What is the purpose of televised leaders’ debates? Ideally, these staples of the political calendar should inform, educate and entertain. Read more

The Bucket Fountain in Wellington’s Cuba Mall has long been the capital city’s iconic water feature. However, it seems that new competition is emerging. Read more

It is brave to invite an historian to speak at a conference about the future. As the Scottish historian Tom Devine once quipped, the future was not his time period. Read more

Transport policy in New Zealand increasingly resembles an episode of Utopia, the Australian comedy series that lampoons a government agency responsible for large infrastructure projects. In one memorable episode, the hapless bureaucrats in the Nation Building Authority are instructed by a political staffer to investigate the feasibility of a “very fast train” connecting Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane despite reams of evidence suggesting it is a terrible idea. Read more

Another week, another transport policy announcement. On Sunday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and freshly-minted Transport Minister David Parker released the Government’s preferred option for a second Auckland harbour crossing. Read more

The number of potholes on the country’s highways has more than doubled since 2017. In 2022 alone, more than 54,000 needed urgent repair. Read more

New Zealand’s roads are in the political headlights, as opposing camps clash over the delicate balance between road safety and road efficiency – think of it as the policy equivalent of Ford vs Holden. Advocates of greater efficiency point out that potholes have turned our state highway network into a lunar landscape, a phenomenon I had the opportunity to acquaint myself intimately with during a road trip to Gisborne over Matariki. Read more

While it is easy to lament the current state of New Zealand’s infrastructure, it is important to remind ourselves that we were once builders. On Wednesday, we launched a new report, Paving the Way: Learning from New Zealand’s Past to Build a Better Future. Read more

Infrastructure is high on the agenda this election year. And why wouldn’t it be? Read more