sr71

Sorry, I didn't mean Singapore in the literal sense, I meant it to mean NZ could have become a small, technologically advanced nation with an extremely dynamic workforce and business environment.

sr71

Another great example of the forward thinking and great infrastructure planning that Kiwis are good at.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10571849

Always settling for the cheaper options.

lapsed kiwi

Oh come on!! That original tunnel option would have been a monumental waste of money. The new options will save up to $1.4Bn of your and my tax money. OK, so they may have to demolish an extra 500 houses - what's the betting they will mostly be horrible old uninsulated shacks anyway? So, we spend 150M on replacing the houses with decent modern ones, and everyone's a winner.

I would quote this as an example of common sense and financial prudence.

Charismatic

Sorry mate, did find data on a quango website that said 51% but can't find it again now .

Other websites suggest that I may have overstated.

Wooly_Cow

I agree with the outcome and your reasoning ( any reason to repalce most of the shacks here would be a good reason) but I suspect they got to the descsion by happy accident rather than design

southerner

It probably is overstated - in my day (the 80s) probably only 20% of people went to Uni and even though that % has increased maybe closer to 50% now (if you count polytechs as tertiary) the overall % of total population will still be lower than that.

The more interesting stat to me is whether more graduates go overseas permanently than non grads. Personally I suspect not, but I doubt there are good stats on that.

southerner

Yep - it was cheaper, and National have decided its Labour's seat to lose at the coming by-election.

Charismatic

Assuming all graduates are equal, I suspect you'd find that many graduating from academic courses would leave.

southerner

But many of grads who go to UK/Europe/US do return. My view is that permanent leavers typically end up in Australia, and that group is well represented by tradies and other non grads.

Charismatic

Yes, that is true to an extent .

I was thinking about people in medical professions who are in such high demand in other parts of the world that we really aren't training enough staff to cover our own needs. In fact we are dragging staff in from across southeast asia in a desperate bid to fill positions. In fact it's so bad with doctors that we lose more than we graduate (cap. at 300) each year!

I've had a look at collecting some facts:
Source
Source

lapsed kiwi

Some interesting figures - the more expensive option would require a 20c regional fuel tax for 30 years to cover the cost, or an additional $500 rates per Auckland region household for the next 35 years.

Also, the "reserve" was reserved decades ago as a motorway corridor. The locals have been enjoying using it in the meantime, bonus for them.

To me, the only reason the twin-tunnel option was ever proposed was because this was Aunty Helen's electorate - political sleaze at its worst. And the opposition to the sensible option is pure nimbyism. I like the AA's idea of paying the house owners the GV for their house plus a small premium - I bet loads of people would be very happy to sell their houses for GV just now.