Kate Hawkesby: Focus on what needs done, not ideological tax nonsense

With all this tax the rich talk and naysayers wanting punitive measures dished out to anyone showing signs of success or ambition, I just wonder if we're shooting ourselves in the foot here. Are we not at peak tall poppy syndrome now? Because where does all this "it's not fair, woe is me" whining actually get us? So far all I can see is that it sends our best and brightest off elsewhere. We have the 5000 nurses who've registered to work in Australia, the net migration loss of more than 8000 Kiwis to Australia just last year, we have those who've discovered cost of living is actually cheaper overseas. I mean, gosh, even our former Prime Minister is off to the States for a semester there. She had said she was looking forward to more time at home and getting her daughter off to school. But when push comes to shove, being away from New Zealand was too tempting, even for one of our greatest cheerleaders. We all know dozens of families whose kids have chosen a life outside of New Zealand. They've left for opportunity, better pay, and a more positive way of life. I think we have to adjust this complacent mentality we have that we're the best little country in the world and we're invincible. As Richard Prebble said yesterday in his Herald column, we're actually not, if you look at the facts. He says that "New Zealand is becoming a third world country." He points out that in just five years, net core Crown debt to GDP has doubled to 40 percent, food prices have increased at the fastest pace in 30 years, the trade deficit is at 9 percent of GDP, benefit numbers are up by 50,000, and our health and education systems are in dire trouble. When we count our unfunded liabilities in superannuation and health, the country is bankrupt. Now I'm sure many will say "he's just a right wing whinger being negative." But look at the facts. A head in the sand approach to what is going on around us is not going to help. We need to recognise what's on in order to be able to act. I know locally, for example, the head of the Newmarket Business Association in Auckland. He's been campaigning and complaining to Police and government ministers for months, if not years, about the state of youth crime and how bad it's getting and how much more we should be doing about it. He's been forecasting things would get worse, and he was right. Just the other day, allegedly about 8 or 9 bored youths set fire to rubbish in an apartment building carpark causing millions worth of damage. People were evacuated from their homes, 145 apartments left without running water or power, and several shops shut due to major damage. How bad are we going to let things get? And how much do we want to give our country up to the lowest common denominator? We have to admit that we need to flip it - we need to shift the focus to productive aspects of the economy. We need less David Parker driven ideological tax attacks on those who are productive, employ people, and get this economy going. Because guess what? They'll just leave top. You can't keep propping up the bottom end, reducing penalties for crime, and ignoring all the stats going against us. Because by ignoring it, we run the risk of waking up when it's all too late.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.