The number of people leaving New Zealand for Australia has been a topic of political discussion longer than I have been alive. I have heard stories of Muldoon’s joke about how those who leave New Zealand for Australia lift the IQ of both countries. Recently the tide has turned, and there have been less New Zealanders leaving for Australia.
Unsurprisingly the National government is rather keen to promote this turn around from a few years ago.
Now I am not going to comment on the cause of this change, however there are a few things I do want to talk about. I think the way that have included a more accurate description of the source, rather than just “Statistics New Zealand” is a good thing. It makes it a lot easier for people to check the figures, thus decreasing the chances of the party being attacked for their claims.
It is good to see them sticking to the basic, clear, easy to understand graphic style. The point they are trying to make is reasonably clear. However, I find the number they have selected to be represented by each plane a bit odd. I guess with such a low number for April they were limited. It will be a case of balancing being accurate, while also visually reinforcing the story. Going with say 70 people per plane would have tripled the number of planes, which may have filled space, but that would have diminished the impact of the difference. That single plane is what is psychologically important.
Add in the symbolism of the red vs blue, Labour vs National aspect, and you have a high quality graphic from the National Party.
2 Comments
Comments are closed.