“This article assumes that NZ Manufacturers earn a huge profit from the products they produce. Sadly this is often not the case. Many manufacturers struggle to keep their manufacture in New Zealand due to high wage and compliance costs.

It is interesting to note that our manufacturers who produce their products offshore for a cheaper rate very rarely reduce their product pricing as they have already established its sell price in the NZ Market. These surely would be therefore the entrepreneur discussed in this article.

New Zealand made products are generally of a good quality and like all things you get what you pay for so if you pay a little more it will generally be worth it and the best thing is you are helping to keep people employed.”

I do not assume that manufacturers earn a huge profit and I am not hostile to New Zealand manufacturing. I simply assert that there is no good basis to assume that if one chooses to subsidize manufacturing by “buying New Zealand made”, then goods will continue to be manufactured in New Zealand. Manufacturers tend to behave rationally, and what is rational is dictated by the socio-economic environment (the “free market” of global capitalism) rather than by the programmes of political parties which happen to believe in economic nationalism

For many decades New Zealanders bought good quality New Zealand made home appliances from Fisher and Paykel. Then came the “free market reforms” which caused F&P to progressively move most of its manufacturing to Mexico and Thailand. Some F&P refrigerators are still manufactured in New Zealand, but by buying New Zealand made refrigerators you will do nothing to keep the New Zealand plants operating. You will simply help to provide F&P with the necessary capital to move those last remaining operations off-shore. And F&P will then sell product cheaply manufactured in Thailand for the same prices as product more expensively manufactured in New Zealand, for just as long as it can.

The fact of the matter is that the New Zealand state has made the decision to allow the rule of global capital to operate within the scope of its sovereign jurisdiction. That has serious socio-economic consequences, such as the development of gross social inequality, which can not be arrested or reversed by the expedient of “buying New Zealand made”. Even if every single refrigerator being bought in New Zealand was also built in New Zealand, and even if those refrigerators were being built at a profit, it would still make sense to shift the manufacturing of refrigerators to the lowest cost producer (i.e. Thailand, Vietnam, or China) under the existing economic paradigm.

So you will not be able to “keep people employed” by “buying New Zealand made”. It just won’t work.

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Thanks Kitsha, I was confused about those too, and didn’t realise the kiwi triangle logo had been around for so long.

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From http://mywitsend.co.nz/editorial/173

“We can put quality meat on a consumer’s table 12,000 miles away at a lower price and with a lower carbon footprint than they can. If we wish to continue to do that then we need to retain their good will.

We won’t do that by being parochial.

If you want to do something constructive, stop buying mountains of plastic junk from the $2 shop. Don’t worry so much about where it comes from, rather whether or not you need to buy it at all.”

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It is interesting to note that our manufacturers who produce their products offshore for a cheaper rate very rarely reduce their product pricing as they have already established its sell price in the NZ Market. These surely would be therefore the entrepreneur discussed in this article.

New Zealand made products are generally of a good quality and like all things you get what you pay for so if you pay a little more it will generally be worth it and the best thing is you are helping to keep people employed.

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….The problem with these “economic nationalist” strategies is that they necessarily involve an abdication of control by the consumer and the investor in favour of the entrepreneur. If you invest in a New Zealand business (other than one of your own that you control personally, or one in which you have a significant share holding and therefore a significant influence) then you trust the party that does exercise control (the major shareholder, or the managing director, or even the chief executive) to do the “right” and wise thing. If you purchase New Zealand-made goods at a premium that reflects your support for New Zealand industry, then you are in effect making a cash donation to the producer of those goods, again in the hope or expectation that he or she will do the “right” and wise thing. But you have no control over actual outcomes. Your effective transfer of economic power to another can have unintended and unanticipated consequences that are quite at odds with your prior hopes and expectations.

By helping create a class of affluent New Zealand capitalists, you assist those who may be wanting to buy their second, third or fourth home or farm to compete in the market with those who are trying to buy their first. “Buy New Zealand made” and the unintended consequence may be that you price yourself or your children out of a home, a farm, or a business.

And if you think that buying New Zealand made will keep New Zealand businesses in New Zealand hands, then think again. Successful New Zealand businesses are even more likely than failing ones to move into foreign ownership. The almost universal tendency among successful New Zealand entrepreneurs is to cash up, and decamp to Sydney, London, New York or Geneva, in a pattern that dates back to the beginnings of the colonial era. ……

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hey icebaby, most people don’t care about anything – it is always only a small group of concerned people who get anything done (whether good or bad) at all.
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greenfly I’m still waiting for your response to this seemingly innocent question,
‘how far do we go with society’s responsibility for children’s diet? all chocolate & chips to be sold in black & white wrappers with text only (no pictures) on the packet? from a back room out of sight from the main shop area, only on demand to the staff?
with a cabbage taste added to make it unappealing to children?’

You are a great demander of answers but a poor deliverer.
sorry about my dogged insistence!

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BTW: Did you see the 60 minutes article on electric cars? All good to go, and a few arriving here next year for local testing.

Just another one of those things the Greens have got wrong…..

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The Buy NZ Made Campaign is run out of Business NZ and owns the rights to the kiwi-in-a-triangle logo. Members join the campaign mainly to obtain a licence to use the logo on their products and marketing material.

All companies need to advertise in some way to let the consumer know about their products. Buy NZ Made helps their members advertise their companies and their products through two seperate websites.

1) The Buy NZ Made members site where anyone can go and view all the members and the type of products they make through the member product finder or view more detail of those members who have chosen to list in the member directory.

2) getnzmade.net which helps companies sell their New Zealand made products, advertises their websites and helps build relationships between manufacturers and retailers. This web site has only been operational since the 1st of September and was buillt with 50% funding from the Buy Kiwi Made Campaign funding rounds. (the other 50% was paid for by the Buy NZ Made Campaign)

Buy NZ Made helps members find support and outlets to promote their products and offers support.

It would be fair to say that the majority of Buy NZ Mades 1264 members are smaller business that value the support that they provide and the marketing assistance they receive from joining the campaign.

The Buy NZ Made Campaign and the kiwi-in-a-triangle log has been around for 20 years and will continue to help manufacturers and retailers for many years to come.

The Buy NZ Made message should be a simple one. our imports over exceed the amount of locally produced product that we buy and it would be fair to say that there are quite a few products that will never be produced in New Zealand, so I dont believe we are in danger of replacing our imports.. these are now just a fact of life.

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The interviewer was really objective eh? Anyway, why did Brownlee consider his appearance on the program to be infra dig.?

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Ineffective. Measuring the wrong data. Politically motivated. Flawed on so many levels.

Good riddance. What an utter waste of taxpayers money as I’ve said all along.

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Where did I say that? The problem I have with your position is that it is a slippery slope. Can you ban everything that might cause harm through over/misuse? Wouldn’t it be better if people exercised more self control? You can’t wrap everyone up in cotton wool. They won’t learn, and they’ll become dependent.

>>People have known since the dawn of commerce that buying local produce helps local people. It’s common sense

Not necessarily. You need to consider comparative advantage….

>>Maybe these people would prefer if the government had just legislated somehow to make people buy Kiwi made.

You haven’t been paying attention, have you…..

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Maybe these people would prefer if the government had just legislated somehow to make people buy Kiwi made. I bet the same people complain about the Nanny State legislating against businesses being able to do whatever they want.

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No, that’s not my point.

My point is this: the Greens say origin labeling is in the interests of consumer information, yes? Well, what if one group of consumers wanted to know the race and religion of those who produced the food? They would use the same argument i.e. it’s in the interests of consumer information.

What you’re doing is insisting everyone pay for your minority interest i.e. origin. Most people don’t care where it is from, and if they did, then the manufacturer would provide it.

It’s also part of the Greens political agenda, which complicates matters further.

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