Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: We're justified in feeling gloomy about the state of NZ

Pattrick Smellie, who has been a regular contributor to this show, is back from his long European sabbatical - and he reckons we need to cheer up in New Zealand.

He's written a piece for BusinessDesk saying that the headlines he’s seeing here at home suggest we’re as miserable as we were back in the early 1990s during Ruth Richardson's recession.

And he points out that all 9 countries he visited actually had the same problems - race relations, violent crime, failing infrastructure, countless crises, countries going backwards, but they were dealing with it without the same sense of fatalistic despair that we have over it.

Now I've thought about this a lot overnight, and I agree that we're extremely gloomy. And I would be the first to tell us to give ourselves an uppercut if I thought we were being unreasonably miserable, but I think we’re justified in feeling like we do.

Because- and I can't speak for other countries - we have gone through a massive shift in the last few years. We went from being the rockstar economy, prosperous and riding the wave of Chinese demand to three recessions in two years. 

Name me another country that we compare ourselves to that has had three recessions in two years. That's a tough thing to go through.

Pattrick himself admits it’s bad. He points out that we've slipped in a comprehensive UN measure of everything from life expectancy and education to economics. We've dropped 7 places in one year, that's how fast things have gone backwards for us.

We've gone from being the safe place you want to raise your kids in to having 11 to 12 homicides in the North Island in just over a month - including a body found burnt out in a car somewhere today.

I think what’s made us gloomy is the size of the shift. Others may also be experiencing what we are, but I suspect not with the swing from one extreme to the other that we have - which makes the bad feel so much more bad because it was so good.

So yeah, we’re gloomy. And yeah, like Pattrick, I'm looking forward to us coming out of this. But I don't think we're being dramatic in how we feel, I think it’s justified. And I think it’s good, because it means we don't accept it - and we're motivated to change it. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now Patrick Smelley, Welcome home. Patrick. Patrick Smelley is a
regular contributor to the show, and he's just back from
his long European sabbatical and he reckons we need to
cheer up. He's written a piece for Business Desks saying
the headlines that he's seeing here in New Zealand suggest
we're as miserable today as we were back in the
early nineteen nineties when Ruth Richardson had Ruth Richardson's recession

(00:22):
back then, and he points out that actually in all
of the nine countries that he had visited when he
was over in Europe, they all had the same problems,
race relations, violent crime, failing, infrastructure crises, countless crises. Their
country is going backwards, but they were dealing with it
without the same sense of fatalistic despair that we have
over it in New Zealand. I've thought about this a

(00:42):
lot overnight, because one hundred percent we are extremely gloomy.
And I'd be the first to tell us to give
ourselves an uppercut if I thought we were being unreasonably miserable.
But actually I think that we are justified in feeling
as miserable as we do. Right now because look, I
can't speak for other countries and I don't know what
they're experiences are, but we have gone through a massive

(01:03):
shift in the last few years. We went from being
the rockstar economy, prosperous and riding the wave of Chinese
like ever increasing Chinese demand, to suddenly not having that
Chinese demand has fallen. We've had three recessions in two years. Now.
Name me another country that we compare ourselves to that
has had three recessions in two years. That is a

(01:24):
tough thing for a country to go through. And Patrick
himself admits it's bad. I mean, he says, as he
points out, we've slipped in a comprehensive un measure of
everything from life expectancy and education to economics, like it
looks at the whole thing. We have gone down seven
places just between last year and this year. That is
how fast things are going backwards for us. We've gone
from being the safe place that you want to raise

(01:45):
your kids in and that you can raise your kids
in to what eleven or twelve homicides in the North
Island and just over a month, including a body found
burnt out in a car somewhere. Today, I think what's
made us gloomy is just the size of that shift.
May be experiencing what we are, but I'd be surprised
if they have had the swing from one extreme to

(02:05):
the other quite to the same degree that we have.
And I think that's what makes us feel as bad
as we do, because it was so good before and
now it is so bad and the difference is so extreme.
So yes, we're gloomy and yep, like Patrick, I'm looking
forward to us coming out of this, but I don't
think we're being dramatic and how we feel about this.
I think it's totally justified. And I actually think it's
good to be as gloomy as we are because it

(02:27):
means we don't accept it, and it means that we
are motivated to change it. For more from Heather Duplassy
Allen Drive, listen live to news talks. It'd be from
four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.