Persistence looks set to pay off with one of Labour’s 2017 election manifesto promises: to reintroduce compulsory sector-wide collective bargaining across the country. Dubbed “Fair Pay Agreements,” the Government’s plan is to take New Zealand back to the system of awards that dominated industrial relations for most of the 20th century. Read more

Grant Robertson could not have looked more pleased delivering his 2021 pre-budget speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce earlier this week. For a start, he was speaking to a live audience, in stark contrast to 2020. Read more

During the Covid pandemic, the public has heard a lot about the precautionary principle. The Prime Minister referred to it when announcing every lockdown. Read more

New Zealand’s highest stakes bet is taking place at the country’s border, where Covid infected Kiwis and returning residents are arriving almost every day. When you are betting the farm, you need to play your best hand. Read more

According to Long’s Axiom, an elephant is a mouse built to government specifications. The saying is a corollary to the old gag about a camel being a horse designed by a committee. Read more

This month events at either end of the country highlighted a fundamental failure afflicting New Zealand’s biggest pre-Covid export earner: tourism. On 10 March, Auckland Council heard submissions on when it should reintroduce its Accommodation Provider Targeted Rate (APTR), which is uses to fund Auckland events and destination marketing. Read more

Eighteen months ago, the Government announced a curriculum change making it compulsory for all schools to teach “key aspects” of New Zealand history. The Ministry of Education was tasked with creating a new curriculum to “span the full range of New Zealanders’ experiences… with contemporary issues directly linked to major events of the past.” Asking the Ministry of Education to draft a compulsory New Zealand History curriculum for school children was always fraught with risk. Read more

No one should doubt the importance of a sound understanding of mathematics in the future workplace. A recent study by the National Maths and Science Initiative found that 16 of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the United States require substantial mathematics or science understanding. Read more

The sounds of cricket on the radio are already wafting over campgrounds around the country. Who would wish to spend the holidays anywhere else in the world? Read more

All too often, today’s flavour of the month is tomorrow’s failure. This truism appears to be playing out in education. Read more

Voters rewarded the Coalition Government for saving lives as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. Now the new Government must save livelihoods. Read more

Last week the Initiative took aim at those presiding over the country’s education system. For nearly two decades Kiwi students have suffered a steady decline in performance. Read more