Public Forums

In 2012, US psychologist Jonathan Haidt rose to fame with the publication of his book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided on Politics and Religion. In its review, The New York Times called Haidt’s book “a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself.” It has since gained widespread praise from commentators left, right and centre (see here). Read more

Professor Barbara Oakley is the co-creator of the world’s most popular online course: Learning How To Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects, which has helped over 2 million people to improve the way they learn new things. In this event she will be discussing the science behind how we learn, and how we can apply this research in the classroom. Read more

The Faculty of Education at Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Initiative invite you to a moderated discussion involving representatives from the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce, academia, schools and boards of trustees. Together we will explore some of the assumptions on which the taskforce has based its findings and some possible consequences of its recommendations, intended and otherwise. Read more

Trump. Brexit. Read more

We partnered with researchED to reignite evidence-based education in New Zealand. On Saturday 2nd June, over 240 passionate educators, parents, researchers and school trustees gathered at Auckland Grammar School to discuss the evidence on effective education. Read more

On Thursday 31 May 2018, The New Zealand Initiative hosted Katharine Birbalsingh for a dinner lecture in Auckland. New Zealand-born Katharine Birbalsingh studied at Oxford University before becoming a teacher. Read more

The Future Catch was launched with a panel discussion in Wellington on 4 December. Randall Bess (report author), Stuart Nash (Minister of Fisheries), Sir Mark Solomon (Deputy Chair, Te Ohu Kaimoana) and Bob Gutsell (Vice President, New Zealand Sport Fishing Council) discussed the issues facing the recreational fishing sector. Read more

We released our report on welfare policy, Welfare, Work and Wellbeing: From Benefits to Better Lives, with a panel discussion on 28 November in Wellington. Author Bryce Wilkinson and social activist and former MP Sue Bradford, who wrote the foreword, discussed the report's findings with a diverse and knowledgeable audience of about 100 people. Read more

The Initiative hosted the sixth annual Next Generation Debates. Top debaters from the Universities of Auckland, Victoria, Canterbury and Otago debated a wide range of topics. Read more

Victoria University goes to the grand final of The New Zealand Initiative’s Next Generation Debates. They won in the Wellington semi-final from the University of Otago on the moot This House believes that millennials need to get better with money if they want to become homeowners. Read more

The University of Auckland has won the Auckland semi-final of The New Zealand Initiative’s Next Generation Debates. They prevailed against a team from the University of Canterbury on the moot This House believes that New Zealand should lower its current migrant intake. Read more

To promote our policy recommendations on recreational fisheries management, The New Zealand Initiative organised a series of public consultation meetings. Randall Bess travelled to five locations in the South Island and nine in the North Island to gather feedback on his recommendations for improving recreational fisheries in New Zealand. Read more

Parents want good schools and good teachers for their children, and most educators want to pass their knowledge to their students. The New Zealand Initiative’s analyses discovered that too many students leave school unqualified, and many others languish in low performing schools. Read more

Proponents of regulations and taxes on products increasingly justify interventions as “nudges” – intended to prod consumers to take better decisions. But do consumers really need government to nudge them? Read more

Local government plays an important role, one that is often overlooked. When things like roading and recycling work well, they are barely noticed. Read more