Category Archives: Economy

Raglan Refresh (A Tonic For NZ)

Posted on by

I almost didn’t make it into 2026 and I have the battle scars to prove it. Surviving a serious life threatening illness puts everything else into perspective forever. So visiting Raglan this long weekend – with my wife Renea Mackie – has been an amazing tonic for us both after a very challenging 12 months.

Raglan dusk

Raglan Harbour Sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restful location with rejuvenating sea air, amazing views and some overdue quiet time for writing and reflection about what’s up next. Did I mention the cute laneways, lovely cafes, fresh fish & chips and friendly, creative locals? Nestled among the misty hills of coastal Waikato, this busy little town somehow balances the needs of alternative lifestylers, eager tourists and local Tainui people. At least superficially, it is a microcosm of our nation.

But in the midst of these simple pleasures, I’m also mindful that wider New Zealand is doing it tough right now in economic terms. The future quality of the healthcare system (that saved my life) and that of our once respected education and welfare institutions now looks at risk. Successive governments have failed to make smart decisions about moving our country up the value chain. We have not planned adequately for energy and climate security. Infrastructure capacity is still years behind population growth and land developments. On top of all this, environmental protections are being wound back.

I’ve been around long enough to witness the ebb and flow of numerous economic cycles. But this time it’s different. Society has never been so polarised politically. Young people and knowledgeable elders with clever ideas are not being heard or are giving up hope and leaving. In the meantime, as social equity erodes, we cling to incredibly outdated, divisive and binary 19th Century thinking around politics, race and economics.

It seems overdue that we review whether or not our political system and constitutional arrangements remain fit for purpose. At the very least we finally need to find a unifying sense of direction as a nation that for once does not entirely revolve around sport. We are so very fortunate to live in such a peaceful and beautiful place. But the worry is that the sun is setting and the rest of the world is rapidly leaving us behind.

Paul Spence is a commentator, researcher and a part-time university assistant lecturer in commerce and management. A previous co-founder of a successful New Zealand based global technology venture, co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research & GeniusReFi and a startup advisor. You can follow Paul on BlueSky @GeniusReFi or Twitter/X @GeniusNet

Genius ReFi Relaunch

Posted on by

Following a recent reorganisation of New Zealand’s science research institution structure, the government announced a mandated new pathway for commercialisation of publicly funded science and technology research, starting in 2026. Core funding for research has not increased however. So now is the perfect time to re-launch Genius ReFi our collaborative platform for researchers, investors, entrepreneurs and industry players. Genius ReFi is a new way to meet co-founders, test ideas, seek advice and secure investment for early stage science research based projects with commercial potential.

ReFi Header

 

 

 

Although proudly New Zealand based, we are also open to working with researchers, funders and partners in a catchment spanning Europe – Middle East – Indo-Pacific. These regions are particularly exciting thanks to notable research clusters in renewable energy, life sciences, agritech, fintech, as well as developing AI infrastructure to support all of the above. We also find some of our inspiration in the tales of explorers from the 18th Century who pioneered trade across the region of the world.

New Zealand science and technology Minister, Dr Shane Reti says that a more consistent national approach to intellectual property management is needed in order to reward scientist inventors directly and open up new opportunities for commercialisation. For a small, cash-strapped economy that currently achieves about half the average OECD investment rate into research, science and technology (RS&T), this move can only be beneficial.

The new policy is partially, modelled on the University of Waterloo, Canada approach to commercialisation. Key aspects include that university researchers will have the first right to commercialise their inventions with the option of operating independently or working with their institution for support. University equity in spin-outs will be capped at around 5-10%, so inventors retain the majority of benefits, whilst incentivizing external capital investments. However, public research organisations outside of universities will retain first rights to market discoveries. If they choose not to pursue, researcher inventors may then proceed in their own capacity. The policy marks a substantial change in New Zealand government expectations around achieving a better economic return on publicly funded science.

There are one or two other fish hooks. Unlike the “Waterloo model”, New Zealand’s (new) model gives researchers a first right to commercialise, but not automatic ownership. This is open to negotiation of course. Also, where research or inventions draw upon multiple grants, different parts of the same project may sit under different IP regimes. Ownership can only transfer after disclosure, negotiation and classification. Additional complexity such as this will require careful thinking through by researchers. Would this give typically slow moving research institutions and universities an opportunity to hinder progress? In which case, nothing has really changed.

In a highly dynamic global economy, New Zealand cannot continue to rely on earning a living predominantly from exporting largely unprocessed primary commodities. To secure our future, we must move up the value chain and convert more of our research ideas into global enterprises. Innovation cycles are increasingly shorter so research organisations must act quickly on new knowledge, With geopolitical tensions, climate change and a pending energy crisis – this is more important than ever.

Join the Genius ReFi community

Paul Spence is a commentator, researcher and a part-time university assistant lecturer in commerce and management. A previous co-founder of a successful New Zealand based global technology venture, co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research & GeniusReFi and a startup advisor. You can follow Paul on BlueSky @GeniusReFi or Twitter/X @GeniusNet

Binary Thinking Distorts Innovation Hub Debate

Posted on by

Clos Luce AmboiseDuring our travels over the last few weeks I have been assiduously avoiding all New Zealand media and political commentary. We are such a binary thinking and inwards looking nation, it is nice to have a break from it. But I couldn’t avoid seeing the recent remarks from Mayor Brown and Peter Gluckman both alluding to Auckland’s greatness as a “centre for innovation” whilst lobbying (of course) for government support.

Yes the city is home to some amazing tech companies, clever people and is the closest thing we’ve got to a global city. Yes, innovation (in the form of patents) has traditionally been greatest in cities with large populations, agglomerations of industries and multiple high class education facilities. But the world is changing. Digital communications plus the rise of AI and technologies such as blockchain mean you can also build hugely valuable companies with a small distributed team. I think this is something that is often lost in the conversation because we tend to focus on tangible products like rockets or vegan ice-cream.

Here in Europe the EU is actively looking at how to get more innovation happening in the regions, away from noisy crowded cities. This is proving difficult because entrepreneurs tend to cluster where capital is more abundant, even if it means sacrificing lifestyle for a period of time. Paris, Barcelona, London and Berlin are currently the main foci. But will this change as distributed forms of capital raising become more established? Would a distributed innovation approach make more sense?

I mentioned binary thinking earlier. It’s something that holds us back. The concept that economic activity is a zero sum game for example. There always has to be a regional winner or loser. Or equity for one race or social group being at the expense of another. Outside of the current American administration warped mindset perhaps, it’s not how the real world actually operates.

Above is an image from Clos Luce, Amboise, France where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life. It was certainly a base for innovative thinking of the day. But even then, he succeeded through working with remote teams of talent on projects commissioned from all over Europe – with the enduring patronage of King Francois I. An early form of distributed innovation model.

[ This article was originally published on my LinkedIn channel ]

Paul Spence is a commentator, researcher and a part-time university commerce and management teaching assistant. A previous co-founder of a successful New Zealand based global technology venture, co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research & GeniusReFi and a startup advisor. You can follow Paul on Twitter/X @GeniusNet

Can We Stop The Rot?

Posted on by

P1080304New Zealand faces a polycrisis due to decades of under-investment in public infrastructure. Indicative of this malaise are multiple failing infrastructures, over-stretched health services, decaying school buildings and unsafe civic spaces throughout the country. Stopping the rot will require raising our ambition as a nation and improving productivity through a higher value economy.

For too long our economic performance has been linked to an over-dependence on relatively low value commodities and tourism. As part of its quickfire raffle of “first 100 days” opportunities, the government is looking to “deliberately disrupt the system” by fast tracking gold mines, open-cast coal mining, property developments and bigger dairy farms, to name a few. Unfortunately these kinds of projects mostly lock us into even greater dependence on low value commodity based industries that do not generate the returns required to substantially lift productivity. But doesn’t this help us improve our gross domestic product (GDP)? Yes it does, but the benefits are not shared equitably, with returns often heading directly offshore.

Multi-factor productivity (MFP), on the other hand, represents residual economic growth due to factors (other than labour or capital) such as technological advancements, improved management practices, and a better-skilled workforce. MFP illustrates how successful a nation is at innovating and transforming resources into high value outputs. Over the last two decades or so New Zealand performed terribly compared to other OECD nations on this measure. Arguably, MFP is also the slice of the economic pie that allows governments to steadily improve the quality of public services and investment, as real wealth increases and tax receipts grow. Clearly we are heading in the opposite direction at present.

Quidnet Ventures managing director Mark Bregman illustrated the situation in a recent article discussing the innovation gap. We need to move to an “abundance mindset” and get over our hangups such as misplaced nationalism and the current reluctance of research institutions to back science that has commercial potential, he asserts. Important because one of the keys to creating high value economic returns lies in homegrown research that has future commercial potential. But getting these projects off the ground has always been problematic for a number of reasons, including funding constraints, institutional bureaucracy and lack of entrepreneurial mindset. How we approach science commercialisation must change.

With the nebulus “Te Paerangi – Future Pathways” report now mercifully euthanised by the Science Minister a new plan for research, science and technology now needs to be found. This time a sensible discussion about commercialisation must be included. To this end, the freshly minted Science System Advisory Group and University Advisory Group have been tasked with delivering a new strategic plan for transforming the science and university sectors. This will include (yet another) review of the performance based research fund (PBRF), the contentious pot of public funding that tends to favour larger universities with greater output, rather than promoting innovation or supporting the most important areas of research for society.

But none of this will matter unless we eliminate the institutional and financial roadblocks that are preventing research getting out of the lab and into the commercial sphere. The current model is simply not working at sufficient scale or speed.

Like all good researchers, we are testing some hypotheses around disrupting the status quo and creating more value for entrepreneurial science researchers. Feedback is welcome. To find out more about GeniusReFi – please join us here.

Paul Spence is a commentator, researcher and a part-time university commerce and management lecturer. A previous co-founder of a successful New Zealand based global technology venture, co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research & GeniusReFi and a startup advisor. You can follow Paul on Twitter/X @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events co-curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.

Image credit: Renea Mackie

Data source: Figure NZ under Creative Commons Licence 4.0

Bringing Change To The Top Table

Posted on by
Lyttleton Harbour, Christchurch

Lyttleton Harbour, Christchurch

Recently I attended a public discussion delving into “Otautahi Christchurch as an Innovation Hub”. It’s no secret that the city has confronted numerous challenges over the last decade or so. From devastating earthquakes to wildfires and a mass shooting. One could be forgiven for thinking that the place was on its knees. But it’s not. As the central city was being rebuilt, a core group of activators played a pivotal role through charting a course with innovation and collaboration at its core. Now the city is thriving. What if we germinated that approach into central government?

A number of the aforementioned group were present at the recent discussion event. Not the least of these was Raj Manji, who convened the session. As a former Christchurch City Councillor and tireless advocate for the city, Manji is no stranger to the challenges of navigating government processes in difficult times. He’s also a global thinker who takes action and attracts smart people with fresh ideas into his sphere of influence.

These are attributes that seem sadly lacking in many of our current politicians, including those who are likely to be in charge once the face of government changes in October. As The Opportunities Party (TOP) leader, Manji has a real shot at securing the Ilam seat at the general election. This would be a game changer because, under MMP, successful electorate winners get to “tag and drag” along some of their party list candidates. Potentially this means TOP could play a huge part in shaping the next government.

Why is this significant? It’s pretty clear that our current government has run its course and the wheels are falling off the proverbial wagon. Not a week passes where there isn’t either a dramatic exit or a revelation of bad behaviour by Ministers or coalition partner MPs. The present incumbents performed admirably during the pandemic, but the world has now moved on. History has also shown that governing parties very rarely secure three consecutive terms in New Zealand. For its part, the Opposition, whilst more disciplined than before, seem unable to generate intelligent policy or outline a coherent plan. Political change of some form is undoubtedly on the way. The question is – how do we optimise that change?

By standing up and supporting TOP I’m putting a stake in the ground in an effort to facilitate an optimal outcome. We desperately need fresh thinking and evidence based policy driven by responsible adults. If TOP fails to win a place at the table, we face the possibility of an unstable coalition underwritten by dogma and driven by the smug, sneering faces of the more extremist minor parties. Parties that do not necessarily have the interests of ALL New Zealanders at heart. This would be disastrous at this pivotal moment in history when society must act collectively to confront significant global issues.

Paul Spence is a commentator, researcher and serial entrepreneur, a previous co-founder of a successful New Zealand based global technology venture, co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research & Genius Refi and previously an advisor at ThincLab Canterbury. You can follow Paul on Twitter @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events co-curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.

Our Tech Entrepreneurs Need A Breakthrough

Posted on by

btvic_logo The state government of Victoria has announced the first investments from a $2 billion fund for the commercialisation of research, science and technology. Breakthrough Victoria will focus on life sciences, agri-food, cleantech and digital technologies in a push to reboot the state’s post-Covid economy. The package includes $100 million for co-funding platform services such as research facilities and commercialisation advisory.

It was with this in mind that I attended the Startup Council roadshow event in Christchurch recently with fire in my belly. For context, the New Zealand government invests a grand total of $2.5 million per annum to support incubation and acceleration across the entire country. In June 2022 the existing successful “founder incubators” were all de-funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the funding was handed over to an elite collection of service providers outside of the universities. In 2020 funding for “deep tech incubation” was allocated to a group of foreign controlled entities. There is currently no central government funding for incubation within a New Zealand university.

The newly formed Startup Council sprung out of some policy initiatives developed collaboratively during the first lock-down through Global Entrepreneurship Network New Zealand, to which I actively contributed. The self-selected Council is comprised mostly of representatives from the investment community, but also includes a serial technology entrepreneur and an accelerator operator. The Council has direct communication with government Ministers.

That last point is important because for a long time our startup ecosystem did not have a voice in government. Over the years we have been reliant on pleading a case to gatekeepers at MBIE who seem to have little or no global context for decision making. Up until recently, the government focus has been upon kick-starting the venture investment sector. This ignores the issue of curating a pipeline of deal flow however. Translational research does not magically become investment ready without a lot of background support.

Not investing in our startup ecosystem is not just an existential problem for those of us that work with founders. It is also an impediment to progress in meeting our carbon zero commitments. In 2021 around US $1 Trillion in capital poured into funds targeting investment into environment, social and governance (ESG) focused projects and ventures, including cleantech, sustainable food and renewable energy. Areas in which we already have capability. Investment is expected to grow to $4 Trillion per annum, as the global economy decouples from carbon. If New Zealand is to have a chance to participate, we need to be building sound innovation infrastructure right now, especially within universities!

The cold, hard reality is that (up until now at least) the government has not seen the value in supporting a vibrant startup ecosystem. This is despite the fact that our neighbours across Asia-Pacific have literally invested hundreds of millions over decades. If nothing changes and with the world open for business again, it will be no surprise if some of our scientist entrepreneurs and tech startup founders start looking towards the West Island. Or perhaps even further afield.

Paul Spence is a commentator and serial entrepreneur, a previous co-founder of a successful New Zealand based global technology venture, co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research & Genius ReFi and previously an advisor at ThincLab Canterbury. You can follow Paul on Twitter @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events co-curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.

The Art Of The Sale

Posted on by

niro1This week I conducted a small experiment. I really want to play my part to reduce emissions, so I’m in the market for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). I’ve also been doing a couple of papers at our local university for interest recently and have just completed a marketing course at Masters level. So I’m up to speed with marketing tactics and sneaky selling strategies. This is where the fun begins.

I headed into town to work my way around a few car sales yards – just to see how I would be treated as a potential customer. Here’s what I found.

1. KIA – The receptionist introduced me to a very young salesman who looked like he had better things to do. I asked if he could take me out for a short drive and introduce me to the vehicle I was interested in. No, that was not possible. But please sign this $5,000 waiver and feel free to take her out for a spin yourself. I asked a basic question about whether the vehicle had anti-skid. He said he needed to go check on this. Really? Aren’t you selling these vehicles? I was also informed there was a 6 month waiting list. Slightly bemused, I signed my life away. After a 2 minute familiarisation, he left me to it. 5/10

2. Subaru – Bubbly young lady waltzed up to me. Very positive attitude, but admits that Subaru do not offer what I seek and not likely to in the future (they do in the U.S.). Things got better though. She asked if I’d considered a Peugeot. I had not. Her colleague under the same roof looked after the franchise, so she kindly took me over and introduced me to him. 7/10

3. Peugeot – We had a good discussion about European vehicles and the sales chap mentioned that he would have a demonstrator vehicle arriving next month that would fit my needs. He gave me a business card and showed me where to find useful info on their website. At all times he showed an interest in the customer needs and was looking to find a solution for me. Not bad. 8/10

4. Hyundai – I currently drive a Hyundai. It has been a wonderful vehicle with minimal running costs. I also love that Hyundai is sponsoring the Pinnacle Programme that offers scholarship opportunities to high achieving students. The current television campaign is the best ad on tv in my humble opinion. I dearly want to love Hyundai – but they keep disappointing. At last year’s service, the car groomer conspired with a rude receptionist to turn the stereo volume to maximum, resulting in an ear blasting when I turned the key. Funny joke. So it was with some trepidation that I set foot on their car yard. I need not have worried. The salesman completely ignored me whilst having an animated discussion on his mobile phone. 1/10

My point is this. There was a time when sales people knew their products and they knew the art of converting leads into actual sales. As a customer, I want to feel valued and respected, no matter where I am in the pipeline. From walk-in to first sale to post-sale service. Sales people used to build lifelong relationships with customers who would often return for their next purchase. What went wrong? Attention deficit?

I’m not sure if this is a localised cultural problem, but service ethic no longer seems to be part of our business DNA here in New Zealand. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve walked into a shop or cafe this year where the young staff were either chatting amongst themselves or texting their friends on phones whilst completely ignoring customers. Since when has this ever been acceptable? It reflects badly on business owners who are failing to train teams in customer service and also failing to monitor performance. At a time when businesses are desperately trying to recover from sales lost during the pandemic – why are sellers failing at that most fundamental task called customer service?

Oh… and I still haven’t found my PHEV. Any suggestions?

Paul Spence is a commentator and serial entrepreneur, a recently exited co-founder of a New Zealand based technology venture, a co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research and an advisor at ThincLab Canterbury. You can follow Paul on Twitter @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.

Where Talent Wants To Live

Posted on by
superpro

FFA overall winners SuperPro with advisor Paul Spence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over a decade ago MacDiarmid Institute founder, renown physicist and technology entrepreneur the late Professor Sir Paul Callaghan proclaimed that we needed to make New Zealand “the place where talent wants to live”. This week’s result from the Food, Fibre & Agritech Supernode Challenge suggests we have reasons to be optimistic.

During the last few weeks it has been my great pleasure to be mentoring some of the teams involved in the 2022 Food, Fibre and Agritech Supernode Challenge accelerator programme, in my capacity as an advisor with ThincLab Canterbury. The Challenge, supported by ChristchurchNZ, KiwiNet and the Canterbury Mayoral Forum seeks to uncover innovative ideas with commercalisation potential from across research and business. Notably environmental sustainability has been a key theme that we asked applicants to address. 36 applications were whittled down to 24 participating teams, of which 12 finalists were selected.

Canterbury has a long and rich association with agricultural and is home to two universities and numerous land based research institutions. So there is no shortage of talent on offer. It has been an absolute thrill to see our young skilled migrants strongly represented among the participants in this programme. For many of them it has been a steep learning curve stepping out of the research lab and grappling with the fundamentals of business for the first time. But in every case they have grasped the opportunity and run with it.

Challenge overall winners Mahnaz Shaverdi and Associate Professor Ken Morison are food process engineering researchers from the University of Canterbury with big plans for turning plain old pea protein into a more desirable food source. Shaverdi moved from Iran with the aim of studying and raising her young family in New Zealand and Morison is a research engineer who returned to work in the dairy industry after completing his doctorate at Imperial College in London. Commercialisation of their research is timely. Plant-based ingredients are one of the fastest growing food categories globally, as witnessed through the recent investment by Khosla Ventures in Canterbury plant protein processor Leaft Foods.

Some commentators have been worrying lately that our technology startup ecosystem lacks diversity. But at a time when the world needs many bright minds to be working on solving a myriad of social, economic and environmental problems that confront us, it is exciting to know that our skilled migrants are making an increasingly significant contribution. This is a success story that we rarely hear about and that needs to be told more often. I’m sure Sir Paul Callaghan would be encouraged by this progress.

Paul Spence is a commentator and serial entrepreneur, a recently exited co-founder of a New Zealand based technology venture, a co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research and an advisor at ThincLab Canterbury. You can follow Paul on Twitter @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.

Free the 99

Posted on by

akaroa3 They called it the slap that reverberated around the world. A wealthy and privileged, angry man arrogantly displaying his lack of respect for a long established institution and the faithful community that had blindly supported him. No, I’m not referring to the infamous Oscars night incident, I’m talking about Grant Dalton’s acceptance of an offer from the city of Barcelona to host and fund the 2024 Americas Cup yacht race.

In 2017 a glowingly optimistic report from the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) estimated that delivery of the Americas Cup event would bring in $600 million to $1 billion in benefits to the New Zealand economy. A more recent post-event report estimated that less than half of the $348 million public investment was returned in economic benefits during the 2021 event. The New Zealand government share of the funding was $133 million.

In fairness nobody forecast that the event would fall amidst a global disease pandemic. It is a testament to local organisers (and the success of the government’s pandemic response) that the event ran at all in fact. It is claimed that 68 million global viewers watched the televised component of the event and almost 39,000 (mostly domestic) visitors provided a much needed boost to the Auckland regional economy. But the taxpayer investment in the event came with no guarantees that Team New Zealand would opt for the 2024 challenge to be held in New Zealand and despite a further $99 million offered by the New Zealand government, hard man Dalton predictably followed the big money elsewhere.

That’s a shame for Auckland. But in light of some commentators complaining about the elitist nature of the sport, perhaps it is not worth throwing more good money after bad. In the meantime, about the same time the report on outcomes of their $133 million stake was being released by MBIE, the Ministry was also taking a decision to actually reduce their $3 million annual investment in the local innovation ecosystem. Founder incubators will be disestablished from June this year and it is already known that some will receive no further government funding.

Founder incubators were once at the heart of the innovation ecosystem, providing a basis for entrepreneur capability building, a channel for investment flows and a pipeline of high tech startups that added long term, high value jobs to our economy. Not as glamorous as yacht races or movies, but creating sustainable value that persisted long after the initial public investment. Last month I explained how our neighbours and competitors across Asia-Pacific have begun to reap the rewards of long term ecosystem investment amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Which brings me back to the $99 million already budgeted for the 2024 Americas Cup investment. Would it not be more valuable to now allocate those funds towards developing our local innovation ecosystem? New Zealand is finally beginning to gain some traction in attracting foreign startup investors and we have a wealth of homegrown entrepreneurial talent ready to take on meaty global problems in areas such as climate, food and health. We need to capitalise on this opportunity as quickly as possible. Surely it is now time to invest in creating sustainable economic opportunities, rather than one off vanity events?

Paul Spence is a commentator and serial entrepreneur, a recently exited co-founder of a New Zealand based technology venture, a co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research and an advisor at ThincLab. You can follow Paul on Twitter @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.

2021 – A Political Retrospective

Posted on by

watersThis year has been remarkable if for no other reason than the pandemic has resurfaced some ugly divisions that continue to bubble away behind the easy-going facade of New Zealand society. We are doubtless challenged now more than ever on numerous complex topics, including environment, poverty, crime, health, immigration and race. So the need for change is absolutely genuine. But the manner in which change is now being enacted is both contemptuous and potentially self-defeating.

2021 firmly reminded us of the fragility of the social contract. In an otherwise generally compliant nation, a vocal minority held out against vaccinations and wise public health measures on the basis that their “freedoms” were being threatened. There was of course little discussion by these lost souls about the freedoms of thousands of elderly or unwell who would have very likely lost their lives, had we caved in to the views of the misinformed. I had several respectful but somewhat disturbing conversations with individuals this year invoking thinking from my recent article on why science is more trustworthy than their deranged social media feeds.

At the other end of the political spectrum, hand-wringing social purists doggedly continued to promote the longstanding policy of shutting down any debate that appeared to challenge their well meaning, but at times misguided ideologies. Consequently institutions that had been previously hotbeds of intellectual debate and where ideas were once challenged and tested in open fora, have latterly become hotbeds of conformity and intolerance instead. Nowhere was this more apparent than the embarrassing public skewering of celebrated evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins, for daring to question why a group of science academics were being villified in a Galilean inquisition by the very body responsible for promoting science discourse in New Zealand.

Of course the danger in shutting down the intellectual debate of good ideas is that bad ideas from across the political spectrum similarly do not receive proper analysis or exposure to the sunlight. This appears to be part of the strategy currently being invoked by the government as it pursues a programme of social reform aimed at centralising control of some of the most important assets and resources in the country. With convenient distractions provided by the public health crisis, our servants in the Capital have quietly set about executing a quite radical socio-political agenda that the majority of voters actually did not yet sign up for.

History has shown however that rapid, ideologically driven reforms are quite often not very successful and ironically may even disenfranchise the intended beneficiaries long term. Unfortunately, many of the idealistic and bright-eyed policy wonks busily designing the new order from Wellington were not even born when we last fundamentally overhauled our economic order and thus have little lived experience to draw upon. Worryingly, much of the reform model is based on a flawed legal premise around the nature of our important responsibilities under the Treaty of Waitangi. The interpretation of this precedent perversely constrains governments to take a narrow, binary and transactional approach in an obviously highly diverse and increasingly complex world.

The other difficulty here is that this reform programme received little exposure at the last election and therefore suffers from what some have termed “democratic deficit”. Worse still, in the absence of a properly informed and curated public debate, the attitude of some of the critics has turned from fearful to venomous with some unpleasant personal attacks containing racial overtones. That is unfortunate and sad. But it also illustrates that sidelining large sections of society is not the way to pursue important social reforms. Instead of stifling open public debate around big ideas, we must encourage it.

Paul Spence is a commentator and serial entrepreneur, a recently exited co-founder of a New Zealand based technology venture, a co-founder and director of Creative Forest, principal at GeniusNet Research and an advisor at ThincLab. You can follow Paul on Twitter @GeniusNet or sign up for a free weekly digest of startup, tech and innovation related events curated by him through New Zealand Startup Digest.