1. A Vision of Increasing Living Standards for New Zealanders
The government is working to improve the living standards of all New Zealanders in a way that is sustainable. This is expressed in a broadly based vision of New Zealand in which New Zealanders:
- celebrate those who succeed in all walks of life and encourage those who fail to try again
- are full of optimism and confidence about ourselves, our country, our culture, our place in the world, and our ability to succeed
- gain strength from our nation's foundations in the Treaty of Waitangi and work in harmony to achieve our separate and collective goals
- are excellent at responding to global opportunities and creating competitive advantage
- are rich in well-founded and well-run companies and enterprises characterised by a common sense of purpose and achievement. These are global in outlook, competitive and growing in value
- derive considerable value from our natural resource advantages: climate, human capital, infrastructure and a sense of community
- cherish our natural environment, are committed to protecting it for future generations, and are eager to share our achievements in that respect with others
- know our individual successes contribute to stronger families and communities and that all of us have fair access to education, housing, health care, and fulfilling employment.2
Principles for Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is at the heart of this vision. The government has adopted ten sustainable development principles. These principles are intended to ensure that all of the government's decisions take account of its economic, social, environmental and cultural goals, including decisions on policies that contribute to sustainable economic growth.
This will be achieved by:
- considering the long-term implications of decisions
- seeking innovative solutions that are mutually reinforcing, rather than accepting that gain in one area will necessarily be achieved at the expense of another area
- using the best information available to support decision-making
- addressing risks and uncertainty when making choices and taking a precautionary approach when making decisions that may cause serious or irreversible damage
- working in partnership with local government and other sectors and encouraging transparent and participatory processes
- considering the implications of decisions from a global as well as a New Zealand perspective
- de-coupling economic growth from pressures on the environment
- respecting environmental limits, protecting ecosystems and promoting the integrated management of land, water and living resources
- working in partnership with appropriate Māori authorities to empower Māoriin development decisions that affect them
- respecting human rights, the rule of law and cultural diversity.
Growing an Innovative New Zealand
In adopting these principles, the government has identified its most important task as building the conditions for long-term sustainable economic growth. Sustainable economic growth is the means to achieve higher living standards and the government's vision, rather than an end in itself. And it can also support progress towards social, environmental and cultural goals.
The government's sustainable economic growth objectives are set out in its growth and innovation framework, Growing an Innovative New Zealand3. This document outlines the contribution that the government believes economic growth can make on New Zealanders' overall well-being. It also outlines the government's view of how the public and private sectors can contribute to achieving higher rates of sustainable economic growth. The framework is based on active policies and the public and private sectors working together to achieve stronger sustainable economic growth.
The government has identified innovation and the accumulation of knowledge as the key to higher sustainable economic growth. It believes the main drivers of innovation and the broad action areas needed to enhance innovation in New Zealand to be:
- Strengthening the innovation framework. Innovation in its broadest sense is about improving performance by doing something differently. Successful innovation requires the exploitation of new ideas. This can result in new technologies, new products, services and processes, changes in business models and taking full advantage of new markets. Innovation also provides opportunities to discover new solutions to sustainability issues and allows us to improve efficiency in the use of inputs into the production process.4
- Developing talent and skills. A well-educated and adaptable workforce is an essential ingredient of a productive and competitive economy. New Zealand will attain such a workforce only through developing, attracting and retaining people with exceptional skills and talent and an increasing innovative capacity.
- Increasing global connectedness. Economic integration with the rest of the world to expand New Zealand's potential market is critical. This integration delivers more than just increasing transactions. It also increases New Zealand's access to skilled people, ideas and knowledge.5
In addition to this focus on the economy-wide drivers, the government is also focusing some of its efforts on three sectors, information and communication technology (ICT), biotechnology and creative industries, which are perceived to have high growth potential and can contribute to stronger growth in other sectors of the economy. Existing effort in other important sectors of the economy (e.g. agriculture, forestry and tourism) has also continued through dedicated agencies (e.g. the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism New Zealand).
Information Needed for Decision-making
The sustainable development principles point to the need for integrated decision-making. A comprehensive approach must, however, be reconciled with the fact that the government and the private sector have to make timely decisions. But making these requires the best possible information about:
- the overall environment within which decision-makers operate (e.g. changes in New Zealanders' living standards and the overall quality of the natural and built environment)
- specific issues such as investment by the public and private sectors, building of new transport infrastructure, and delivery approaches for income and other support.
The indicators examined in this baseline report will, over time, provide information about progress towards achieving economic growth. They will provide an opportunity to review the assumptions on which the growth and innovation framework is based and highlight possible areas for change in the framework over time.
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