If we wanted to see just how Australia’s budget set it on a path to further outstrip NZ, take a look at the priorities they set in the area of skills. I’ve divided their figures by 5 – Australia’s population is about 22m against our 4.3 – to get a very rough approximation for what this kind of investment might look like in NZ.
- $500 m ($3b in Australia) over 6 years to upskill the workforce
- $110m ($558m) to a new National Workforce Development Fund for 130,000 industry training places
- $40m (100m) on apprenticeships.
Will National’s budget come anywhere near to putting the same investment into skills and training? Well, I’m not holding my breath. But if you wanted the evidence to see the gap grow wider, here it is.
Great post
I notice that you failed to mention the CUTS that they are making david so here is a link to balance it out
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/thats-not-a-knife-wayne-swan-as-budget-cuts-middle-class-welfare-but-increases-jobs/story-fn8gf1nz-1226053971008
and this one
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/thats-not-a-knife-wayne-swan-as-budget-cuts-middle-class-welfare-but-increases-jobs/story-fn8gf1nz-1226053635170
…..if only we had a mining boom to help create jobs like australia does….oh wait we could but people like you wont let us mine it!!
@David It would be great to see investment in training, although I would like to see it in less primary skill areas perhaps. Where do you propose the cuts to fund this should be made?
We don’t have the mineral resource driven boom Australia does to underpin our economic growth & as I understand it even the Aussie Labour Govt gave made cuts & implemented welfare reform despite a stronger economy.
Responding to darrenw. Why do we need to have a cut to then fund something??
This mad thinking imposed by National and Act is seeping into the collective mind set!
Remember well, that NACT created the $16billion deficit so that they could then plead poverty to sell OUR assets to their rich mates.
@ecogirl the budget deficit has come from the impact of a global financial crisis, natural disasters and unwise continuation of expensive programmes put in place by the last Govt. It is now a reality and we need to address it – yet you seem to think we can fund additional expenditure. Where do you propose the money will come from??
@ecogirl your fanciful theory that the deficit exists only to enable asset sales is a classic. How long has it taken to determine this???
Aussie Labour Govt gave made cuts & implemented welfare reform despite a stronger economy.
They’ve made quite a few cuts, as well as given a bit of a nudge to the long-term unemployed and such. Definitely a stronger economy though over here (I live in oz) they’re reasonably worried about the ‘two speed’ economy (mining sector amazing, everything else a bit mediocre), but we’ll see!
~AUS$50 billion deficit the year before (divided by 5 as DS does – $10 billion in NZ);
~AUS$22 billion deficit this coming year ($4 billion in NZ);
Hardly good times but our coming deficit will be around $15 billion, so probably another order of magnitude worse.
I believe Michael Cullen’s response to questions about Australia’s relative prosperity was “If you like Australia so much, why don’t you move there?”. And will you champion Australia’s multi-tiered tax bracket system which works out so that anyone earning under 250K a year pays less tax than they do in New Zealand?
@dan, how about the reductions in welfare payments to benny’s and families earning over a certain amount? maybe national could find the mind the money to increase productive spending by reducing the unproductive spending on welfare?
David do you support NZ taking a proactive approach to mining and oil exploration ?
Australian wealth is built on exporting it’s minerals – apparently we are unable to have a discussion around doing the same in NZ without gnashing of teeth, wailing and general misinformation
Responding to darren w.
Firstly. NO NET CROWN debt at election 2008. Refer David Cunliffe yesterday.
The recession was already upon us. We were weathering it!
NACT was in charge by the time of the earthquakes and the economy was tanking and they had already borrowed like there was no tomorrow. How many billion was that!
NACT ensured massive tax cuts for the wealthy and have not invested in jobs preferring to rely on selling the country, increasing GST and importing wealthy mates.
All the same recipe from the 1990′s. Another failed decade.
Responding to darren w.
Firstly. NO NET CROWN debt at election 2008. Refer David Cunliffe yesterday. As well as very low unemployment.
The recession was already upon us. We were weathering it!
NACT was in charge by the time of the earthquakes and the economy was tanking and they had already borrowed like there was no tomorrow. How many billion was that!
NACT ensured massive tax cuts for the wealthy and have not invested in jobs preferring to rely on selling the country, increasing GST and importing wealthy mates.
All the same recipe from the 1990′s. Another failed decade.
Was quite surprised to see a group of people in whangarei today resorting to: holding up “work wanted” signs. If this is not stating the obvious…
Northlanders are struggling significantly.
The Northland Advocate states not only do Northland have to deal with the highest rise in food prices, but also the highest unemployment in the country. This is truly devastating!!.
The Salvation army have resorted to rationing one food parcel per month for one family.
This is not the direction I envisioned for us Kiwis. Maybe we should be investing in training schemes to address any skill shortage areas?
Australian wealth is built on exporting it’s minerals – apparently we are unable to have a discussion around doing the same in NZ without gnashing of teeth, wailing and general misinformation
One of the key bits of misinformation about digging up mineral wealth in New Zealand is the idea that the wealth made would stay here.
If minerals are mined by Australian firms, there will be effectively no impact on New Zealand’s economy. A few dozen jobs, and the money realised from the minerals would cross the Tasman into the hands of the company exploiting them.
Iron ore – Australia was the world’s third largest supplier in 2008 after China and Brazil, supplying 342 million metric tonnes.[7]
Nickel – Australia was the world’s second largest producer in 2006 after Russia.[8]
Bauxite/aluminum
Copper
Gold – Australia is the second largest producer after China.[9]
Silver
Uranium – Australia is responsible for 16% of the world’s production and was the world’s third largest supplier in 2009 after Kazakhstan and Canada.[10]
Diamond – Australia has the third largest commercially-viable deposits after Russia and Botswana.[citation needed] Australia also boasts the richest diamantiferous pipe with production reaching peak levels of 42 metric tons (41 LT/46 ST) per year in the 1990s.[citation needed]
Opal – Australia is the world’s largest producer of opal, being responsible for 95% of production.[11]
Zinc – Australia was second only to China in zinc production in 2008, producing just under 14% of world production.[12]
Coal – Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and fourth largest producer of coal behind China, USA and India.[13]
Oil shale
Petroleum – Australia is the twenty-eighth largest producer of petroleum.[citation needed]
Natural gas
rare earths
I couldn’t find where Australia has carried out most of this mining in forested areas with copious native flora and fauna. Will keep looking though.
It seems some here share this government’s view that the only way to prosperity for NZ is through mining. That’s sad given our history of innovation, and our lack of enormous tracts of desert. So much for being “aspirational”, it’s all about looking backwards, sideways and noways
Tracey, they’re not digging up forests in Aussie, thats for sure, but they are digging up farmland. Google where the mines are and you will find they are not in the vast dessert of central Australia. Mining is not the only way to prosperity, but there will come a time when NZ will need to choose between trees and jobs.
Australia also has national standards for education, and government-published comparison charts of schools and their rankings.
Love it SHG! Also note the warning on breakfast this morning, if you go to Australia don’t expect a welfare safety net like NZ.
@ecogirl the impact of the recession hit post 2008 election The borrowing is to related to this impact and the need to prop up inherited policies. Cullen is as culpable as anyone.
Name the specific policies implemented by the current Govt that gave driven the debt if you really believe they and only they are to blame. You may need to pull your head out of the sand to see it.
Australia has succeeded in many ways
-It has barstadised a first nation peoples
-It has and continues to pillage Irreplacable
fossil fuels and minerals
-It has managed to put profits before people
by harnessing nuclear power
And catching up to this is NACT’s idea of success ?????
Give me a break
Even supposing New Zealand had the minerals to extract – which it doesn’t – all extraction industries are dead-end streets. Once the hole is dug, you are left with – a hole.
Why do you think New Zealand is scattered with ghost towns? Because we already extracted what little there was to extract, and a fat lot of good it did anybody in the long run. Now these places have no future.
Plant more trees. There’s a future in that. And put your money into desalination plants in Australia, they’re going to need them.
darrenw you may also need to pull your head out of the sand because you have been blaming Labour for alot of it.
” What the recent economic events have shown us is that we need to make some adjustments to KiwiSaver to change it from being a fair-weather scheme to one which can endure in the long term.”
indiana, you may need to also do some research into Australia, the desert is alot closer tot he sea than you seem to think.