NZ Initiative Roger Partridge 001 v2

Roger Partridge

Chairman & Senior Fellow

Roger Partridge is chairman and a co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative and is a senior member of its research team. He is a regular commentator in the media on public policy and constitutional law. He led law firm Bell Gully as executive chairman from 2007 to 2014, after 16 years as a commercial litigation partner. He is an honorary fellow of the Legal Research Foundation, a charitable foundation associated with the University of Auckland and was its executive director from 2001 to 2009. He is a member of the editorial board of the New Zealand Law Review and was a member of the Council of the New Zealand Law Society, the governing body of the legal profession in New Zealand, from 2011 to 2015. He is a former chartered member of the Institute of Directors, a member of the University of Auckland Business School advisory board, and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.

Phone: +64 4 499 0790

Email: roger.partridge@nzinitiative.org.nz

Recent Work

Webinar video: Unscrambling Government: Less Confusion, More Efficiency

This webinar launches Unscrambling Government: Less Confusion, More Efficiency, a report by Roger Partridge proposing practical reforms to New Zealand’s fragmented executive of 81 portfolios, 28 ministers, and 43 departments. Hosted by Dr Oliver Hartwich with commentary from Dr Murray Horn (former Treasury Secretary; ex-ANZ CEO), the discussion explores how consolidating portfolios into 15–20 senior ministers supported by junior ministers, and aligning departments to around 20, could restore clarity, speed up decisions, and sharpen accountability—drawing on lessons from Ireland, Norway, Singapore, and Australia’s Hawke-era reforms. Watch below. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich
Roger Partridge
Dr Murray Horn CNZM
Webinar video
2 September, 2025

Media release: Too many ministers, too little accountability: New report calls for Cabinet overhaul

Wellington (Tuesday, 2 September 2025) - New Zealand has one of the most complex systems of executive government in the developed world. With 81 ministerial portfolios, 28 ministers and 43 departments, we have three times as many portfolios and nearly twice as many departments as comparable countries. Read more

Roger Partridge
Media Release
1 September, 2025
Sean Plunket

The Platform: Roger Partridge on Radio New Zealand's midlife crisis and missing audience

Roger Partridge talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about Radio New Zealand's recent internal review, which revealed the broadcaster has lost touch with its audience and become complacent since the pandemic. Partridge argued that while the review identified many problems, it failed to address what he sees as the elephant in the room - Radio New Zealand's political and cultural bias that has developed over the past decade. Read more

Roger Partridge
Sean Plunket
The Platform
27 August, 2025

Govt sending a dangerous signal to business investors with butter dramas

Finance Minister Nicola Willis described last week’s meeting with Fonterra’s chief executive as “routine.” But routine meetings do not usually begin with public promises that a CEO will “front up” over pricing. Nor do they require clarification in Parliament, a prime-time media round, and a CEO pursued up the steps of Parliament by a television news crew. Read more

Roger Partridge
NZ Herald
31 July, 2025

When transparency becomes a threat

Imagine asking your accountant to explain their calculations – and they respond by demanding triple their fee and warning you will be embarrassed by what they find. That is roughly what happened when New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was asked about new transparency requirements. Read more

Roger Partridge
Insights Newsletter
25 July, 2025

Ellis v R: revolution by judicial decree

Supreme Court Matters: Revolution by Judicial Decree A Review of Professor Peter Watts KC’s “Ellis v R: A Revolution in Aotearoa New Zealand, Welcome or Not” Revolutions conjure images of violent uprisings, the storming of institutions, and the forcible overthrow of existing orders. But constitutional foundations can be destroyed through more subtle means. Read more

Roger Partridge
LawNews
10 July, 2025

Rule of law – but for whom? A rejoinder to the NZLS report

The New Zealand Law Society’s new report, Strengthening the Rule of Law in Aotearoa New Zealand, runs to more than eighty pages, includes seventy-eight recommendations, and reflects a considerable investment of time and goodwill. Its aims are noble: to bolster constitutional integrity, improve access to justice, and promote respect for the rule of law. Read more

Roger Partridge
LawNews
30 June, 2025

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