Bruce Bisset: Elites can pay for privilege

if New Zealand is increasingly seen as the place to build a future while the rest of the world degrades or explodes? Photo / NZME.

News from Davos of a senior hedge-fund manager admitting he and his mates were looking for safe haven in New Zealand before the world economy suffers meltdown should come as no surprise " though only a handful of years ago it would be deemed a conspiracy theory.

Frankly, that the one-percenters gathered in the Swiss alpine resort for their annual strategy meet should have their eyes on little old us makes perfect sense.

A quick perusal of the globe identifies very few spots where human or climatic crises will not bite hard in coming years, and our combination of isolation and low population " sweetened by being a developed English-speaking democracy " must put New Zealand top or nearly so on any list of bolt holes for the elite.

Especially considering many arguably more idyllic places " the Maldives, perhaps, or numerous Pacific atolls " may disappear under or at least be severely impacted by rising seas; while others, such as the Seychelles or the remoter islands of South-East Asia, are becoming increasingly unruly.

Anywhere within cooee of pirates or a million boat-people is not a wise choice.

Which leaves Prime Minister John Key's reverse choice of the Hawaiian chain, ourselves, the main islands of Fiji and perhaps (if any such spots remain) in the Caribbean.

Oh, plus the Victorian coast and Tasmania.

Not a very big list, is it?

Which is why, a decade or so out from projected major strife, you will find the savvy billionaires already setting up in those places, very much including here.

Russian oligarchs in Northland; Chinese entrepreneurs in and around Auckland; American celebrities through the Southern Lakes; and a bevy of various nationalities with loads of dosh along the Tasman Bay and Marlborough coast. Plus our "own" one percenters like financier Julian Robertson at Cape Kidnappers or film director James Cameron in the Wairarapa.

Any spot, actually, they decide they like, they're taking and re-making to suit themselves. Often spending $50-plus million doing so.

Theoretically there's nothing wrong with that, and many wealthy recent immigrants are investing decent slices of their fortunes in the local and national communities. Good for them.

But others are more reticent and reclusive and it does beg the question: if New Zealand is increasingly seen as the place to build a future while the rest of the world degrades or explodes, then shouldn't we think about imposing an "opportunity cost" for the privilege?

A decent amount, I mean, not the piddling few million someone may or may not actually have to invest if they come here under the rich list rules as they stand. Say, 10 per cent of their wealth.

That's modest in percentage terms, but it's a 100 million out of a billion. Multiply by fifty or a hundred and you accumulate enough to fund some significant infrastructure.

Let's face it, if things go belly-up in a hurry they could lose that overnight; far better it's put to real use while it still can be in the land they've chosen for their "retirement".

How much is a good bolt-hole worth? Tax havens like Jersey have strict rules of residence, and that's only about money; how much more valuable is ensuring your family's survival?

Fair's fair. It's their choice to come here, but it's our land they're colonising. And demand is starting to out-strip supply.

Remember we are at base a low-wage economy in need of a sizeable cash injection.

So pay at the door.

-Bruce Bisset is a freelance writer and poet.