Friday 22nd July 2022
Page 7
NICOLA GRIGG - OPINION PIECE Don’t go! That should be the nationwide clarion call to the million New Zealanders who are currently thinking about leaving this country for good. This shocking statistic comes from the latest MYOB Consumer Snapshot, showing one million Kiwis are considering moving overseas and 200,000 have already made plans to leave. Forty four percent said New brick home on large 1,711m2 section, they are considering moving for ‘a better quality of life or the cost of living is better overseas’. 3 bedrooms, office, 2 bathrooms, modern kitchen, We have a cost of living crisis, our healthcare system is falling over, wages aren’t keeping up with dining, lounge, north facing to capture the sun. inflation, owning a home is out of many people’s reach, violent crime is up and we have a major Enquiries Over $850,000. workforce shortage. It’s no surprise that people are looking to move overseas, it’s what I am hearing all over Canterbury. I have a buyer looking for a two bedroom home Jacinda Ardern tries to claim that it’s just young Kiwis going on their OE - but a million Kiwis looking to in the Darfield area. If you are thinking of selling leave the country isn’t an experience, it’s an exodus. please give me a call. So, how do we become the country where our people want to stay, and others are clamouring to join us? www.pggwre.co.nz Licenced under the REAA 2008 For a start, a National Government would focus on removing bottlenecks in our economy, improving Min Cookson 027 249 5417 immigration pathways, eliminating deadweight regulations, and lowering the tax burden on Kiwis. min.cookson@pggwrightson.co.nz But more than that, any government that I want to be a part of should offer hope. It should look to rebuild the confidence of what - I think - is the best country in the world. Currently, we’re undercapitalised, over-regulated, and isolated in more ways than the geographical - and we’re over it. We need an education system that works. The Government is spending $5 billion a year more on education, only to have a staggering 40% of kids not regularly attending school. That is not just a social failure - it is a moral failure and an economic crisis in the making. Second, we’re going to solve New Zealand’s persistent under-investment in infrastructure, by fixing the funding and governance bottlenecks and getting capital to where it can add value. Third, we need to up our game on technology to lift productivity. We need to remove the barriers preventing our businesses accessing capital and ideas so that more of our small businesses achieve a global scale. Fourth, we’ll give businesses a predictable and consistent regulatory environment. We’re going to take a rules-based approach because we know that supports investment, and New Zealand must compete for its capital. Finally, we will rebuild our connections with the world stronger than they were before. More trade, more investment both ways, and greater immigration to help build our workforce. Doing these things well will lift our economic performance, but that is not an end in itself. A strong economy is an enabler but a government has a moral, social and financial imperative to • NO upfront costs lift up its most disadvantaged • NO marketing costs citizens - and I absolutely believe (excludes auction) we can do that in New Zealand. www.whittleknight.co.nz Call today to find out how you So, don’t go, we need everyone to can save when you list put their shoulder to the wheel Licensed Real Estate exclusively with Whittle Knight! Agents REAA 2008 and get this done.
Premium Opportunity Awaits 48 Graeme Foote Drive, Darfield
Wanted
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Megan Ellis 027 206 1066 03 348 4149
Nicola Grigg, MP for Selwyn.
SELWYN • RESIDENTIAL • LIFESTYLE
