GOOD MORNING, AND WELCOME TO Q+A. I'M SIMON DALLOW, WITH HEATHER DU PLESSIS ALLAN TODAY. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EUROPE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE, BUT DOESN'T REALLY HAVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME, SO WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE. THE ROCK STAR ECONOMY HITS A HIGH NOTE ` HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? WE ASK HSBC ECONOMIST PAUL BLOXHAM. AND THEN TO AN ECONOMY THAT'S PLAYING OFF-KEY ` EUROPE CORRESPONDENT JESSICA MUTCH VISITS A GREEK NZER WHO'S SPENT FIVE YEARS LIVING UNDER AUSTERITY MEASURES IN ATHENS. PEOPLE WENT FROM HAVING A HOUSE, A CAR, A REASONABLE MIDDLE-CLASS LIFE TO HAVING NOTHING. AND YOU'LL BE TALKING URBAN DESIGN? YES, I'M TALKING TO AN AUTHOR WHO CLAIMS SPRAWLING, CAR-DEPENDENT CITIES ARE MAKING US MISERABLE. CHARLES MONTGOMERY TELLS US WHY AND HOW WE CAN RETRO-FIT OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS TO MAKE US HAPPY AND RICH. AND WE'LL ANALYSE ALL THE ISSUES WITH OUR PANEL ` METRO EDITOR SIMON WILSON AND FORMER NATIONAL STAFFER, NOW GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ADVISOR, MEGAN CAMPBELL. DUE TO THE LIVE NATURE OF Q+A, WE APOLOGISE FOR THE LACK OF CAPTIONS FOR SOME ITEMS. WELL, THERE WERE NO PARITY PARTIES THIS WEEK, BUT MOST ECONOMIC ANALYSTS ARE ADAMANT IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME. THE KIWI SLIPPED AWAY FROM BREAKING EVEN WITH THE AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR AFTER THE RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA LEFT ITS LENDING RATE UNTOUCHED. I CAUGHT UP WITH PAUL BLOXHAM ` THE HSBC ECONOMIST WHO FIRST DUBBED NZ THE ROCK STAR ECONOMY ` AND ASKED, 'WHY DOES PARITY MATTER?' WELL, IT'S AN EXCITING SITUATION IF THE KIWI GETS TO THE SAME LEVEL AS THE AUSSIE DOLLAR IN PART BECAUSE IT HASN'T HAPPENED FOR SO LONG. IT WOULD BE THE FIRST TIME IN 42 YEARS THAT WE'D SEE THIS HAPPEN. IN FACT, WHEN IT HAPPENED ON THE 18TH OF OCTOBER 1973, IT ONLY HAPPENED FOR A FEW HOURS, AND THEN THE KIWI FELL BACK BELOW THE AUSSIE DOLLAR. SO I THINK PART OF THE EXCITEMENT, OF COURSE, IS THE COMPETITIVE STORY OF KIWIS ALWAYS COMPETING WITH AUSTRALIANS AND THINKING THEIR CURRENCY IS STRONGER IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY GETS PEOPLE GEED UP, I THINK. BUT ALSO IT JUST WOULD BE VERY UNUSUAL. IT HASN'T HAPPENED FOR SUCH A LONG TIME. IT'S CERTAINLY GOT PEOPLE GEED UP THIS SIDE OF THE TASMAN. DO AUSTRALIANS CARE? I DON'T THINK AUSTRALIANS MIND THAT MUCH IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS. THEY CERTAINLY WOULD BE HAPPY THAT IN LOTS OF VARIOUS SPORTING EVENTS, WE SEEM TO BE DOING OK AT THE MOMENT, SO I THINK THEY'D BE` THAT THE CURRENCY'S PROBABLY THE LEAST OF THEIR WORRIES. ALTHOUGH, IT MAY HAVE SOME EFFECT ON AUSTRALIANS' WILLINGNESS TO COME AND SKI IN NZ, FOR EXAMPLE. THE TOURIST FLOW MIGHT SLOW A BIT. IS IT THE NEW NORMAL? CAN WE EXPECT THE SITUATION TO STICK AROUND FOR SOME TIME? WELL, WE THINK IT'S GOING TO STICK AROUND FOR A WHILE, YEAH, BECAUSE THE NZ ECONOMY'S DOING VERY WELL. IN FACT, WE'VE BEEN DESCRIBING THE NZ ECONOMY FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW AS A BIT OF A ROCK STAR. IT'S BEEN OUTPERFORMING ALMOST ALL OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS OR SO. AND THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY, BY CONTRAST, IS NOT DOING SO WELL. WE'RE AT THE END OF A MINING BOOM, MINING INVESTMENT'S FALLING, AND THE ECONOMY IS SO-SO, THINK THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE'S BEEN CLIMBING. SO IT MAKES SENSE THAT THE NZ DOLLAR IS STRONG RELATIVE TO THE AUSSIE DOLLAR, AND WE EXPECT THAT SITUATION TO PERSIST FOR SOME TIME. THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF WIN-WIN, THOUGH, HERE, ISN'T THERE? I MEAN, IT S CHEAP TRAVEL FOR US NZERS TO GO OVER TO AUSTRALIA, WHERE YOU GET TO BENEFIT FROM OUR SPENDING. WELL, ABSOLUTELY, SO A STRONGER KIWI MEANS IT'S MORE ATTRACTIVE FOR NZERS TO TRAVEL ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD AND TO COME TO AUSTRALIA IN PARTICULAR, OF COURSE, IF THEY GET THROUGH PARITY. AND ALSO POTENTIALLY FOR NZERS TO CONSIDER BUYING THINGS IN AUSTRALIA: BUYING ASSETS, MOVING MONEY OVER HERE. INVESTING IN AUSTRALIA IS ANOTHER POSSIBILITY. BUT AGAIN, THIS IS JUST REALLY A REFLECTION OF THE FACT THAT THE NZ ECONOMY'S DOING VERY WELL. IT'S A POSITIVE THING TO HAVE A STRONG CURRENCY. IT MEANS YOU HAVE MORE PURCHASING POWER OVER INTERNATIONAL GOODS, SERVICES AND ASSETS. SO IT'S FAIR TO SAY, THEN, THAT A STRONG DOLLAR MEANS A STRONG ECONOMY? WELL, IT IS A REFLECTION OF THE FACT THAT THE NZ ECONOMY IS STRONG. IT'S A REFLECTION OF THE FACT THAT NZ IS OUTPERFORMING EVERY OTHER OECD ECONOMY OVER THE RECENT PERIOD. AND AS I SAY, THAT'S WHY WE'VE BEEN DESCRIBING NZ AS A ROCK STAR. IT'S THE FASTEST-GROWING ECONOMY OF THE 34 OECD ECONOMIES IN THE LAST YEAR. AND WE THINK THAT SITUATION'S GOING TO CONTINUE THIS YEAR AS WELL. YOU'VE GOT A VERY STRONG CONSTRUCTION UPSWING THAT'S GOING ON IN CANTERBURY AS THE REBUILD HAPPENS. YOU'VE GOT A STRONG UPSWING IN CONSTRUCTION HAPPENING IN AUCKLAND. THE HOUSING MARKET'S BOOMING IN AUCKLAND AS WELL. AND THOSE DOMESTIC FACTORS ARE MORE THAN OFFSETTING THE WEAKER EXTERNAL CONDITIONS COMING FROM AUSTRALIA AND LEAVING YOU WITH AN ECONOMY THAT'S STILL GROWING ABOVE TREND. THERE'S A DOWNSIDE TO THE STRONG DOLLAR, THOUGH, ISN'T THERE? EXPORTERS, OF COURSE, HAVE MORE DIFFICULTY SELLING THEIR PRODUCTS, WHICH ARE MORE EXPENSIVE OVERSEAS NOW. WELL, THAT'S CERTAINLY THE CASE. HIGH CURRENCIES OBVIOUSLY HAVE STRONG POSITIVE EFFECTS, AND THEY HAVE NEGATIVE EFFECTS AS WELL. THE NEGATIVE EFFECT, OF COURSE, IS IT DOES MAKE YOUR EXPORTING INDUSTRIES A BIT LESS COMPETITIVE. IT'S GOING TO PUT SOME PRESSURE ON EXPORTING MANUFACTURERS. WHAT'S INTERESTING AT THE MOMENT, THOUGH, IS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT THE DATA, ACTUALLY, MOST OF THE EXPORTERS ARE STILL DOING FAIRLY WELL. MOST OF THE INDUSTRIES ARE STILL DOING FAIRLY WELL. IN FACT, OVER THE LAST YEAR IF YOU LOOK AT GDP, WHICH IS THE BROADEST METRIC OF ACTIVITY IN THE ECONOMY, 15 OF 16 INDUSTRIES ALL SAW AN EXPANSION OVER THE PAST YEAR. SO DESPITE ALL OF THE HAND-WRINGING WE'RE GETTING FROM THE POLICYMAKERS IN NZ, FROM THE RBNZ, FROM THE PRIME MINISTER EVEN, SUGGESTING THAT THE CURRENCY MAY BE TOO HIGH OR IT'S CONSTRAINING ACTIVITY, ACTUALLY, AT THE MOMENT THE DATA ARE TELLING YOU THAT THE ECONOMY'S STILL GROWING AT AN ABOVE-TREND PACE. SO THE RBNZ AND THE PRIME MINISTER BOTH CALLING THE ECONOMY` SORRY, THE DOLLAR UNJUSTIFIABLY HIGH, UNSUSTAINABLY HIGH, YOU DON'T AGREE? LOOK, I THINK THERE'S A REASON WHY THE CURRENCY'S HIGH. I THINK IT IS JUSTIFIABLE ON THE BASIS THAT NZ IS OUTPERFORMING PRETTY MUCH ANY OTHER WORLD ECONOMY AT THE MOMENT. AND, OF COURSE, WHEN THAT'S THE CASE, IT MEANS YOU'VE GOT HIGHER INTEREST RATES THAN ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD. OF COURSE, THE RESTAURANT BRANDS NZ'S BEEN LIFTING INTEREST RATES WHILE EVERYONE ELSE HAS BEEN CUTTING INTEREST RATES. AND THOSE HIGHER INTEREST RATES HAVE BEEN ATTRACTING MORE CAPITAL. IF THE ECONOMY KEEPS GROWING AS IT IS AT AN ABOVE-TREND PACE, YOU'D EXPECT TO SEE EVEN MORE CAPITAL FLOW TOWARDS NZ, SO I THINK IT IS A LOT MORE JUSTIFIABLE THAN THE POLICYMAKERS ARE SUGGESTING. YOU CALLED NZ'S ECONOMY THE ROCK-STAR ECONOMY. THAT WAS ABOUT A YEAR AGO, BUT SINCE THEN, DAIRY PRICES IN PARTICULAR HAVE COLLAPSED. WHY DO WE STILL DESERVE THE LABEL? YOU ENDORSED IT YESTERDAY. WELL, THIS IS A REALLY GOOD POINT. ABSOLUTELY, DAIRY PRICES ARE DOWN VERY SHARPLY, AND THEY FELL THROUGH LAST YEAR, BUT YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE IT APART. THERE'S A FEW ELEMENTS. THE FIRST IS A KEY REASON WHY DAIRY PRICES HAVE FALLEN IS BECAUSE A LOT OF VOLUMES HAVE COME ON TO THE GLOBAL MARKET. THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF PRODUCTION COMING OUT OF NZ IN PARTICULAR. AND THE SECOND FACT YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP IN MIND IS DAIRY IS, SURE, AN IMPORTANT SECTOR FOR NZ, BUT IT'S NOT THE WHOLE ECONOMY. IN FACT, THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY IS DOING VERY WELL. AS I SAID EARLIER, YOU'VE GOT AN UPSWING IN CONSTRUCTION GOING ON IN CANTERBURY AND IN AUCKLAND. THOSE DOMESTIC FACTORS ARE MORE THAN OFFSETTING THE NEGATIVE IMPACT, THE DRAG THAT YOU GET FROM THOSE LOWER DAIRY PRICES AND LEAVING THE ECONOMY STILL GROWING AT A RAPID PACE. FALLING COMMODITY PRICES, YET HUGE GROWTH IN PROPERTY VALUES ` THIS APPLIES TO BOTH SYDNEY AND AUCKLAND, YET THE ECONOMIES ARE HEADING IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. WHY ARE WE DOING WELL WHEN YOU'RE NOT? WELL, CERTAINLY` WELL, I THINK THAT THE STORY IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT IN NZ THAN IT IS IN AUSTRALIA, BUT THERE ARE SOME SIMILARITIES. INTEREST RATES ARE STILL BELOW WHAT YOU'D CALL NEUTRAL IN BOTH COUNTRIES, THAT IS THEY'RE BELOW THE LEVEL THAT YOU TYPICALLY HAVE WHEN THE ECONOMY IS GROWING AT TREND. AND SO IN AUSTRALIA'S CASE, THAT'S BECAUSE THE MINING BOOM'S AT ITS END AND THE RBA IS TRYING TO SUPPORT THE MINING SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY, TRYING TO SUPPORT THE ECONOMY OVERALL, AND THAT'S DRIVING A HOUSING BOOM IN SYDNEY. IN NZ'S CASE, THE RBNZ HAS ACTUALLY BEEN TRYING TO SLOW THE HOUSING MARKET DOWN BY LIFTING INTEREST RATES LAST YEAR, BY PUTTING IN PLACE CLAMPS IN TERMS OF MORTGAGE LENDING ` WHAT WE CALL MACROPRUDENTIAL TOOLS ` AND TRYING TO SLOW THE HOUSING MARKET. BUT, OF COURSE, THE ECONOMY'S PICKING UP SO QUICKLY THAT THAT'S NOT BEEN ENOUGH TO SLOW THAT HOUSING MARKET. THERE'S ONE OTHER COMMON ELEMENT THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, AND THAT IS, OF COURSE, THE FOREIGN BUYER. THERE IS A LOT OF ACTIVITY IN TERMS OF FOREIGN BUYERS, BOTH IN THE SYDNEY MARKET AND THE AUCKLAND MARKET, AND THAT'S DRIVING UP HOUSE PRICES AS WELL. SO YOU COMBINE THAT, WHAT, WITH CHEAP CREDIT AND GDP GROWTH, AND THAT MEANS BOTH HOUSING MARKETS ARE RED HOT DESPITE THE OTHER FACTORS IN THE ECONOMY? WELL, THAT'S RIGHT, AND I GUESS THE OTHER ELEMENT YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP IN MIND IS NZ'S ECONOMY IS PICKING UP BROADLY, AND THAT'S DRIVING THE HOUSING MARKET, PARTICULARLY IN AUCKLAND, WHILE IN AUSTRALIA, WHAT WE'VE GOT IS A VERY DIVERSE STORY. WE'VE GOT WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND QUEENSLAND SEEING MUCH WEAKER CONDITIONS BECAUSE THE MINING BOOM'S OVER, BUT NEW SOUTH WALES, WHICH, OF COURSE, IS WHERE SYDNEY IS, IS ACTUALLY SEEING MUCH STRONGER CONDITIONS, BECAUSE INTEREST RATES ARE LOW AND THE ECONOMY IS SHIFTING TOWARDS THE NEW SOUTH WALES ECONOMY. SO, YEAH, SYDNEY AND AUCKLAND HOUSE PRICES ARE RISING VERY QUICKLY. THE ROLE OF FOREIGN BUYERS IN THOSE HOUSING MARKETS ` IS THAT AS CONTROVERSIAL THERE AS IT IS HERE? IT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT GETS A LOT OF COVERAGE, FOR SURE. I THINK THE CHALLENGE HERE IS A FEW THINGS. THE FIRST THING IS IT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO IDENTIFY EXACTLY HOW BIG THAT ROLE IS, PARTLY BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T GOT VERY GOOD STATISTICS ON FOREIGN PURCHASES OF DOMESTIC PROPERTIES. I THINK THE OTHER THING THAT YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP IN MIND IS BOTH OF THESE CITIES, BOTH SYDNEY AND AUCKLAND, HAVE GOT VERY LARGE FOREIGN POPULATIONS, ACTUALLY, SO THERE ARE A LOT OF FOREIGN MIGRANTS WHO COME INTO BOTH OF THOSE CITIES, AND, OF COURSE, IT'S VERY HARD TO SEPARATE WHAT IS A FOREIGNER AND WHAT IS SOMEONE WHO'S ACTUALLY A DOMESTIC RESIDENT WHEN THERE'S A LOT OF NEW MIGRANTS IN THE ECONOMY. SO, SURE, IT'S SOMETHING THAT GETS A LOT OF ATTENTION. I THINK IT IS PART OF THE STORY, BUT IT'S NOT THE FULL STORY. THE FULL STORY IS INTEREST RATES ARE STILL VERY LOW IN AUSTRALIA AND STILL PROBABLY LOW ENOUGH TO BE SUPPORTING THE HOUSING MARKET IN NZ AS WELL. IN AUCKLAND, THE HOUSING MARKET S GROWN MORE THAN 14% IN THE PAST YEAR, DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH, I THINK, IN BOTH MARKETS ANNUALLY. DO YOU FORESEE A SHARP CORRECTION OR A SOFT LANDING? LOOK, I THINK THAT THERE ARE GROWING CONCERNS THAT THE AUCKLAND HOUSING MARKET'S PICKING UP TOO QUICKLY, THAT IT'S AN UNSUSTAINABLE PACE OF GROWTH. IT'S PICKING UP FASTER THAN INCOME GROWTH IN THAT CITY, AND CERTAINLY THE RBNZ IS LOOKING AT THAT. THEY'RE LOOKING AT POTENTIALLY EXTENDING THE SUITE OF MEASURES THAT THEY'VE TAKEN, THE MACROPRUDENTIAL TOOLS TO TRY AND SLOW THINGS DOWN. AND IN THE END, THEY MAY ALSO HAVE TO LIFT INTEREST RATES AGAIN. WE'RE OF THE VIEW THAT THE RBNZ IS UNLIKELY TO CUT INTEREST RATES THIS YEAR. AND THAT'S GOING AGAINST THE TREND, ISN'T IT? WE THINK IF YOU LOOK FURTHER FORWARD` THAT'S GOING AGAINST THE TREND. THAT IS` WHY? THAT IS GOING AGAINST THE TREND. WELL, WE THINK THE NZ ECONOMY'S STILL DOING VERY WELL, AND WE THINK YOU ARE GOING TO START TO SEE A PICK-UP IN INFLATION AS TIME GOES BY. AT THE MOMENT, INFLATION IS VERY LOW, AND, IN FACT, YOU CAN THINK OF THE RBNZ BEING IN A PLUM POSITION, THAT IS GROWTH IS STRONG, IT'S RUNNING ABOVE TREND, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS TRENDING LOWER, BUT INFLATION IS EXCEPTIONALLY LOW. IT'S BELOW THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE RESTAURANT BRANDS NZ'S TARGET BAND. BUT WE THINK THAT STRONG GROWTH WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO MORE WAGE PRESSURES, TO A PICK-UP IN INFLATION, AND THAT WILL MEAN THAT THE RBNZ IS MORE LIKELY TO SIT STILL FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR. AND ACTUALLY, WE THINK ON BALANCE, THE NEXT MOVE FOR THE RBNZ IS MORE LIKELY TO BE UP THAN DOWN, PARTLY BECAUSE THE HOUSING MARKET, OF COURSE, IS STILL PICKING UP VERY STRONGLY. IF YOU'RE A PROSPECTIVE HOME BUYER, WOULD YOU BUY IN THIS MARKET? LOOK, I THINK IT'S A TRICKY THING TO ASSESS. I DO THINK THAT YOU'VE GOT TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN HOUSE PRICES ARE RISING AS QUICKLY AS THEY ARE THAT POTENTIALLY, IF YOU GET IN AT THE WRONG MOMENT, OF COURSE, THINGS COULD CORRECT OR YOU COULD EVEN SEE CAPITAL GAINS STOP FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. BUT, REALLY, THOSE DECISIONS COME DOWN TO WHICH PARTICULAR HOUSE YOU'RE BUYING, WHICH PARTICULAR MARKET YOU'RE IN AND YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES. FIVE YEARS FROM NOW ` GET YOUR CRYSTAL BALL OUT ` HOW WILL AUSTRALIA AND NZ ECONOMIES COMPARE, DO YOU THINK? LOOK, I THINK FIVE YEARS FROM NOW YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THAT NZ WILL HAVE HAD A SLOW-DOWN AT SOME POINT IN TIME. IT'S A FIVE-YEAR HORIZON AFTER ALL. AND AUSTRALIA, WHICH IS SHOWING WEAKER CONDITIONS AT THE MOMENT, WILL PROBABLY HAVE SEEN A BIT OF AN UPSWING. I THINK THE BROAD POINT IS THIS ` THE BROAD POINT IS BOTH OF THESE ECONOMIES ARE VERY WELL PLACED GLOBALLY. IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAST FIVE OR SIX YEARS, WHICH IS, OF COURSE, SINCE THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS ARRIVED, BOTH ECONOMIES HAVE DONE MUCH BETTER THAN THE REST OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD. AND I THINK THE KEY COMMON FACTOR HERE IS QUITE SIMPLY THAT BOTH THESE ECONOMIES ARE HIGHLY TIED TO THE ASIAN ECONOMIES. THOSE ASIAN ECONOMIES HAVE STILL GOT A LONG WAY TO GO IN TERMS OF DEVELOPING, WHICH MEANS THEY'RE THE FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD. SO BOTH AUSTRALIA AND NZ BENEFIT FROM THE FACT THAT THEIR STRONGEST TIES ARE TO THE ASIAN ECONOMIES, WHICH ARE THE FASTEST-GROWING ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EUROPE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE, BUT DOESN'T REALLY HAVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME. SO WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE. AND IN A SENSE, THIS IS THE NEW NORMAL? IT IS THE NEW NORMAL THAT ASIA IS GOING TO BE THE FASTEST-GROWING PART OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. THE EMERGING ECONOMIES ARE DRIVING GLOBAL GROWTH. CHINA IS STILL CATCHING UP ON WESTERN LIVING STANDARDS AND STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO, AND IT'S NOT JUST CHINA. IT'S A WHOLE RANGE OF OTHER ASIAN ECONOMIES AS WELL. AND AGAIN, WE ARE RUNNING ON THE COAT-TAILS. WE GET TO RUN ALONG THIS STORY, AND WE GET THE POSITIVE SUPPORT FROM DEMAND FOR OUR VARIOUS PRODUCTS. IN AUSTRALIA'S CASE, IT'S BEEN HARD COMMODITIES, AND IT PROBABLY WILL BE SOFT COMMODITIES FURTHER DOWN THE TRACK. IN NZ'S CASE, IT'S BEEN DAIRY PRODUCTS AND TOURISM. IN PARTICULAR, YOU'RE SEEING A VERY SHARP RISE IN CHINESE ARRIVALS INTO THE NZ ECONOMY AT THE MOMENT BECAUSE OF TOURISM. SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS. WE'RE ON TWITTER @NZQANDA. YOU CAN EMAIL US AT Q+A@TVNZ.CO.NZ OR TEXT YOUR THOUGHTS AND FIRST NAME TO 2211. KEEP THEM BRIEF; EACH TEXT COSTS 50C. THE PANEL'S HERE NEXT, AND SAD IN THE SUBURBS? THE CANADIAN AUTHOR WHO SAYS SPRAWLING, CAR-DEPENDENT CITIES MAKE US MISERABLE. HE EXPLAINS WHY LATER IN THE PROGRAMME. LET'S GO TO OUR PANEL NOW ` MEGAN CAMPBELL, FORMER NATIONAL STAFFER, NOW GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ADVISER; AND METRO EDITOR SIMON WILSON. HEATHER JOINS US TOO. This was all prompted by that excitement over dollar parity. It didn't quite get there, but it doesn't matter, does it? It's totally psychological. We've never seen parity in our lifetime. The thing that is really important for New Zealanders is to think that we are on an equal footing. It's a psychological boundary. We have a lot more opportunities if we have parity. But it doesn't mean the big excitement of an economy doing well, maybe. It isn't just that were on an equal footing, but it's a sense of confidence that we get from it. Business confidence is almost everything. We measure ourselves against Australia as the benchmark. I think we need to temper our excitement over it. It's not good to have Australia in the position that it is. We have a problem with both are major export markets China and Australia. Both are not why would like them to be. Are we the rockstar economies simply by comparison? I suspect so. When somebody says you are in the rockstar economy, you expect there to be largess, which there isn't any of. It is still a low-wage economy. We are rockstar economy on the back of a GFC. We have this wonderful slingshot effect for our economy. The thing that is really important for us over the next two years is making sure that that slingshot effect does not taper off. Where are the royalties going? In New Zealand, government leaders have made some decisions about not so much austerity but keeping within our means for a longer period of time, rather than moving money out into other investments or into wage growth as well. You talked about the Christchurch rebuild and the slingshot effect. What happens after? Don't forget Auckland is part of this whole growth phase as well. That construction boom will continue past 2017. There is an enormous amount of building that will happen in Auckland. It is starting now. Some of it has been done right, some of it has not been done right. Bloxham talked about our economy. What have we got outside of the bubble? Where are we going? We are in a fantastic place. Dairy is a big part of our experience as far as exporting, but we have started to move into other sectors and diversify the markets. We have a $6 billion hole. We have low inflation and high employment. When should people expect a Waitrose? Wage rise when should the trickle down come? I don't know. It should be... We have to stabilise first. Is not simply an argument for postponing? Shouldn't we have a strategic economic plan to move to a high wage economy? Those will start to happen. If you compare with Australia, we have a higher proportion of women and older people in the employment market. That's a selective use of statistics, surely? Where are the benefits really being felt? Who's getting them? Everyone is sitting in the stall saying they do not get royalties. Dairy farmers are at 20% below their cost. The average worker is not getting a wage rise. We're feeling it on the fringes, for examplein petrol prices. Also in low mortgage rates. You're making more money in Auckland by owning a house and by working. Is that a place we should be? Obviously not. We would rather see a high wage economy. Why is that not coming through as a result of the sustained strength? It tapers off in Christchurch. We need to tighten our belts, we are told. But we don't have anything extra in times of austerity. Were also told to innovate. For the number of small and medium businesses New Zealand, a lot of them are starting to see something out of this. Is economic strength serving the government well? The problem we have is that the government looks like it's heading for another deficit again. A rockstar economy they get seven deficits the road doesn't feel like a rockstar economy. They have campaigned on being the financial managers getting is through the tough times, but we never seem to get there. That almost at a circus message has always been there. Bill English is fixated on a surplus. Do voters care? It's the enormous psychological measure of things are going well. There's psychological things all over the place. EARLY FEEDBACK COMING IN ON FACEBOOK. PETER ANTHONY POSTED THERE IS NO ROCK-STAR ECONOMY. Yet simple little things like bananas in Australia cost a ridiculous amount. Because we got a more open economy, we as consumers have more access to food at lower costs. It's not actually hire comparator Australia. It's not actually higher compared to Australia. Bill English said he's off to Australia and wants to talk to businesses on the ground there/ he thinks media reports here don't tell him enough. Australian businesses are struggling. I talked to people when I was over in Australia for the cricket World Cup. They are really worried about their economy. They think it will die further, and they think there are repercussions on them. We made incremental changes in our economy. The Australians are looking to mix and structural shifts akin to the Douglas era for us. Bill English is talking to businesses over there. I think he wants to get an idea of what the stories behind the stats. He wants to talk to people at the coal face to give him an idea of how long this will go on and how it affects us. Presumably he will also talk about how you develop an open economy that is not too susceptible to slowdowns in the Chinese economy. There is a built-in risk there. It's an extraordinary idea that the mining boom is over. Mining was given as almost the only region Australia was doing better than New Zealand. Is it over? China has changed the game. Instead of hoovering up a whole lot of coal and iron ore, etc they are looking to put their implants in. The strategic idea of New Zealand of developing our economy will also be an older economy. AFTER THE BREAK ` THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS. IS IT CHANGING THE WAY OUR CITIES ARE DESIGNED? OUR NEXT GUEST SAYS SUBURBAN LIFE ISN'T SO GOOD FOR THE SOUL. HE TELLS HEATHER WHY AFTER THE BREAK. THROW AWAY THE SELF-HELP BOOKS ` THE KEY TO A HAPPIER LIFE MAY BE IN THE DESIGN OF YOUR CITY. MOST OF US LIVE IN SUBURBIA, WHETHER WE'RE IN BIG CITIES OR SMALL, BUT APPARENTLY, MODERN SUBURBS DISCOURAGE THE KIND OF SOCIAL INTERACTION THAT COULD MAKE US TRULY HAPPY. THAT'S WHAT CHARLES MONTGOMERY THINKS. HE'S THE AUTHOR OF 'HAPPY CITY', AND HE'S A KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THIS WEEK'S PLANNING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE. HE JOINS ME NOW. Your from Vancouver, is Auckland a happy city? Auckland is facing the same challenges that other cities, particularly wealthy cities, are facing. It's expensive, there's, you are on a dangerous course. What makes a happy city? You said I think I know what makes people happy, but I know. There are 20 or 30 years done into this. AsK people if they are happy. People who are happy have less cortisone in their systems. I'll give you the one most important ingredient of human happiness. It social relationships. A social city is a happy city. You have positive encounters with strangers. You need time to have these interactions, so you're better walking to work. People are experiencing more rudeness and instability when they are driving. We communicate with our facial expressions and eyes. In person, we're nicer. You are an advocate of not driving. Why? I love to drive when there is no traffic, in the mountains, but people are reporting the longer their commute, the less happy they are. Their commutes are stealing away the precious time with family, with friends. You talk a lot about the part nature plays in the city. Why is nature important? This is why your cities are fortunate, because having access to nature makes us feel Calm and concentrate. We are finding through lab experiments nature makes us nicer. The key is getting frequent exposure to it. Central Park is a great thing, but if you don't go there, it doesn't help you. Having a nature woven into the city might be the secret. In America when they have invested in parks, those places make children sick. It means there are fewer parks in neighbourhood levels. What about areas like big shopping mauls or giant supermarkets, you like little shops all along the street? It sounds like an aesthetic preference, but we tested the effects of building three edges, so we put people up with skin monitors and devices to punch and how happy they were, people are happier when they are in front of those environments with small shops and services. In Seattle people are more happy to help strangers in those environments with small shops and services. You feel like you belong. They are better places all around. Having parks, being able to walk to work, is that nice to haves, not need to haveS? Cities that make changes to build happiness and health into people's lives managed to keep taxes low over the long run. Those developments at the edges of cities, especially in Auckland, they are expensive to develop because they are spread out, they are expensive to maintain, so everyone in the city is paying for it, and the city gets more than 10 times as much tax backs per acre Encore development, mixed used medium to high density. What is your problem with suburbs? Not a fan of them, are you? We shouldn't use the word suburb, because some suburbs are wonderful. As a species, we think if we keep doing the same thing over again, we will Not change the future. In the American example, if you keep adding dispersal, development after development, at the end, your highways will be clogged up. People have no time left. People can die 3 to 5 years sooner as they live in those disperse environments, so that is why. Diseases of sedentary living. You spend more time in your car, not walking. We drive to the gym. In great cities, like Copenhagen, like parts of Auckland, people don't have to pave the gym memberships because they can walk to the store. What are we doing right in the city? Development on the waterfront here ` Wynyard Quarter. I did my research looking at reports on the Internet and surfing, but it sounds terrific. Mixed-use, walkable, fun. What New Zealand can learn as you can have a healthy life without living on two acres. Just because a look screen doesn't mean it is green. Like Wynyard quarter, people will be able to live a healthier, more connected life without having to own a car. What are we doing wrong? People who move under their own power, walking or biking, are the happiest travellers on the road. They experience more joy and less fear and frustration. You have 1% of Auckland is commuting by bike. The roads are dangerous. Why aren't you building real freedom into your roads? How do we retrofit it? It's going to be expensive. Pull the trigger. Get going on this work. You have room for safe separate bike lanes. That takes other vehicles off the road. You have a good train network here. That's debatable. Auckland transport is investing in making the system even better. There is underperforming urban space around these transitions. You can create villages where people have easy access to the train and can walk to shops and services. It takes cars off the road. The Jenny has added 50,000 people. There's a subway underneath, and not a single car has been added to those roads. Auckland is will be interested in that. AND AS I MENTIONED, CHARLES IS HERE FOR THE NZ PLANNING INSTITUTE'S CONFERENCE IN AUCKLAND THIS WEEK. HE'LL ALSO BE IN CHRISTCHURCH, BUT SADLY, THAT SESSION IS FULL. BUT IF YOU WANT TO GET TO ONE OF THE PUBLIC SESSIONS IN AUCKLAND, WE'VE GOT ALL THE INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE, TVNZ.CO.NZ/Q AND A THAT'S TVNZ.CO.NZ/Q AND A I'LL BE BACK WITH SIMON AND THE PANEL AFTER THE BREAK. AND LATER, LIFE IN ATHENS UNDER AUSTERITY ` A GREEK NZER TELLS HER STORY. THE POLITICS OF IT, OF COURSE, YOU'RE LIVING ON A ROLLER COASTER, AND WE'VE BEEN LIVING LIKE THIS FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS. LET'S BRING IN THE PANEL NOW. What's stopping us utilising what Charles talked about? A week don't have suburbs, or we will be close to the city. Auckland will grow speedily. There's nothing we can do about that. There will be more suburbs, more growth, more people who want to drive. To stop that from being a crisis, where people are blocked and isolated, we need more efficient public transport. We need dedicated cycleways. We need to build densely closer to the city. We need more of a focus on those alternatives to the suburbs. You have touched on density, and you don't like it. How do we accommodate these people ` we have an hourglass shaped landscape. Density is a scary word and nobody likes it. Stop using the word. How do you accommodate the number of people without going up? I spent a lot of time encouraging people to not be scared of living in central places. The one place where people are experiencing trust is the residential tower. In Auckland there is a road called Great North Road. It runs forever. At that whole start, that first kilometre, the road slopes, there are beautiful sunshine, there are palm blocks, but it's a largely still car yards. There could be a program on the upper stretch of great North Road that said we will build more apartments, shops and retail and cafes, a school, create an urban environment that is exciting and lovely and pleasant. At the moment it is car parks and it is going to have a Bunnings warehouse. Some of the developers are doing good work, but it is too ad hoc, and that could be the place where Auckland says this is how we do it. You are a champion of Auckland. What would you say to Charles to ask our counsel to do? To get serious. Len Brown likes to say we are doing everything. You can't do that. You have to focus on the alternatives that are going on or you will get into crisis. People who walk and cycle are happier. You live on the boundary of Hamilton. The very end of the suburbs. I'm the last house in my street at the moment. I have rural and urban. Cycleways are part of the mix. All of our cul-de-sacs are joined up with walkways and those sorts of things. This conversation is about choice. I live in the suburbs, and it may look like a bunch of houses, but I choose to know my neighbours. I choose my kids to ride their bikes to school. I grew up in the suburbs. It was fantastic, but we were only 16 min away by train from the middle of town. That doesn't exist any more. The Auckland situation, you're talking about Pokeno, Warkworth. I don't work in the CBD of Hamilton. A lot of people work in the North of Hamilton and into Te Rapa or they can eat. I commuter Wellington. It's faster to commute to Wellington then the centre of Auckland. Christchurch have you seen anything about Christ Church? are we heading in the right direction? I won't be down metal next week, but there seems to be a tension between the cause that is connected, that's walkable, that's slow, and businesses wanting car parks. It's a false tension, because people who are walking and biking spend more over the long-term. Isn't that also attention for councils and politicians we're the ratepayers are saying my rates are going up too much already and you are struggling to provide me with infrastructure such as water and sewerage, core infrastructure, and the nice to have arguments is how do we build into that core purpose of local body? This has been bothering me. We don't have the residential tower blocks that shoot up in New Zealand. We have a smaller scale of it. I am seeing both. Areas slated for development are far and away from even the edge of the metropolis. One line I saw in the permitting process for the special housing areas is you just need to have an area with land and some infrastructure and a developer willing to build. There is no stipulation for the plan to have real mixed use and transportation. In Auckland, you could fix great North Road, but there are areas of big mauls, everyone needs a car and has to drive. Those things are really big problems. We have leadership problems, don't we? In early times, planners put in parks, and now they want more car parks? I was talking about the ports of Auckland. We could regain our waterfront. The economic value of the port is not being well realised. There are good arguments for keeping a port in Auckland. But we can't just keep saying Auckland needs the bigger one. We are seeing snippets of leadership around the country. Hamilton's mayor has put together a river plan because the city faces away from the river. STILL TO COME ` IT'S KIND OF LIKE DOG EAT DOG OUT HERE. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? YOU KIND OF JUST REALLY GET ON WITH IT ON YOUR END BECAUSE YOU REALLY ARE ON YOUR OWN HERE. YOU REALLY BASICALLY ARE. AFTER FIVE YEARS OF AUSTERITY, JESSICA MUTCH REPORTS ON LIFE IN THE GREEK CAPITAL. THAT'S NEXT. THE NEW GREEK GOVERNMENT STEPPED UP PRESSURE ON ITS CREDITORS THIS WEEK WITH AN AUDACIOUS CLAIM FOR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN WAR DAMAGES FROM THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT. THE DEMAND GOT SHORT SHRIFT FROM BERLIN, WHICH HAS STUMPED UP MOST OF THE BILLION-DOLLAR BAILOUT THAT HAS KEPT GREECE AFLOAT FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS, BUT IT SHOWS HOW TENSE THE NEGOTIATIONS ARE AS THE GREEK GOVERNMENT TRIES TO GIVE ITS PEOPLE SOME RELIEF FROM THE TOUGH AUSTERITY MEASURES THE COUNTRY WAS FORCED TO TAKE IN 2010. IT'S BEEN FIVE HARD YEARS FOR THE GREEK PEOPLE, AS EUROPE CORRESPONDENT JESSICA MUTCH REPORTS. CHEERS. CHEERS AND CHANGE. GREEK HOSPITALITY IS FAMOUS, BUT EVEN THAT TRADITION HAS BEEN SQUEEZED UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AUSTERITY. WHAT YOU'LL FIND IS A LOT OF SMALL PEOPLE ARE GATHERING AROUND THE KITCHEN TABLE. YOU KNOW, YOU FIND THAT FAMILIES ARE, YOU KNOW, BRINGING POTLUCK AND HAVING FOOD All TOGETHER, WHEREAS BEFORE IT USED TO BE THE PRIDE AND JOY FOR PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY HAVE A SPREAD AND INVITE PEOPLE. MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GOT TOGETHER, AND IT'S NICER IN A WAY. IT'S LIKE WHAT WE USED TO DO IN NZ. SOPHIA ECONOMOU GREW UP IN WELLINGTON AND CAME BACK TO ATHENS TO RAISE HER DAUGHTERS WITH HER GREEK HUSBAND, GEORGE. HER SISTER LIVES UPSTAIRS. THEY SETTLED IN ATHENS 10 YEARS AGO, BUT SINCE THEN, THE GREEK CAPITAL HAS UNDERGONE A DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION. PEOPLE WENT FROM HAVING A HOUSE, A CAR, A REASONABLE MIDDLE-CLASS LIFE TO HAVING NOTHING; TO BEING UNEMPLOYED; TO HAVING TO FIND A WAY TO PAY THEIR LOANS; NOT BEING ABLE TO PAY THEIR LOANS AND NOT HAVING A HOUSE TO LIVE IN. IF THEY COULDN'T PAY THEIR RENT, THEY HAD TO LEAVE. THERE'S NO SOCIAL BACKING TO HELP THEM. IT'S BEEN THE FAMILIES THAT HAVE HELPED. PEOPLE MOVING BACK IN WITH THEIR GRANDPARENTS OR THEIR PARENTS BECAUSE THE PARENTS ARE GETTING A PENSION, AND THEY'RE HELPING OUT THE YOUNGER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY. YOU'RE FINDING THAT THE FAMILIES ARE HELPING EACH OTHER. SOPHIA HAS KEPT HER JOB AS AN ACCOUNTANT, BUT IT'S BEEN TIGHT. THE POLITICS OF IT, OF COURSE, YOU'RE LIVING ON A ROLLER COASTER, AND WE'VE BEEN LIVING LIKE THIS FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS. YOUR INCOME... AS I SAID, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T LOST A JOB, AND I'M LUCKY THAT I DIDN'T. IT'S AFFECTED BECAUSE YOUR TAXES HAVE GONE UP. ALL THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT BUSINESS. FOR WELSH BUSINESSMAN GARETH JONES, IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS OF HARD GRAFT. I REMEMBER THE SIMPLE THINGS LIKE THE TRAFFIC. THE TRAFFIC IN ATHENS THEN WAS HORRENDOUS. I MEAN, IT WOULD TAKE YOU HALF AN HOUR TO TRAVEL, YOU KNOW, A KILOMETRE, EVEN, IN AN EVENING. EVERYONE WAS GOING OUT. EVERYONE WAS DOING SOMETHING, AND EVERYONE WAS HAVING A GOOD TIME, AND THAT WAS 10 YEARS AGO. AND IT'S CRAZY COS I'VE JUST LITERALLY JUST WATCHED IT DECLINE. GARETH JONES HAS MANAGED TO CAPITALISE ON THE RECESSION. HE FOUGHT GREEK BUREAUCRACY TO OPEN A BIKE BUSINESS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DOWNTURN. THE LACK OF MONEY KICKED IN. PEOPLE STARTED TO LOSE THEIR JOBS. THE CRISIS KICKED. THE BALLOON OF THE MONEY JUST BURST, AND IT WAS KIND OF OVER, AND THAT DECLINE STARTED. AND THEN WHAT HAPPENS IS PEOPLE STARTED TO LOSE THEIR CARS. THEY STARTED TO LOSE HAVING MONEY. HIS IDEA TOOK OFF, BUT HE SAYS MANY GREEK BUSINESSES ARE DOING IT TOUGH. EVEN IF THINGS ARE HARD, MOST PEOPLE RUNNING BUSINESSES HAVE HAD TO REALLY GRIT THEIR TEETH AND REALLY TRY AND GET THROUGH IT. BUT THERE IS NO UPPER HELP. THERE IS NO KIND OF PAUSE. THERE IS NO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, 'WE'RE GONNA ASSIST YOU A LITTLE BIT.' IT'S KIND OF LIKE DOG EAT DOG OUT HERE. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? YOU KIND OF JUST REALLY GET ON WITH IT ON YOUR END BECAUSE YOU REALLY ARE ON YOUR OWN HERE. YOU REALLY BASICALLY ARE. THE CRISIS HERE IN GREECE FEELS VERY REAL. ONE IN FOUR PEOPLE ARE UNEMPLOYED. IF YOU LOOK AT THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL, HALF OF YOUNG PEOPLE DON'T HAVE JOBS. THE SIZE OF THE ECONOMY HAS SHRUNK BY 25% SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE EUROZONE CRISIS. ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT, GREECE OWES $350 BILLION FOR THE BAILOUT. CHEERING, APPLAUSE THE NEW LEFT GREEK PRIME MINISTER CAME IN IN A BLAZE OF GLORY, PROMISING TO END AUSTERITY MEASURES FOR HIS PEOPLE. NOW, ALEXIS TSIPRAS HAS TO DELIVER. HE ALSO HAS TO KEEP EUROPEAN LEADERS HAPPY, NAMELY GERMANY'S ANGELA MERKEL, BY KEEPING UP WITH THE CRIPPLING DEBT PAYMENTS. THE GREEK PEOPLE ARE KEEPING FAITH FOR NOW. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE NEW PRIME MINISTER? WHAT KIND OF A JOB IS HE DOING? AS FAR AS... WE DON'T KNOW. WE'RE STILL EXPECTING TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THIS ` OF HIS SAYING AND OF HIS ACTIONS. TO BE HONEST, I'M STILL EXPECTING. ALL GREEK PEOPLE WITH US. WITH... WITH` WITH TSIPRAS, YES, I WAS IN THE RIGHT, BUT NOW I VOTE THE LEFT. UNDERSTAND? BECAUSE I LOST MY HOUSE. I LOST EVERYTHING. THE SITUATION HERE IN GREECE LIKE A RUBIK'S CUBE WITH LOTS OF MOVING PARTS, BOTH POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC. ADD IN TO THAT, THERE'S A REAL SENSE OF UNCERTAINTY HERE AS WELL. NONE OF THE MAIN PLAYERS HERE IN GREECE WANT TO LEAVE THE EUROZONE, BUT IT IS A REAL POSSIBILITY. IT'S BEEN LABELLED BY SOME AS THE GREEK-XIT ` THE GREEK EXIT FROM THE EUROZONE. AND THE EUROZONE PROBLEM IS WHAT MAKES GREECE'S PROBLEM A GLOBAL PROBLEM. IT'S BEEN A DOMINATING ISSUE FOR THIS DIRECTOR OF A GREEK THINK TANK. NOW, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, IF THIS WOULD HAPPEN, THE IMPACT WOULD BE TREMENDOUS AND ESPECIALLY WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE BECAUSE SUCH A THING HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. SO IT'S UNKNOWN; UNCHARTED TERRITORY. AND NOT JUST FOR EUROPE, OF COURSE? THAT WOULD TRICKLE THROUGH TO THE REST OF THE WORLD, WOULDN'T IT? > WELL, EUROPE REMAINS, DESPITE ITS POLITICAL PROBLEMS LATELY, REMAINS THE LARGEST TRADING BLOC. IT'S A MAJOR ECONOMIC TRADING PARTNER WITH NORTH AMERICA, WITH ASIA, WITH AUSTRALASIA, IF YOU LIKE. SO IT'S` WHAT HAPPENS IN EUROPE IN ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TERMS, HAS REPERCUSSIONS FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD. WHY SHOULD COUNTRIES LIKE NZ BE INTERESTED AND ENGAGED WITH WHAT'S GOING ON IN GREECE AT THE MOMENT, IN YOUR OPINION? IF WE WANT EUROPE TO BE AN IMPORTANT PLAYER GLOBALLY, IT NEEDS TO BE HEALTHY ECONOMICALLY AND POLITICALLY. IF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY IS NOT HEALTHY, THEN EUROPE CANNOT PLAY THAT KIND OF STABILISING ROLE, WHICH WOULD BE ALSO VERY BENEFICIAL FOR COUNTRIES LIKE NZ AND AUSTRALIA IN YOUR PART OF THE WORLD. SO, FIXING GREECE'S PROBLEM AND THE EUROZONE PROBLEMS IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL WESTERN COUNTRIES. IF THEY DON'T GET THIS RIGHT, IT ALSO IS AN IMPLICATION IN TERMS OF THE EUROZONE. DOES IT MATTER IN TERMS OF CRISIS-MANAGEMENT CAPACITY? THAT'S WHY IT MATTERS TO THE UNITED STATES. FOR EXAMPLE, ALSO TO NZ OR TO AUSTRALIA, TO CHINA, TO INDIA. CAN EUROPE GET ITS ACT TOGETHER? THIS IS WHAT IT'S ABOUT. THIS IS NOT UNIQUELY ABOUT GREECE. THE GERMAN ECONOMIST WHO LIVES IN ATHENS SAYS NZ ALSO HAS A PART TO PLAY AS A GLOBAL CITIZEN. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE LEAVING THIS COUNTRY, AND THEY MAY COME TO NZ, AND PEOPLE MAY WANT TO ASK, 'WHY ARE YOU LEAVING? WHAT CAN WE DO IN NZ?' AND THEN I THINK, ALSO, THERE'S ANOTHER ISSUE, AND THAT CONCERNS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE RESPONSIBILITY OR THE INITIATIVE THAT THE EMBASSY IN NZ CAN TAKE HERE IN ATHENS. FOR EXAMPLE, TO CONSIDER, 'ARE WE NOT ONLY A DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION, 'BUT WHAT CAN WE DO TO SUPPORT, FOR EXAMPLE, 'SOCIAL-CAPITAL INITIATIVES?' POSSIBLY TEAM UP WITH AUSTRALIA, AND THEN SAY, 'LET'S TRY AND SUPPORT THE START-UP SCENE IN THIS COUNTRY, 'IN THIS CITY IN ATHENS BY, FOR EXAMPLE, GIVING THEM A PLATFORM OF NETWORKING.' SOPHIA AND HER FAMILY WILL STAY IN ATHENS DESPITE THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE YEARS AHEAD. IT'S NOW HOME, AND SHE SAYS THE DIFFICULT TIMES HAVE SOMEHOW MADE THE PEOPLE HERE A LITTLE KINDER. THE SUPERMARKETS HAVE GOT A VERY BIG FOOD DRIVE ORGANISED BY ONE OF THE RADIO STATIONS, CALLED 'ALL TOGETHER, WE CAN.' (SPEAKS GREEK) WHICH IS VERY IT'S VERY GOOD, AND EVERY TIME WE GO TO THE SUPERMARKET, WE MAKE SURE THAT WE LEAVE SOMETHING IN THE` THERE'S A BIG FENCE TO THE SIDE, AND PEOPLE PUT IN WHATEVER THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE FROM THEIR SUPERMARKET BUDGET. WE WILL BECOME MUCH BETTER CITIZENS. CHEERS. CHEERS. SOPHIA ECONOMOU ENDING THAT REPORT BY JESSICA MUTCH. WE'VE HAD LOTS OF FEEDBACK ON OUR INTERVIEWS TODAY. GLEN WEST POSTED OF FACEBOOK ` ROCK-STAR ECONOMY WITH NEW HIT SONG, "PENDING DEFLATION," FEATURES LOTS OF SLOW VIOLIN AND THE BACKBEAT OF ONE HAND CLAPPING. KATE DAVIS TWEETED ` I'VE NEVER MET THIS ROCK-STAR-ECONOMY, DUDE, BUT WITH THINGS GOING THIS WELL, I'M EXPECTING MY TRICKLE DOWN ANY DAY NOW. NEXT, ON WAKA HUIA, WE FIND OUT WHO REALLY OWNS TE UREWERA NATIONAL PARK, AND REMEMBER, Q+A REPEATS TONIGHT AT 11.35PM. THANKS FOR WATCHING, AND THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS. THOSE WERE THE QUESTIONS AND THOSE WERE THE ANSWERS. THAT'S Q+A. SEE YOU NEXT SUNDAY MORNING AT 9. CAPTIONS BY IMOGEN STAINES AND FAITH HAMBLYN. CAPTIONS WERE MADE POSSIBLE WITH FUNDING FROM NZ ON AIR. COPYRIGHT ABLE 2015