Hi All,
Thanks for your interest in the “Measurable Goal” initiative. The campaign has built a real head of steam since we launched it a couple of weeks ago, so we thought we’d send out an update on progress and next steps (for further detail, please check out the attached PowerPoint document).
The NZX blog (www.blog.nzx.com) has had great support and the message has spread to New Zealanders around the globe - visitors to the blog have come from 39 different countries! The campaign has also received significant press, radio and television attention: TVNZ, TV3, the New Zealand Herald, the Dominion Post, the Sunday Star-Times, the NBR, National Radio, Radio Live and Newstalk ZB have all covered the Measurable Goal idea.
Importantly, the concept is starting to gain traction with political leaders. The National-ACT Confidence & Supply agreement includes a commitment to closing the income gap between New Zealand and Australia by 2025, and it states that the new Government will establish an advisory group to recommend policy changes and report annually on progress towards the goal. We applaud this move towards adopting a long term Measurable Goal and hope to see a similar commitment regarding the progress the Government will deliver in this three year parliamentary term.
Our assessment is that catching up to Australia will probably get us to about 20th position in the global GDP per capita rankings by 2025. We’d be interested in your thoughts on the government’s proposed goal. Is it sufficiently ambitious? Is catching up with Australia the right objective?
As the new Government forms and starts to define its policy priorities, it’s time for us to take our initiative to the next stage. Based on the input we’ve received on the blog and in hundreds of supportive emails, we see three main fronts on which we need to advance:
1. Engaging the broader New Zealand community.
While we’re delighted with the response we’ve had to date, we also recognize that we’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of generating a genuinely national discussion. We’ve received very useful feedback on how to go about communicating our message more broadly and some of the best in the business have offered their assistance. We’ve also had universities come on board, offering to organise student debates and essay competitions to get the next generation of leaders thinking about where we should be taking New Zealand. So keep an eye out for a much more public and punchy campaign that will provoke as many New Zealanders as possible to think about a long term, measurable goal for our country.
2. Getting political leaders on board.
The objective of this campaign is for New Zealanders to adopt a simple, probably single, measurable objective for New Zealand - bi-partisan, long term, ubiquitous. Such an objective will be catalytic in driving holistic policy focus and performance to enable its achievement. Ultimately, it will hold politicians and leaders accountable for their performance. The adoption of such a goal could take many, many years. However, over the next few weeks we aim to have discussions with senior MPs from all political parties about the Measurable Goal campaign. We’ll be sharing our analysis of New Zealand’s current trajectory with them and summarising the feedback we’ve received from all of you. We’ll also be asking politicians from all sides to engage in the public discussion of a goal for New Zealand, since we believe that multi-party commitment will be required to ensure that the goal is not lost in future electoral cycles.
3. Continuing to contribute to the definition of New Zealand’s Measurable Goal.
As we continue to promote public discussion and engage with the politicians, we’ll keep developing our thinking about the definition of New Zealand’s Measurable Goal. Ultimately this won’t be something for us to choose, it will need to be chosen and owned by the broader community. But we plan to keep contributing to the discussion and providing a forum for experts and everyday Kiwis alike to share their views. We’ve received messages of support and insightful comments from New Zealand leaders in many different fields – business, economics, the environment, academia, the not-for-profit sector, sport and the arts. We’ll be reaching out to these people and asking them to contribute publicly to the process of defining a Measurable Goal for New Zealand.
The Measurable Goal project is fast out-growing its spot on the NZX blog, so we’re starting work on a dedicated website. We’ll let you know as soon as it is up-and-running. In the meantime, please continue to share your thoughts at www.blog.nzx.com and pass the message on to friends, family and colleagues. For those of you in the Facebook generation, we’ve also formed a Facebook group called “A Measurable Goal for New Zealand” (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34915687764). Please join the group to show your support and invite all your friends, family and colleagues.
Download Measurable Goal - Summary of Responses and Next Steps Here (PDF)
Thanks and best regards,
Lloyd Morrison, Paul Newfield and the Morrison & Co team