Brash reactions miss the point

United Future leader Peter Dunne says the various reactions to National leader Don Brash’s Australian article all miss the point.

“It is simply silly for other political parties to be focusing on whether Dr Brash is being disloyal to New Zealand by making such comments, and a waste of time for business lobby groups – who have now clearly given up any pretence of political neutrality – to be falling in behind him,” he said.

“None of this has done anything to address the real issue of increasing the relative wealth and incomes of New Zealanders, which is what I thought lay at the heart of Dr Brash’s concern.

“It’s a pity that he feels more comfortable raising these issues in Australia than in New Zealand, which does show a lack of political judgement on his part, but that should not obscure the real point that New Zealand’s standard of living has been slipping for the last 30 years.

“Instead of everyone from Dr Brash downwards reciting their predictable mantras, the focus ought to be on the policy mix that will lead to a significant lift in the incomes of New Zealanders.

“That will come through a mix of improved productivity and increased business profitability. Tax, industrial relations, industry and skills development and support policies and the overall regulatory environment are all a part of that, and ought to be the focus of the debate.”

Mr Dunne concluded “One thing that will never contribute to improving the overall living standards of New Zealanders is speculative and critical articles in overseas newspapers about how poor we are!

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