'Interesting times' ahead for NZ

David Bennett

By David Bennett

THERE is an old Chinese proverb which suggests that it's good to live in "interesting times" ... current events suggest we have scored a jackpot.

After the Brexit vote in Britain, the number of people contacting the New Zealand High Commission website in London rose 400 per cent; after Donald Trump won the Republican nomination the inquiries to the New York website went up nearly 200 per cent.

No word yet on the numbers considering emigrating to NZ after his inauguration, but it should not surprise us if we have American neighbours soon. This is a great opportunity for Whanganui to invite these people to live and work here.

New Zealand has been described as the last bus stop before Antarctica, but we will have to find a way that puts a price on being a tourist here once there is one tourist for every Kiwi. We don't want entry fee stations at every national park, as in Britain, but too many tourists will spoil the naturalness and the flavour of New Zealand.

Reading the international print media, there are many commentators suggesting reasons for the current dramas.

As one commentator in the United States said: Trump's supporters took him seriously, but not literally; while the media took him literally but not seriously.

He struck a chord among a section of American voters, but I suspect his cure for perceived American ills is a "medicine man" solution.

Trump's promise to "make America great again" is false, since the country is already the world's leading economy. But the wealth is not evenly distributed -- many families seeing their jobs move offshore and getting zero income increases, while the high-flying chief executives and the elites in Washington go on enjoying the good life.

Yet it is the world's leading economy -- not just in gross domestic product per capita, but also in creativity and innovation. Its cultural influence is almost beyond measure, while it foolishly spends (and continues to spend) huge amounts on weapons of destruction.

The most concerning thing in Trump's inauguration speech is the claim that protection will lead to greater prosperity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Think back to the 1980s when Robert Muldoon tried to isolate New Zealand from the world. A right-wing Labour government with Roger Douglas leading the charge started the transformation from what the country was like then to what it is now. Mr Trump wants to reverse that.

But the scene has got worse. By promising to return to protectionism, Trump has forgotten that technology has been the biggest factor in the decline of old industries. Vehicles that used to be assembled by manual labour in Detroit are now made by robotic arms.

As a country, we too must reflect on how technology and innovation will drive what we plan for the future. At the heart of much of that is education -- not just at school, but at many times in our lives. We will need a willingness to upskill.

There are many US corporates with tax-paid profits held overseas simply because the US government taxes profits of international US companies even when 15 per cent tax has already been paid in countries like Ireland. US drug companies and Apple are classic examples.

Trump plans to offer a tax holiday if these companies will bring the profits back to the US, and that may have implications for where a lot of wealth is currently stored and used by banks.

But the challenges are not just in America -- Europe with Britain about to negotiate an exit is in trouble. Russia wants to extend its western boundary for security and perceived prestige reasons, and Europe really lacks the will to resist.

China is another increasingly active world power. Simply because we and Americans (and everybody else) buy the products made there, millions of Chinese have been raised out of poverty -- India, likewise -- and we can expect to see these huge populations and political systems impact us more and more.

Then there is the immense problem of poverty and political oppression in Africa, the Middle East and parts of south Asia.

Communication technology has allowed these people to know that things are different in the Western world. There is comparatively greater wealth, there are freedoms from political oppression or too many people living with scarce resources. So we see a vast number of people wanting to move particularly to Europe, which has difficulty securing its borders.

Mr Trump thinks he is going to "fix" the Mexican border, and also keep all "foreign" looking people out, but we shall see how successful he is. I suspect some "bad eggs" have already arrived.

Australia too is not without its problems. The federal government has a deeply embedded cash deficit and, unlike New Zealand, is years away from having a balanced budget.

A major part of the problem is the fact they still have state governments. These were probably necessary 150 years ago, but technology has transformed the world and the best thing Australians could vote for is to abolish the state governments and implement regional authorities. Unfortunately, this is unlikely as, again, there are too many vested interests.

So the world is in for an "interesting time". I hope that it won't be as bad as some commentators are projecting.

Apart from the people and political issues, there are big challenges ahead. My number one pick is lack of clean, fresh drinking water for a growing world population. There are numerous other resource issues, and we simply can't keep wasting and despoiling the planet like we are.

And so we come to our home base. The Aussies think they are "the lucky country", but in fact we are.

As Fred Dagg once observed: "We have no idea how lucky we are" -- and then he went off to live in Melbourne!

We are already a multi-cultural, diverse nation with a proud history, but not an arrogant history. To be proud but humble as a nation is great attribute, and I put a lot of this down to the fact that, even with our British traditions, we have almost unconsciously adopted Polynesian traditions.

With fewer levels of government, it is easier to ensure that we have a reasonably equitable distribution of wealth. There is an argument about some children growing up in "poverty" but, like many, I question the definition of poverty we use, as I have seen real poverty.

The worst poverty of all is poverty of the mind, and I suspect that is what drives much of the economic poverty in New Zealand -- multi-generational, institutional, family neglect of the next generation.

We can be very grateful for the oceans of cold water and the geological separation from our neighbours, but our isolation will not always save us. What will save is to be the sort of nation we aspire to: "From dissension, envy, hate, and corruption guard our state; make our country good and great; God, defend New Zealand/Aotearoa".

I doubt that Mr Trump's inauguration speech will be remembered in 50 years' time, but just 56 years ago the words of one great US president are still remembered.

He said: "Fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country." He paid the supreme price, but president John F Kennedy's words are still timely and should remind us of our responsibilities.

David Bennett is chief executive of Pacific Helmets International and a Whanganui District councillor