Australia only has higher wages than New Zealand because it has values Kiwis "aren't willing to accept", the Transit of Venus forum has been told.



Waikato University professor of economics Les Oxley, told the forum that Kiwis went to Australia for higher wages, but Australia only had higher wages because it had different values, "values we know we're not willing to accept".



He showed an image of a miner beside a huge truck in Australia and said "New Zealand does not want to be like Australia. If you want to be like Australia you have to have that," he said.



He started his presentation by showing a slide of the movie character Hellboy and said that was how people saw economists, said "economists, believe it or not, understand that resources are scarce".



Measuring the success of our nation by Gross Domestic Product is a dated and senseless exercise according to speakers, Oxley said.



He said it was time to do away with GDP as it was "not fit for purpose".



"It is not a good single measure of success. GDP is only good for what it was built for: financing World War Two," he said.



Professor Oxley's comments reflected those made by Derek Handley earlier in the day.



Mr Handley, chair of Hyperfactory and Snakk Media, who said "we blindly continue to define our success in three dangerously outdated letters: GDP, three letters that represent an economic system and a model of capitalism that was built for the industrial era".



The world was very different now and "radical new ideas" were needed.



He quoted Robert Kennedy, who more than 50 years ago said much the same thing. GDP did not count how healthy, fit and nutritious our diets were. Or the beauty of our country, the environment or the sustainability of fisheries, or how clever our children were or how purposeful their lives might be.



Mr Handley said "by the time we have reached our goal of catching up to Australia's GDP the collision of the consciousness of humanity and the constraints of our planet" would have evolved so much that we may realise it was not the right goal after all.

Related:

Eco problems are business problems

The Transit of Venus Forum Explained

Full forum programme



Sir Peter Gluckman: NZ must tackle. . .



Gareth Morgan: NZ must tackle. . .

Dr Renee Liang: NZ must tackle. . .

Sir Paul Callaghan's last interview

Contact Marty Sharpe

Hawke's Bay reporter

Email: marty.sharpe@dompost.co.nz