Michael Bassett: The view from abroad and the harsh realities

Someone once wrote that “distance lends enchantment to the view”. After several weeks in Canada and the United States, I found returning to New Zealand anything but enchanting. Seventy years ago, our country enjoyed a standard of living the equal of Canada and the US. In those days everything looked promising, and was. But we have now fallen way behind, and it’s distressingly obvious. Our public facilities, like airports, are inadequate. Roads have badly filled potholes, while contractors seem unable to construct anything on time, or within budget. In the main streets of Auckland and Wellington lots of shops are closed because there are no longer many shoppers in town. Rough sleepers curl up in doorways; recently I saw a man in Queen Street, Auckland’s main street, piddling against a shop front at 11am on a weekday. Only the foolhardy go into the city at night where there have been several murders in recent months.

Oliver Hartwich: From Godzone to the devil's playground

The world thinks of New Zealand as the land of the long white cloud. Renowned for its stunning natural beauty and resources, it is considered an island paradise. Or Godzone, as they used to call it, as in “God’s own.”

But that was a long time ago – and not just because most Kiwis have since turned their backs on organised religion.

Instead, today’s New Zealand feels like a country that has conspired to make itself poorer at every opportunity.

If someone had put the devil in charge of New Zealand’s politics, the outcome could have hardly been worse.