Robert MacCulloch
Robert MacCulloch is a native of New Zealand and worked at the Reserve Bank of NZ before travelling to the UK to complete a PhD in Economics at Oxford University.
In an excellent article in the Herald, Richard Prebble (or “Prebs” as we call him) argues the proposals presented by National-ACT for a four-year parliamentary term are a mistake. (By the way, the Herald’s sole defence for not being outrageously left biased and trying to avoid being taken over is that former ACT leader Prebs writes for it – he’s the only thing stopping the board being fired).
Anyhow, here’s a story on the four-year term question. Roger Douglas came to one of my classes and a student asked him, “Don’t you think the problem in NZ is that the three-year term means our politicians can’t get much done and are too focused on the day-to-day?”
To which Roger replied, “I don’t need even three years to enact the plan me and Robert presented to you – I’d only need six months.” It’s a profound reply. Because before Prebs, Roger, Mike “Lamb burger” Moore and the fish and chips brigade came to power in 1984, they’d already come up with a plan, written books and thought about what needed to be done to fix NZ’s problems. On winning the election, they enacted it. I seem to remember they started doing so, like floating the NZ dollar, even before the hand-over of power, since former National Party PM Rob Muldoon tried to pull a coup and refused to give up.
So what’'s the problem now, in 2025? It’s exactly the same one as when Ardern became PM in 2017. Neither Ardern, nor Finance Minister Willis, had a plan. None whatsoever. They’re practically twins. They got into power and then thought, “What shall I do now?”
Ardern got saved by Covid, which gave her a reason to exist, that she’s still riding to this very day. As for economic reform, whenever the words came up, Ardern appointed a ‘review committee’, or ‘working group committee’, to give her government advice. Ardern had never written a book: she’s doing that now. It’s called her memoirs and they’re about how great she is.
Willis also has no clue what to do, but she had a cunning idea. Instead of having the same Labour-style ‘review committees’ and ‘working group committees’, and so be accused of being an Ardern Mark II, she’s calling hers ‘advisory committees’.
In October 2023 she said she was ‘asking for advice’ how to break up the Big Supermarkets. Last week, in March 2025, she made a big announcement that she’d again decided to ‘ask for advice’ how to break them up. Advice like the type she wants gets you nowhere. You have to have your own plan.
It was flattering to me, though bonkers at the same time, that Finance Minister Willis said to Heather du Plessis-Allan on NewstalkZB, “And I’d like to put this out to Robert MacCulloch: if he has more ideas on how we can drive competition in the NZ economy, to break up some of these duopolies that are making too much money out of New Zealanders, then I am up for those ideas.” Isn’t what she said, for want a better word, madness? Is it my job to do her job? I already have a job that I need to feed the family.
And I did already come up with a fully costed plan that Willis never could be bothered reading on how to lower the cost-of-living, increase competition, drive up savings and fix healthcare. It was written eight years ago. A former finance minister did the costings. Willis couldn’t have cared less about it.
Why did she say she is up for DownToEarth.Kiwis to give her ideas and then never contact us? She just made up that line for the NewstalkZB listeners. The country cannot endure an Ardern Mark I, an Ardern Mark II (Willis), and Ardern Mark III in Waiting (Hipkins). The problem is that we haven’t had a fresh rethink of the entire system for 30 years now.
This article was originally published by Down to Earth Kiwi.
