Bryce Edwards Political Analyst in Residence, Director of the Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington democracyproject.nz The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the
Francis L Collins Professor of Sociology, University of Auckland The New Zealand government claims its recently announced changes to visa rules will address exploitation and unsustainable migration. In reality, the new rules are likely to have the opposite effect. The exploitation of migrant workers has become a growing problem in
Don Brash Don Brash was Reserve Bank Governor from 1988 to 2002, and National Party Leader from 2003 to 2006 bassettbrashandhide.com A few days ago, I posted a short article entitled “Why not AUKUS”. Unsurprisingly, it prompted a range of reactions. There were some who agreed with my analysis
Mark Freeman A new independent report into the closure of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery refutes the claims used by the refinery company’s board of directors that led to the closure of the refinery. The refinery used to supply 65%–70% of New Zealand’s refined fuel, but its
Graeme Edgeler Graeme Edgeler is a Wellington barrister, with a professional interest in constitutional and electoral law democracyproject.substack.com Sunday morning, the Wellington High Court heard a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial
* In March 2020, then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the country she had all the legislative means and enforcement powers to tell us what we could and couldn’t do. The doctors in New Zealand were told they must be positive about the Covid-19 vaccine. New Zealanders were told
Michael Bassett Political historian Michael Bassett CNZM is the author of 15 books, was a regular columnist for the Fairfax newspapers and a former Minister in the 1984-1990 governments bassettbrashandhide.com If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to
Peter Dunne writes at Newsroom about the problems facing Labour. They are plentiful but can be summed up into two main categories: nastiness and incompetence. Dunne starts with Chris Hipkins; after all, the buck is supposed to stop at the top. Labour leader Chris Hipkins looks mostly at sea in
Hon Nicole McKee Associate Minister of Justice The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced on Monday. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that
Well, it’s official, Chloe Swarbrick: you’re bellowing an antisemitic, genocidal hate slogan. No less an authority than the US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly agreed. Before Chloe and her anti-Israel chums start blithering that it’s all just the wicked Republicans, the measure was co-sponsored by
If anyone thinks Stuff producing the 6pm news bulletin on Three is the answer to viewers’ prayers they are dreaming. This is a marriage made in heaven if you want a continuation of the very reasons Newshub finds itself in the position it is in. If you were one hoping
Simon Anderson Simon Anderson is a technology consultant and citizen photojournalist based in Auckland. I copped a fair amount of flak for publishing footage of two politicians sitting together outside a cafe. The essence of much of the criticism was that politicians are entitled to private lives – which of course
Family First says that the latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25 per cent increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020. According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life, the provisional figures show a 14 per cent increase
If you ever wanted proof of the disconnect of the elites, look no further than the blaming of the public for the ongoing failure of the legacy media, rather than being introspective about seeking whom to blame. Then there is the empirical evidence of the IPSOS research company that carries
After a period of New Zealand’s focus elsewhere under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership, then border closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Southeast Asia was beginning to ask New Zealand: ‘Where are you?’ The Asean group of nations will no doubt be glad of Luxon’s answer. The level
