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
Earlier in the year, this column argued for a public service reset. It was prompted partly by the ballooning size of public sector headcount. Read more
“God’s own country” was how our longest-serving Prime Minister, Richard “King Dick” Seddon described New Zealand. The moniker he popularised for his country also proved enduring – even if by the late 20th century, it had become abbreviated to “Godzone.” Yet, as the 2023 general election approaches, New Zealand feels less blessed than it has in the past. Read more
As the nation prepares to vote on 14 October, the sentiment across New Zealand is one of frustration and concern. Skyrocketing living costs, unaffordable housing, strained healthcare, and a growing educational gap are the voices of a country looking for change. Read more
Election years rarely see the best economic policy ideas. It is easy enough to understand why. Read more
This submission in response to Auckland’s Future Development Strategy is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. In combination, our members employ more than 150,000 people. Read more
New Zealand prides itself on being an open trading nation. When it comes to trade in goods and services this claim is certainly true. Read more
The early decades of the 21st century may be remembered as the great age of misinformation. From false assertions about the size of the 45th President’s inauguration crowd to science-free claims about nano-technology, 5G cell phone towers and COVID-19, fake news abounds. Read more
According to American folklore, Irish gold miners were notorious for striking it lucky. Yet, historian Edward O’Donnell claims the phrase ‘The luck of the Irish’ comes with a hint of derision. Read more
Seeking Ireland’s secrets Few countries feel so similar as New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland. We are both island nations with much larger neighbours. Read more
When it comes to pointlessness, the Companies (Directors Duties) Amendment Bill takes some beating. When drawn from the ballot, the Bill proposed amending section 131 of the Companies Act 1993 dealing with the duty of directors to act in the best interests of the company. Read more
Local government often finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Councils have limited sources of funding – mainly ratepayers and borrowings – which have practical limits. Read more
The eight days since last Thursday have not been kind to Minister of Finance Grant Robertson’s budget. Initial assessments flattered to deceive. Read more
Anyone hoping for an end to the country’s housing affordability crisis should despair. Or at least they should if they live in New Zealand’s largest city. Read more
Sometimes change is sudden. At other times, it creeps up slowly and is only obvious looking back. Read more
This week’s revelation that the Government has spent over $80m in rebates to Tesla owners should cause outrage. And not simply because subsidising the well-off into new cars fails to pass the sniff test. Read more