Reports & Media

In May 1935, as Winston Churchill later told the story, Pierre Laval travelled to Moscow to sound out Stalin about an alliance against Hitler. Late in the talks, the French foreign minister asked whether the Soviet leader might ease his persecution of Russian Catholics. Read more

The Reserve Bank keeps inflation in check, oversees the financial system, regulates banks and issues the country’s currency. These are important jobs, defined by Parliament. Read more

In 2007, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a ‘digital education revolution.’ His government allocated A$2.4 billion (A$3.9 billion in today’s money) to the project. A large chunk of that went to providing a laptop to every senior secondary student. Read more

New Zealand has solved one of the great puzzles of modern government. A Bill currently before Parliament abolishes the census and declares its replacement to also be a census, only annual and therefore better. Read more

Last Friday, New Zealand signed its first city deal, a formal agreement between central government and Auckland, the country’s largest city. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called Auckland “New Zealand’s economic engine room” and promised to get it “firing on all cylinders.” Among the deal’s headline commitments are a plan to roof the Auckland Tennis Centre, a review of the ownership model for Eden Park, the national stadium, and $10 million to relocate Auckland Cricket to Colin Maiden Park. Read more

With energy prices spiking, an old idea has gathered fresh momentum: break up the big electricity companies. New Zealand First put the proposal on its agenda at the party’s State of the Nation address, calling for the four gentailers, companies that both generate and retail power, to be split apart. Read more

If you think hell is other people, then cities aren’t a great place to live. We are all at least a little bit annoying. Read more

Imagine waking up and discovering that, overnight, you had been granted superpowers. With a touch of your finger, you could cause new housing to emerge in places with housing shortages. Read more

Critics of judicial overreach face an odd challenge. The most sophisticated response is not to defend the decisions – it is to deny that the constitutional limits exist at all. Read more

Auckland Council protects eighty views across the city. Mainly, not views from homes. Read more

When were you last genuinely enthusiastic about casting your vote? Not just resigned to the least bad option, but actually excited to tick that box? Read more

Imagine hiring someone to run your business. Except you did not hire them. Read more

Try running a company where the board is accountable to shareholders but cannot choose the CEO. Instead, the CEO is appointed by an independent commissioner. Read more