When council rates rise at five times the rate of inflation, while water pipes burst and potholes multiply, something has gone very wrong. Council rates jumped 12% last year, the steepest increase in decades, and will on average increase 9% this year. 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

Woolly-headed regulations about farm kids feeding small animals, collecting eggs, and watering plants are up for review, but not before two months of chewing the cud. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is holding a targeted consultation on agricultural health and safety, including whether little Johnny can safely help Mum with light chores on the farm. Read more

After decades of planning gridlock, the government has promised to put property rights at the heart of New Zealand’s resource management system. But will its latest reforms deliver lasting change or just patch up the mess we already have? Read more

The government's latest Resource Management Act (RMA) consultation promises improvements to a broken system. The proposals for new national directions for infrastructure, the primary sector, and freshwater raise a critical question: are they preparing the ground for a property-rights-based resource management system or merely tinkering at the edges? Read more

Future historians may seek to understand why early 21st century New Zealand struggled to get value from its infrastructure spending. They will need to look no further than Auckland's achievement in speed bump construction and subsequent destruction. Read more

A peculiar economic paradox appears to govern infrastructure development in modern New Zealand: the more we spend on infrastructure, the less we seem to get for it. This uncomfortable reality was a key takeaway from last week’s launch of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission’s Draft National Infrastructure Plan. Read more

What happens when elected officials cannot understand the issues well enough to make good decisions? Local councillors often receive hundreds of pages of complex reports just days before critical votes, covering financial modelling, engineering specifications and legal implications. Read more