NZer of the year takes swing at Kiwi mythology

New Zealanders need to stop wallowing in a mythology about the country, a Wellington audience has been told.

New Zealander of the Year Sir Paul Callaghan, who made the comment as part of the recent inaugural Victoria University's chancellor's lecture, said the mythology made New Zealanders feel good about themselves – even if it was untrue.

He pinpointed New Zealand's "clean and green" and "relaxed lifestyle" myths, and even took a shot at New Zealand’s iconic “nuclear free” status during his address.

“Only a few hundred metres from a sign outside Wellington airport that reads ‘Welcome to Wellington – Capital of Nuclear free New Zealand’ is a facility that creates the radioactive material that was used to discover the cancer tumours in my body.

"That material is made through nuclear reactions, and shipped to hospitals throughout New Zealand," Sir Paul said.

"Until we get honest and confront our myths, New Zealand will not be a place where talent wants to live.”

The country's future prosperity was threatened by a low rate of investment in research and development, he said.

Such investment would help to stem New Zealand’s “great tragedy”—the brain drain, he said.

“Twenty-four percent of our graduates leave New Zealand and don’t come back — including 50% of medical graduates. They don’t see a future here."

He said the only way to reverse the brain drain, create a prosperous society and make New Zealand a place where talent wants to live, was by turning New Zealand’s small size into an advantage, and investing in niche, hi-tech, high value industries.

“That requires entrepreneurial genius and understanding of how to meld the technology, skill and engineering to that market opportunity that you have seen—that's the genius that is needed.”

The chancellor’s lecture is funded by an anonymous donor through the Victoria University Foundation and was part of the Wellington City Council’s Festival of Carnivale celebrations to showcase the city during the Rugby World Cup.

Click here to view a video of the full lecture http://vimeo.com/29126569.