Acclaimed Victoria University physicist, entrepreneur and Royal Society of London Fellow Professor Sir Paul Callaghan delivered a hard-hitting speech at Telecommunications Day 2011 this morning, foreshadowing the Budget with a speech critical of New Zealand’s past approaches to transforming our economy for a more prosperous future.
Click below to listen back to the speech…
points covered:
– New Zealand’s relatively low productivity
– Our “spiritual” objections to genetically modified organisms
– The myth of “clean, green New Zealand”
– The low value of tourism compared to the hi-tech sector
– Lazy journalism
– Closing the $45 billion GDP gap with Australia
– Lack of political inspiration
– Christchurch as a “game changer”
– The importance of pursuing prosperity for the country