Here in New Zealand, high costs choke our economy. Families feel the strain every day. History shows that governments can tinker around the edges — but real, lasting change comes from technology.
Now a major technological revolution is underway.
AI has the power to put specialist knowledge in the hands of everyone. This could cut costs right across our economy — from council bureaucracy to legal services, accounting, and even public policy.
Runaway council rates
View from Mount Victoria, over Devonport, to the CBD. Source: Kevin Nelson / Flickr
Around this time of year, Auckland Council sends out its annual rates bills.
Property CVs have dropped 9% since the last valuation. Most have fallen further since. Inflation is running at around 4.1%. Yet somehow average rates have jumped by 7.9%.
In my neck of the woods, we’ll be paying around $150 a week. For that, we get rubbish collection, a library card, and anti-car cycleway barriers to protect a couple of souls who might take their e-bikes out on a Sunday.
But the real cost isn’t just the bill. It’s the bureaucracy behind it.
Last year, I met a developer trying to build more homes in North Auckland. Council delays and compliance hurdles stymied him at every step. The inevitable result? A housing market far more expensive and sluggish than it should be.
He told me: ‘Council planning departments are filled with indoctrinated people looking at why developments should not proceed. They are a law unto themselves.’
Housing costs strike at the heart of poverty in New Zealand. Rent, mortgages, and rates consume far too much of people’s incomes. Household formation becomes harder. Fertility drops. The population ages.
What if a good number of those ‘indoctrinated people’ had their work done by AI?
Most permits are judged on predetermined steps. Many council decisions could be handled by ever-improving AI technology.
Of course, it depends on who is driving that AI:
- A freedom-focused government could deliver efficiency and falling rates bills.
- A tyrannical regime could impose even more layers of unchecked authority.
But with the right leadership, AI could lower the cost of living across many areas of life in New Zealand.
One reason costs keep rising is simple — the technocrats who oversee our social infrastructure cost far more to employ than the typical worker:
- Average NZ salary: $81,484
- Average NZ public servant salary: $103,000
When the people running our public systems cost more, everything they administer becomes more expensive. Those higher costs suffocate the rest of the economy.
Democratising law and justice
Source: Image by jessica45 from Pixabay
Recently, I had to prepare a legal contract. I suspected something was missing. In the past, I might have run it by a lawyer. This time, I uploaded the draft into AI. It instantly highlighted the need for an intellectual property clause and wrote one.
Time saved: 2–3 hours.
Money saved: $1,000–$1,500.
Now, consider access to justice. If you have a dispute with your council, going to court could cost you $30,000. If you lose, you may pay two-thirds of your opponent’s legal bill. Justice becomes a luxury.
As AI becomes more proficient in the law, it may democratise it. More people are already acting as litigants in person. AI can help ordinary people understand their rights and prepare their cases.
But the law itself must evolve. New Zealand’s ‘costs’ system punishes those who seek justice. The American Rule (each side pays its own costs) would improve access dramatically.
AI could help return law and justice to the people.
AI can reduce accounting costs
When I served on the board of trustees at my children’s school, one line item bothered me: audit fees of over $7,000. For a tiny school, that was more than $100 per child.
The audit was mandatory. The auditing firm insisted it required extensive staff time.
Yet audits are largely procedural. AI could handle much of this work, reducing costs and freeing money for teaching resources.
This pattern repeats across the public sector. Compliance teams, reporting teams, review teams — many roles exist to tick boxes rather than create value.
Could AI make better public service decisions?
Following the Covid pandemic, New Zealand’s money supply surged. Inflation followed. Costs soared. Wages lagged. Many bureaucratic decisions were poor — driven by fear, not logic.
Could AI have done better?
Potentially, yes. AI can model economic outcomes without panic or political bias. It can test policy decisions against real-world data. It can warn against debasing the currency.
Again, it depends on who is driving the AI. But the potential is enormous.
Mass unemployment — or work redistributed?
Source: Image by machinecode from Pixabay
AI won’t trigger a collapse in employment. The evidence points the other way. Jobs keep growing, and labour shortages are becoming structural. An ageing population demands more care, more services, more hands-on work — the kind of roles AI can’t fill.
What AI will do is recalibrate demand.
Tasks built around gatekeeping, form-checking, and procedural decision-making are exactly what AI can execute with greater consistency, transparency, and far lower cost than high-priced bureaucratic layers.
Meanwhile, work grounded in relationships, experience, imagination, and physical skill becomes more valuable, not less. These are the roles that carry emotional weight, practical judgement, and human presence.
We may be heading back to an economy that rewards tangible contribution.
Yes, a return to the era of an honest day’s work.
We are investing in companies that will benefit from AI — not be eroded by it…
Our Wholesale Managed Accounts Strategy focuses on income and growth positions for financial freedom.
We’re currently offering a discussion to Wealth Morning readers who may be Eligible or Wholesale Investors.
Do register your expression of interest here.
We look forward to speaking with you.
Regards,
Simon Angelo
Editor, Wealth Morning
(This article is the author’s personal opinion and commentary only. It is general in nature and should not be construed as any financial or investment advice. Please contact a licensed Financial Advice Provider to discuss your personal situation. Wealth Morning offers Managed Account Services for Wholesale or Eligible investors as defined in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.)