New Zealand is in competition with the world and particularly Australia for investment, jobs, and workers. Whether we win this competition, or at least hold our own, is one of the most important questions facing our future. Australians earn some 40 per cent more than New Zealanders and pay lower taxes on average. In the ten years to 2010 we lost 260,000 people to Australia, even allowing for those who came back. The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research predicts that, if we don’t change course, we will lose a further 412,000 people by 2025.