Don Brash says $4.7 Million

In a blatant attempt to whip up fear, Don Brash posted today about the Greens plan to make New Zealand prosperous again, showing us all just how senile he's become.

The Greens propose that the current form of measuring prosperity needs to include the benefits of having an unpolluted environment. They acknowledge that wealth is not only defined in monetary terms.

Despite the Greens well thought out and forward thinking plan, Don Brash went on the attack, calling his post Beware Greens' Orwellian Double-Speak:

America affords us a salutary lesson in what not to do," Dr Brash adds. "Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on creating hundreds of these 'green' jobs: $4.7 million per job according to one estimate I have seen! The net effect has been simply to add to the country's indebtedness—hardly conducive to jobs for all, well-fed children and clean rivers. Yet this is what the Greens are proposing for New Zealand.

$4.7 million per job... what has he been smoking? The ever irrelevant Don Brash is starting to make things up in his dotage.

What he doesn't seem to comprehend is that New Zealand will only have true prosperity if we protect our environment. Sacrificing the environment for a short term gain that disregards future prosperity is as stupid as it comes.

The Greens have a comprehensive plan to achieve sustainability and financial prosperity... Unlike Act who would kill the ETS entirely and allow our country to continue to be irreparably polluted. The Greens plan includes the best of both worlds. We can have financial prosperity as well as a clean environment in New Zealand. That is what true prosperity means.

Don Brash's Act party is fighting against a powerful tide of change. Not only do environmentally conscious policies make money, they're ultimately future proof.

According to Pure Advantage:

Once upon a time, New Zealand was the cleanest nation in the world with (even further back) a bright economic outlook.

Today we’re quietly slipping down rankings on just about every environmental and economic performance indicator. New Zealand’s environmental performance was ranked first out of 146 countries in 2006.

Last year we came in 15th. GDP is a sad 20% below average OECD countries. Australia is 20% above average. New Zealand’s GDP ranks 57th in the world, behind Nigeria and Kazakhstan.

Green is our competitive advantage, but there’s work ahead to claim it.

Part of claiming that competitive green advantage will be getting rid of dead wood... Now you know who I'm talking about.