Changes to New Zealand’s science sector announced by Prime Minister Chris Luxon seem to have left scientists uncertain with concern over the overly heavy emphasis on economic growth. Dr Lucy Stewart, Co-President, New Zealand Association of Scientists, said “this long-delayed announcement will do little to address the concerns of researchers and scientists which were raised across 2024. It is entirely focused on commercialisation and commercial benefits from science and technology.”
Past chairman of the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations Tony Orman said it was conspicuous in the prime minister’s television announcement that no mention was made of the environment while there was a preoccupation with “growth for growth’s sake and wooing foreign investment.”
“It seemed solely focused on the mantra of GDP and growth. He said an increasing number of economists are calling for a better measurement of a country’s progress instead of a sole concentration on economic progress, having a three-pronged approach of economic, social and environmental criteria.”
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) did not give a true measurement of the state of the nation.
“Automobile sales, television set sales or any figures on consumer consumption as GDP is based on, do not reveal anything significant about the reality of a country’s progress, health as a society or well-being.”
Economic Focus
The seven Crown Research Institutes will be replaced by three Public Research Organisations focusing on bio-economy, earth sciences, and health and forensic sciences, while an advanced technology PRO will focus on the likes of artificial intelligence, quantum and synthetic biology technologies. Callaghan Innovation is to be disestablished, with its key functions moved to other parts of the system.
A new Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council will provide strategic direction and identify economic opportunities, while a new agency, Invest New Zealand, will focus on foreign direct investment.
Dr Lucy Stewart, Co-President, New Zealand Association of Scientists, asked several question of the changes, one being where is there space in the new structure for environmental and social science research?
“Where is the support or interest in ‘public good’ research – research that provides answers that benefit our society and nation but does not necessarily (or ever) lead to the ability to make a profit, instead delivering benefits like risk reduction?
No “Public Good”
She said message to scientists from government is clear – scientists are expected to be a source of revenue rather than working for the public good and anything they do that is not directly linked to economic gain is of little interest.
Other science spokespersons obviously had similar concerns if were more cautious.
Dr James Renwick, Professor of Physical Geography, Victoria University of Wellington said “broadly speaking, a merger of NIWA and GNS, and the MetService, makes a lot of sense, as do the other mergers proposed. Focusing around broad disciplines sounds good. But as always the devil is in the details.”
Footnote: Full detail of scientist’s views is at https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/01/23/reforms-to-nzs-science-sector/
What is needed is balance not an obsession with economic growth. A nation can have abundance in both material (economic)and human standards of living if there is a land conscience and a sense of stewardship. But PM Luxon and a good number of his ministers worship GDP which becomes like a dog chasing its tail. Have you read UK economist Kate Raworth’s book “Doughnut Economics”?
If in our haste to “progress” the economics of ecology are disregarded by governments, the result will be an ugly New Zealand. Land is abused because politicians see it as a commodity belonging to them. The phrase “DOC land” is totally wrong and ignorant.
It is public land belonging to the people. It is not up for sale to foreign-based mining interests or other exploiters.
Continual financial crises, extreme inequalities in wealth- (the very rich getting wealthier while most remain poor), onslaughts on the public’s environment and quality of life –isn’t it obvious the old tired economic system relentlessly chasing GDP and maximum growth is broken? In Kate Raworth’s “Doughnut Economics” – which I’ve read – the message is clear. There is an alternative to a country’s ballooning debt and environmental degradation and a dysfunctional society.
We should not be surprised that National is trying to “out-act the ACT Party”. Their drop in polls has them worried. In order to meet the expectations of their major supporters (donors) they will rush through the “big business” agenda before Labour etc get back in. In the recent Spinoff article by Rupert O’Brien he said that ACT’s (now read National’s) actions are to remove obstacles in their goal of deregulation and promoting laissez-faire neo-liberal economics.”
“They aim to achieve deregulation by, in part, turning government departments into state-owned enterprises (corporatising) and subsequently selling these as going concerns on the private market (privatising). The whole of the current coalition are behind this.
These new science entities will be ripe for private market ownership. Dear old Radway Allen (Author of “The Horokiwi Stream a NZ Trout Stream) would never have surfaced under that sort of Regime. His 1951 work is still world famous as a study of trout biology and was produced whilst in a classic government department.
National’s agenda is ONLY for science that directly boosts commerce.
I think more serious consideration and planning need to be given to understanding and preparing for the 4th Industrial revolution and the disruptive technologies that will change everyone’s lives.
AI, machine learning, robotics and biotech will have an immense impact on how people live and work.
Existing jobs of all sorts will be changed and those who remain employable will be working with these new technologies and assisting rather than controlling them.
Technical innovations have always changed the way people live and work but never as rapidly or drastically as now.
Agriculture used to be the major source of jobs with people laboring all day in the fields. Technologies and machines enabled much more food to be produced by far less workers.
The Industrial age required new knowledge and skills and provided new jobs for people who were not agricultural workers.
Further technical innovations resulted in automation and less demand for skilled human workers.
Productivity increased dramatically but the purchasing power of wages and salaries has continually lagged behind and deteriorated.
Factory workers displaced by technology found new less well paying service jobs but many did not and became members of the government dependent welfare beneficiaries whose numbers keep increasing.
The ability to sell the products that were produced more efficiently to workers that could not afford them was enabled by creating and loaning more and more fiat currencies (fake money) at lower rates of interest.
There is a clear pattern here.
Technical innovations significantly increase productivity and the profits of the business owners that adapt to the changes BUT they steadily erode the value of human labour.
That erosion of the value of human labour is only going to increase as the new technologies increase productivity by replacing more human workers but no-one wants to accept that because they have no solution.
All the people in governments have to offer is the assumption that there will be “new jobs” or a universal basic income to replace the lost human jobs.
There will indeed be some desirable new jobs for people that adapt to being able to work with the machines and people might be able to be paid for doing nothing productive for a while.
but
The end result is definitely going to be more and more “useless eaters” that the minority of people who own and benefit from the 4th Industrial Revolution do not need or want around any more.
Politicians and other public servants that care about the ordinary people and their future would be aware of what is happening and trying to find ways to ensure that citizens will be able to retain decent jobs and SHARE THE PROSPERITY created by utilizing these new technologies to improve productivity.
They do not appear to have any idea that the world is changing or perhaps no concern for how the ordinary people of New Zealand will be adversely effected by the immense changes they will have to deal with but are not aware of.
Instead of preparing for the future, people in our current government are trying to “improve the economy” using strategies and tactics that they should know only benefit a wealthy minority of people at the expense of the struggling productive wage and salary earning workers.
Mr. Luxon and other intelligent people in our government must be aware of what is happening but their agenda seems to be helping to make their national and globalist “rich mates” even richer at the expense of the productive wage and salary earning workers.
In short, this is another government control play.
If so many people who are getting money for nothing got off their arse and earned it there wouldn’t be a problem.
The underlying problem is the economic culture of chasing more and mre growth. Quality (of life) is more important than quantity. The obsession with GDP and the Prime Minister’s unimpressive call for more and more growth is like a dog chasing its tail.
In addition PM Luxon brings a corporate culture to the government’s agenda – more and more monetary greed.