Election campaigns should mainly be about the policies a party would enact, if elected. But they’re also about the things a party wouldn’t do. 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
Labour really should rule out any chance of the Green Party’s proposed wealth tax being part of any coalition agreement. Just consider some of the numbers on what it would do for hurdle rates for wealthy investors in the top income tax bracket. Read more
Sometimes you just have to accept that the devil has the best tunes. That Australians are better than Kiwis at some sports. Read more
Infrastructure is high on the agenda this election year. And why wouldn’t it be? Read more
Last week marked a significant milestone in Europe’s ongoing struggles to navigate the complex issue of migration. After years of fraught discussions, the European Union (EU) finally reached a consensus on a new refugee policy. Read more
Wellington has a lot of problems. No one thing will fix all of them. But the current review of council ratings policy could fix an important problem and provide an example for other urban councils. Read more
Last year, Kiri Allan was forced to withdraw the government’s latest ‘hate speech’ proposals, only a year or so after Kris Faafoi was forced to shelve similar plans. We have no doubt that you were as dismayed as we were by these developments (or lack of developments). Read more
Taking an unusual step, Foodstuffs North Island addressed the escalating retail crime rate in the country in a media release this week. The retailer reported an increase of 38% in retail crime incidents between February and April 2023 compared to the same period last year. Read more
The Budget’s flagship announcement presented an enticing proposal: 20 hours of early childhood education (ECE) per week for children aged two and over, funded entirely by taxpayers, due to commence in March 2024. Nonetheless, there appears to be a hidden cost. Read more
New Zealand’s universities are in crisis. Their most immediate problem is financial. Read more
Businesses typically avoid taking a stance on contentious political matters, particularly during election campaigns. That makes this week’s media release from New Zealand’s Foodstuffs North Island quite remarkable. Read more
Housing crisis makes growth all about ‘up-and-out’ not ‘up-or-out’ If you want affordable housing, it isn’t a choice between whether people should be able to build townhouses and apartments downtown or subdivisions at the city’s fringes. Cities need to be able to grow in all directions, guided by where people want to live and the cost of providing infrastructure. Read more
In my last column, I used a puzzling proverb to show that we can’t simultaneously have low inflation and cheap money. Today, I use the equally puzzling comment made by Adrian Orr in the OCR announcement that the government is ‘more of a friend than foe’ to explore the relationship between our government and the Reserve Bank. Read more
When I was a lad in the 1950s, I absorbed from adults the notion that it was shameful to be reduced to applying for a state handout. Self-reliance was virtuous. Read more
