<i>Dialogue:</i> Great effort going nowhere

5 Nov, 2001 09:39 AM4 mins to read

By BILL ENGLISH

Many good ideas came out of the Catching the Knowledge Wave conference. But despite all the effort and the fantastic motivation it has gone nowhere with the Government.

Three months after the conference the Government has not acted on any of the recommendations and has made it clear it does not intend to take action. Helen Clark is running a public relations strategy, not an economic strategy.

The conference was memorable for the many success stories from other countries, and the smart people who represented them. Those attending left with the hope that New Zealand's economy could make its way back up the ladder.

Some hard talking came from policy specialists. Michael Porter, Don Brash and the secretary of the OECD all emphasised the need for real progress towards a more competitive economy. Their material was about the hard grind of good long-term policy - smart regulation, good education, sound financial markets and lower taxes. Helen Clark dumped on the lot.

What was so bad about these ideas that the Government can't entertain them?

The following lists the outcomes from the conference:

* Lower personal taxes to attract talent - Labour has put personal taxes up and driven skills and talent overseas.

* Reform the Resource Management Act - Labour has just rejected the improvements introduced by National to maintain standards and remove the bottle-necks and delays.

* Introduce more choice and higher standards in education - Labour has crossed that one off too, handing more control to the bureaucrats in Wellington.

* The need for a culture of innovation and success - Labour is anti-business and sees great politics in soak-the-rich rhetoric.

Unlike Helen Clark and Labour, not a single item on the Knowledge Wave or Competitive Auckland wish list frightens me or my colleagues.

Their messages have a compelling consistency and are the elements of a strategy that will give people higher incomes and confidence that this country is going somewhere.

* Get your taxation policies, both corporate and personal, right, to become a good home for capital, entrepreneurial talent and hard work.

* Build on the strengths of those industries which offer the prospect of true international success.

* Ensure our education system is dynamic and excellent.

* Invest in the infrastructure required of a competitive economy.

* Provide incentives to get on the ladder and be rewarded for working hard and acquiring skills.

* Take everyone along for the ride.

* Above all, be practical not ideological.

The frightening thing is this list really does offend Helen Clark. But this list will feature in our policy as it is unveiled.

There isn't a whole lot new in much of this - many countries are following a lot of these ideas and we will too. The key will be adapting them to New Zealand.

New Zealand has a lot of good things about it. Being small may have its drawbacks but it also means we are more adaptable and able to embrace change more readily.

We also can't forget that we are essentially a biological nation. Remember the hype around the new economy and the lamenting of New Zealand's oldness?

In the years ahead, much will be new about the New Zealand economy - but it will be based around our old strengths.

The Knowledge Wave is a huge opportunity for New Zealand.

It should be a huge wake-up call for New Zealand that this Government has just brushed it aside.

The conference provided a lot of good ideas. Only National has the determination to take these forward.

* Bill English is Leader of the Opposition.

Other Herald features