Agriculture is an important part of New Zealand being a great place to live. Photo / Duncan Brown
OPINION
International research shows New Zealand is the eighth-best country in the world; so maybe it’s time to play to our strengths - agriculture - rather than scrutinising what we already do well.
Black Caps and All Blacks aside, the dominance of political wranglings in the media makes it easy to get sucked into negatives and confusion.
Evaluating the promises for possibilities and what the unintended consequences might be isn’t easy and sometimes an external perspective can help.
The just-published Wharton “best country” research is timely.
Standing on the outside, looking in - New Zealand is the eighth best country in the world.
The Wharton research examines the top 100 countries in GDP, foreign direct investment, international tourism receipts, and meeting the United Nation’s Human Development Index.
Eighty-seven countries, accounting for approximately 95 per cent of global gross domestic product and representing nearly 80 per cent of the world’s population, made the cut.
They were then considered on 73 attributes from ease of doing business to social well-being and “green” policies.
More than 17,000 people globally were involved in the assessment; a third of respondents were business leaders, a third were tertiary educated and a third were from the general population.
And New Zealand came eighth this year, up two places from 2022.
New Zealand’s top rankings are in Agility (fourth), Social Purpose (sixth) and Adventure (seventh).
Criteria contributing to Social Purpose include Environment (where the score was 98.5 per cent, and we ranked second globally), “cares about animal rights” (a perfect 100 per cent and first globally), racial equity (96.7 – ranking first in this category as well), human rights (94.9 ranking eighth) and climate goals (93.6 ranking second globally).
Caring for the environment features in a separate assessment for Green Living, New Zealand ranked 10th overall.
The Wharton international perspective on Caring for the Environment, including climate goals (second), aligns with the thinking of most people in New Zealand.
This has been revealed in various surveys on the Research First website
A bit of delving into the Research First results shows that New Zealanders’ concerns relating to the environmental impact of human activities are more about urbanisation and industry than farming.
Politicians being urged by activist groups to take more action on agriculture and climate are overlooking the reality of New Zealand’s perceived ranking on climate goals – second, globally.
Achieving improvements from a position of “very good” takes considerable resources.
Witness the efforts to support the Black Caps and All Blacks in their international tournaments.
Concentrating instead on the areas that are apparently holding New Zealand back, could liberate some positive changes.
Again, the Wharton Research is a start.
Rankings for access to capital, infrastructure, having a skilled labour force and access to technological expertise are not in the top 20.
Manufacturing costs are considered expensive (we rank 73rd) and the tax environment is not encouraging (we rank 23rd).
On the good side, New Zealand ranks second for bureaucracy (or rather, the absence of it), seventh in transparent government processes and eighth in not being corrupt.
From the Wharton research, it would appear that New Zealand could do “better” with access to capital and a reduction in costs and taxes which would attract business to develop and grow. In turn, this would allow investment in infrastructure, and skill development.
This is certainly what some of the analysts in think tanks such as The New Zealand Initiative have been saying.
New Zealand has gone heavily into debt but has little to show for it. Although much has been made of increased debt saving people from Covid-19, recent analysis indicates that the debt-fuelled spending spree started before Covid and has simply continued.
Although New Zealand’s debt as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product is not greater than that of many other countries, no other developed country relies so heavily on the primary sector for its export economy, which is the route out of debt.
At this point the path is clear.
Federated Farmers of New Zealand and various levy bodies have prepared information to assist.
Financial viability and the cost of regulation are the major concerns in agriculture.
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Dr Jacqueline Rowarth on The Country below:
In particular, regulation that is not backed up with science is an expensive frustration.
The cost of regulation also impacts the cost of living, which is the number one concern for New Zealanders in general.
A rethink of the regulatory environment for all sectors, an evaluation of the research that underpins the regulations and the unintended consequences of their implementation is required.
The manifestos of some political parties do contain statements that reviews will occur – but the cost of reviews in themselves, particularly when “commissions” are mentioned, could be a deterrent to progress.
“Let’s get real, New Zealand” doesn’t appear to have been taken as a focus by any political party, yet getting real about our current status and what might be possible to achieve, is important for the future.
The Wharton research has shown that our reputation is high; our activities and goals are well regarded.
We can achieve more with a thriving economy, and various think tanks and agricultural bodies have suggested steps that could be taken to assist.
Borrowing another line from Neil Sadaka - every waking moment we should be singing the news, New Zealand is a great place to live, and we’re working hard to ensure that the future is positive for everybody (including the sporting teams).
- Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor at Lincoln University, is a member of the Scientific Council of the World Farmers’ Organisation and a Director of Ravensdown, DairyNZ, Deer Industry NZ and NZ Animal Evaluation Ltd. The thoughts and analysis in the article are her own. jsrowarth@gmail.com