Waitangi day debates about New Zealand’s sovereignty often fixate on a single moment: the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. This focus is understandable, given the Treaty’s significance to both Māori and the Crown. Read more

Prime Minister Luxon’s State of the Nation speech has already orchestrated an immediate response. The naysayers have identified the possibility of success as a threat to our national way of life. Read more

Has the Supreme Court once again stepped outside its lane? A recent ruling about who controls our coastlines suggests our highest court is trying to reshape laws made by Parliament, rather than just apply them. Read more

David Harvey’s thoughtful critique in Law News of my report for The New Zealand Initiative, Who Makes the Law? Reining in the Supreme Court,[i] highlights the importance of addressing judicial overreach.[ii] The retired District Court judge agrees with the report’s conclusions that recent Supreme Court decisions raise legitimate concerns. Read more

Something is seriously wrong with New Zealand’s public wealth. We rank near the top globally for per-capita resources and assets - ahead of most OECD nations. Read more

Jordan Peterson’s recent keynote at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in Sydney laid bare a critical divide within classical liberalism. Peterson champions individual responsibility and free markets. Read more

For over three decades, New Zealand has laboured under an employment law paradox. Laws designed to protect ordinary workers from arbitrary dismissal have constrained firms when dealing with poorly performing senior managers. Read more

My recent report, Who Makes the Law? Reining in the Supreme Court,[i] has sparked widespread debate about judicial overreach by the Supreme Court. Read more

Should judges stick to applying the law, or should they reshape it to reflect society’s values? This fundamental tension over judicial power was laid bare at a New Zealand Law Society webinar this month about what it takes to become a High Court judge. Read more

Some Australian scandals never get the New Zealand coverage they deserve — which is a shame, as they can tell us much about our neighbours. Qantas’s Chairman’s Lounge debacle is a case in point. Read more

Imagine trying to take instructions from a deceased client, or entering into a contract with your great-great-grandparents. According to our Supreme Court's latest decision, these absurdities might not be far-fetched. Read more

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Nikora v Kruger [2024] NZSC 130 has conjured up a revolutionary new principle of property law. According to our highest court, land can be beneficially owned by the dead. Read more