New Zealand’s government set out a plan 16 years ago to “match Australia by 2025”.

But instead of fostering a booming economy to rival that of its neighbour, the country faces rising unemployment, anaemic economic growth and an exodus of Kiwis across the Tasman Sea.

The outlook is so bleak that some in Wellington now joke that the government’s next tagline should instead be to “beat Fiji by 2050”.

For Don Brash, New Zealand’s failed ambitions to match Australian incomes are especially frustrating.

He was appointed in 2009 to lead a high-profile, bipartisan task force charged with developing a strategy to close the income gap.

None of its 35 recommendations were adopted and the gap in GDP per capita has now grown, from a chasm of roughly $8,000 to $10,700.