based strategy consultant Jeremy Punnett said he had been trying for two weeks to warn people about the campaign's political motivations.

He first became concerned that people were being misled when he received an e-mail from Mr Poole seeking support.

The e-mail claimed the campaign was non-political, yet it blamed the brain drain on Government policies, including higher taxes, inflexible labour laws that gave too much power to unions and "flaky" assistance for new businesses.

"It was blatantly dishonest to say this was a non-political campaign," said Mr Punnett.

The advertisement was misleading to quote high taxes as a reason for the exodus, considering that he paid more tax in London then he would at home.

Mr Punnett said he and others had voted for change in the last election and were happy with New Zealand's economic policy.

A New Zealander who is planning to move to Britain, , Richard Gillies, also criticised Mr Poole's e-mail.

Mr Gillies said the big factors impelling young people overseas were the result of 16 years of economic governance, not one year of minor tinkering by the Labour Government.

Student loans were a serious concern to new graduates looking for work, he said.

An e-mail forwarded to the Herald by another New Zealander accused Mr Poole of using the advertisement to lobby for a lower tax rate and labour costs, which would benefit his father's company, for which he works.

Mr Punnett said his anger at the campaign was fuelled by Mr Poole's initial denial that the Roundtable was involved and had paid the upfront cost of the $10,000 advertisement.

Mr Poole said yesterday that he had repaid the money.

He also received assistance with the advertisement from a communications consultant recommended to him by Roundtable chief executive Roger Kerr.

Catherine Judd, of Jacques Martin, an arm of financial services giant Colonial, said she had helped Mr Poole with the layout and booking of the advertisement.

She would charge nothing for her services because she shared Mr Poole's concerns.

The Associate Minister for Economic Development, Pete Hodgson, yesterday joined in the criticism of the Roundtable, saying he was disturbed that it had resorted to "furtive measures."

He released figures showing that in the year to August, the net migration loss was 10,030 people - 10 per cent fewer than the previous year.

Richard Manthel, the New Zealand branch head of Robert Walters, an international recruitment agency for financial and information technology workers, said that for every 100 people placed in overseas jobs, 110 had returned last year.

He said his company had about 4500 New Zealand contractors working in London alone.

Figures for the past year showed 10 per cent more had returned to New Zealand to work than the company had placed in overseas jobs.

Mr Punnett also said the brain drain advertisement was not truly representative of young New Zealanders because those named were all from Auckland's "eastern enclaves of wealth and power."

He had come under intense criticism because he shared a similar background to those in the advertisement, many of whom went to Auckland's most exclusive schools. He had been accused of breaking ranks by speaking against its message.

"It's a case of the old boy network, punishing anyone who voices an opinion out of line with the world they came from."

Mr Punnett, who admits sending angry messages to those involved in the campaign, has received e-mails threatening his job.

Mr Poole said last night that that many of the people who had contacted him and supported his cause had voted for the Coalition Government but were disillusioned. They said that if the campaign was non-political, they would help.

"At the time of printing the ad, we had over 600 names on it.

"When I learned that the Roundtable had paid for some upfront costs to book the ad, I repaid the amount personally to them, as I had not had time to bank the money that had begun to come in from Young New Zealanders.

"The payment was certainly always intended to come from our funds," said Mr Poole.

"The initiative was all mine and has been turned into some negative campaign against myself and the Roundtable, it seems."

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