Mike's Minute: We need more productivity

My policy of the week, and this may or may not become a thing for the next couple of weeks depending on the quality of what we see, goes to Act and their productivity ideas.

That’s not to say a tunnel in Wellington isn't a solid idea, but it's not hard to announce a tunnel.

Productivity is one of the great handbrakes on allowing this country to be great. We have talked about it for years and failed at liftoff every single time.

Part of it is the make up of our economy. Productivity is hard to grasp in certain areas because simply doing more is not necessarily more productive. Being in tech is an area more open to productivity gain than say farming corn, for example.

But as Act quite rightly point out, we place an emphasis on the Treaty and we look at things through climate lenses, so why not productivity?

Imagine if every major call had to pass the same hurdle a road does. That is why you end up with the road and a cycleway and a bus lane. It's why this Government has carved out Lord knows how many examples of race based policy exclusively for Maori.

Act are specific around productivity - cut taxes, reduce barriers to investment, revisit all old and new regulations and cut red tape. It's the sort of thing you can't really argue with. But you can let it creep if you don’t give it priority.

Now, this is big picture stuff. But it does go back to what we were saying yesterday.

Is anyone interested in policy, in actual specifics? Or are we just on a vibe of "I like these guys and I don’t like those guys".

By the end of this campaign, will anyone be able to articulate a policy on productivity? Or will it have been reduced down to a few headline grabs?

I note yesterday the media coverage of one of the debates being held involved Willie Jackson and him calling people thick. So that’s the news coverage is it? No policy, just the one line grab.

Is that this campaign is it? Pop your head over a fence, disrupt a meeting, call someone a name and, bang, you're guaranteed a headline?

Act deserve credit for offering up actual ideas that are broad based and full of potential and also by being one of the few so far that talk about the future of this country beyond October 14.

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