Former 2025 Taskforce member Jeremy Moon, who left the controversial group earlier this year, said although the taskforce's goal of catching Australian incomes by 2025 was a great challenge, he thought the idea was a "red herring".
Moon, who runs New Zealand merino clothing company Icebreaker, was speaking to Paul Holmes on TV1's Q&A on Sunday morning.
Holmes asked Moon whether New Zealand had to catch Australia by 2025, or whether the whole exercise was just a distraction?
"I haven't been on the Taskforce for a year," Moon said.
"It's a great challenge, for me it's actually a red herring, because I'm not interested in catching Australia," he said.
Moon said it was up to private businesses, not the government, to create high paying jobs in New Zealand.
He promoted more focus on protecting New Zealand's environment and creating incentives to create international businesses in the clean-tech arena, given "the fantastic green opportunity and image that we've got".
Asked by Holmes if there was one thing the governement could do, Moon said there was a "huge advantage for the country if the government can commit to a piece of thinking to come up with a framework that balances carrot and stick [around clean-tech].
"Some incentives to encourage businesses based on New Zealand’s green credentials and to dis-incentivise businesses which are hurting, or any behaviour, which is hurting New Zealand’s green reputation," he said.
Moon also said he thought talk of the tall poppy syndrome in New Zealand was a conversation that was ten years old.
The 2025 Taskforce released its second report last week, recommending, among other things, that government withdraw from commercial activities, focus more on public-private partnerships and raise age for superannuation eligibility.
It is chaired by former National Party leader and ex-Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Don Brash.
11 Comments
So here we have someone, a business leader with an open mind and the ability to see NZ's advantages and want to act on them.....instead we got this "taskforce" bad joke that was chaired by Don Brash who spewed out the same old tired ACT manifesto that 97% of NZers dont want and that would only benefit 1% of us.........(I guess that makes 2/3rds of ACT voters really stupid)....
Wellington has a new green leaning mayor....take the hint.....ppl are open to these sort of positive green image and benefit conversations and not the ones that just turn us into another cesspit that the likes of ACT wishes for....if I wanted to be richer (in terms of $) and didnt mind living in a poluted hole I could have stayed in London ........I didnt, I came here for quality of life and the living environment....there is a compromise to be made, but NZ has some huge advantages that can be "expolited" without damage.......
regards
steven
it all 'appears' sensible but this is in fact part of the problem, Moon is a marketer and as a technologist I have never seen 'image' deliver a a project or a solution, to paraphrase him, "Lets use the image of NZ as being an enviromental paradise to set up industries that make us lots of money whilst giving the impression of solving the worlds environmental issues"
Which is similar to the idiotic logic of the new Auckland Mayor, "Lets spend 15 billion dollars in providing an enviromentally friendly transport route to an airport so that thousands can take enviromentally unfriendly holidays here and be impressed at how green we are"
N
These words are wonderful but have doomed him as far as his future commercial prospects go. NZ govt and its big business chums are all about protecting and promoting the status quo of which they are key components. That means agriculture mainly. The last thing they want to see pursued is anything clean, green and high tech.
The philosophy catching up by 2025 with Australia is a complete nonsense. We have to set different goals.
For years our economy is so unbalanced, unstructured and unorganised- badly managed, when serious philosophical questions have to be asked. What is New Zealand way of life in the 21st century ?
The large and increasing national account deficit seems to force the government into stupid actions of desperation. Obviously falling into a trap by considering revenues form:
- natural resources damaging our environment/ nature and eco- tourism -
- opening more land for extensive (dairy) farming destroying our environment, undermining animal welfare standards and in disregard of the influence of climate changes –
- doggy immigration policies leading to social, employment and housing problems etc.-
- it doesn’t create skilful jobs (see below) -
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I’m proposing a clear, consistent, long term strategy for our economy to be the world leader:
“New Zealand’s Green Sustainable Economy Model of the World”
http://www.green-innovations.asn.au/econ-mdl.htm
Such a model would make us unique in the world, inspires, lift ethics, spirit, pride among the population and feed into many sectors of our economy and society. But it also supports strong and already existing sectors. It would make Billions in revenue, the country would prosper.
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Industry and Ecology
Today and in the future “Green Industries” offer new, good opportunities for NZ’s economy. Manufacturing Research & Development in sectors like Power, Transport and Telecommunication, in fields where we relay on foreign dependency most, even to a degree that our national security is at risk is essential. The government needs to pick winners, so building sustainable niche markets, producing and branding quality goods for us and to cover export demand will be successful.
Energy, Public Transport, Telecommunication
Two examples of how we should proceed with infrastructure needs in Energy and other such as Public Transport:
Financially and economically it doesn’t make sense to import or to produce heavy and expensive machinery/ equipment like turbines/ generators, nuclear power plants or heavy trains.
Such imports are mostly under overseas contracts, managed and installed by overseas technicians and workers, without hardy any local workforce especially skilled ones.
In stead we should research, develop and produce –SMALLER UNITS- manufactured and installed by Kiwis in our own country. A step, when ordered by government with enormous, but positive implication for our country:
- increase employment opportunity -
- better education after school –
- technical skill and knowledge improvements -
- higher wages/ imports of brainpower –
- positive influence to other sectors/ fields such as Science and Research -
- less quality imports / reduction of account deficit -
- control and sovereignty –
- quality infrastructure services –
- national security improvement –
- almost no affects caused by natural events -
Sustainable Public Transport - developing a sector of industry to cover public mobility within a 100- 150km radius. Innovative businesses producing SMALL QUALITY UNITS starting from bikes, scoters, light rail systems and the interaction within, hardly seen in other countries. All planned, developed, installed, maintained and ran by Kiwis.
Sustainable Power supply/ savers SMALLER QUALITY UNITS developed, produced, locally/ regional installed and ran/ maintained by Kiwis.
We do need a “Mixed Economy Model” with a clear strategy to master the international dependency on fossil fuel, gas and power consumption.
In the current severe worldwide economic situation where exporters/ tourism are struggling good working co- operation from the Private Sector with the Government is of high value.
Please, read and understand this article in context to my many other articles.
Walter Kunz 20.8.2009 (edited slightly in 2010)
"The government needs to pick winners"
When has that ever worked?
Has no-one on here read that report on the Spanish economy that analysed that 2.2 real jobs had been lost for every new "Green" one created?
This is just Communist style "planning" delusions REDUX.
NZ isn't catching Aussie, it's catching Cuba. I have even heard a story that Aussie's long term defence scenario modelling includes a possible future of that sort.
The problem with hydro is that all the easy locations have been built out - so new generation has to come from increasingly more difficult locations... project Aqua was about the last big scale project going because you can only dam a river so many times - having said that with over 70% of our generation coming from hydro we have a very 'green' energy generation profile...
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