Roger Partridge is chairman and a co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative and is a senior member of its research team. He is a regular commentator in the media on public policy and constitutional law. He led law firm Bell Gully as executive chairman from 2007 to 2014, after 16 years as a commercial litigation partner. He is an honorary fellow of the Legal Research Foundation, a charitable foundation associated with the University of Auckland and was its executive director from 2001 to 2009. He is a member of the editorial board of the New Zealand Law Review and was a member of the Council of the New Zealand Law Society, the governing body of the legal profession in New Zealand, from 2011 to 2015. He is a former chartered member of the Institute of Directors, a member of the University of Auckland Business School advisory board, and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
In a stunning display of temporal gymnastics, Labour leader Chris Hipkins has unveiled a novel explanation for New Zealand’s maths education crisis. He’s blaming it on a policy that Labour scrapped over six years ago. Read more
With New Zealand’s economy becalmed, a fresh wind is blowing in from across the Tasman. The Albanese government’s decision to cap international student numbers has created a potential $2.5 billion-a-year opportunity for New Zealand. Read more
When lightning strikes thrice, it is time to take notice. The Commerce Commission is only partway through its latest market study – this time into personal banking services. Read more
Barrister Gary Judd KC’s complaint to the Regulatory Review Committee has sparked a fierce debate about the place of tikanga Māori – or Māori customs, values and spiritual beliefs – in the law. Judd opposes the New Zealand Council of Legal Education’s plans to make teaching tikanga compulsory in the legal curriculum. Read more
Roger Partridge talks to Sean Plunket on The Platform about New Zealand's ambition problem, the subject of his latest article in the NZ Herald. Watch below. Read more
Roger Partridge was interviewed on the RNZ podcast The Detail by Tom Kitchin about the increase in public servants. Listen below. Read more
When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand's first-world status was at stake. Read more
2023 was a great year for the Initiative. Have a look through our annual report to see what we achieved and what others are saying about what we do. Read more
My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. Read more
Last month’s Legal Research Foundation conference commemorating the Supreme Court’s 20th anniversary could mark a turning point for New Zealand’s highest court. Or at least it should if the Supreme Court justices were listening. Read more
With age comes wisdom – or so it is said. Yet exceptions abound. Read more
Last week, Oliver and Roger sat down to talk about the Supreme Court's decision on the Mike Smith climate change case. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Television audiences were granted a rare privilege last week: an extended interview with warmongering President Vladimir Putin to “set the record straight” on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And who better to provide the pulpit of truth for this enlightening exchange? Read more
‘Hard cases make bad law’ is a common legal adage. It means the more worthy a cause, the more tempting it will be for a court to stretch the law to make it fit. Read more
The New Year always brings the promise of a new beginning. But it also confronts us with last year’s headaches. Read more