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Last year, Canadian First Nations leaders came to Tuahiwi marae, just north of Christchurch, for the third hui-ā-motu. They explained how they have been using their self-governing autonomy, which sounds a lot like rangatiratanga, to build economic self-determination. Read more

Not long ago, doing anything on Canada’s Indian Reserves was almost as hard as doing anything on whenua Māori. Here, the roughly six percent of the country held under Māori land tenure is beset by regulatory difficulty far worse than that bedevilling the rest of New Zealand. Read more

The Local Government Commission has been consulting on a draft Code of Conduct for Local Authorities. The Code addresses what bureaucrats see as local government’s biggest crisis: councillors saying unpleasant things. Read more

New Zealand has a bad habit of trying to do everything everywhere all at once. It means national-level policy takes giant swings. Read more

New Zealand ratepayers are being mugged by reality. After a 12 percent rates increase last year, dozens of councils are imposing another round of double-digit hikes. Read more

Minister Chris Bishop delivered an unprecedented message to local government leaders last month. At the LGNZ conference, he declared that New Zealanders question councils’ “licence to lead.” But his speech went further than typical government criticism of local authorities. Read more

Picture this scenario: It is a Friday afternoon. A councillor receives a 600-page agenda for Tuesday's meeting. Read more