Media release: Chatham Rise decision a blow to economic growth

Wellington (12 February 2015): The New Zealand Initiative says Chatham Rise Phosphate’s failure to secure a mining consent underscores the flaws in marine resource legislation, which if left unchanged, could permanently stunt economic growth in New Zealand. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) yesterday announced that would not grant the Wellington-based company a consent to harvest rock phosphate nodules from Chatham Rise, an undersea ridge situated several hundred kilometres off the Canterbury coast. Read more

12 February, 2015

Media release: Think tank welcomes LGNZ funding report

Wellington (2 February 2015): The New Zealand Initiative has welcomed the launch of LGNZ’s latest discussion paper on local government funding as an important step towards improving how councils deliver services to communities. The think tank’s Executive Director, Dr Oliver Hartwich, said New Zealand has one of the most centralised forms of government among developed countries, with 90 cents in every tax dollar spent by officials in Wellington. Read more

2 February, 2015

Media release: RMA changes welcome, but problem bigger than housing

Wellington (22 January 2015): The New Zealand Initiative has welcomed the overhaul of the Resource Management Act, in particular the focus on housing affordability and the restoration of property rights, but is still concerned about the ambiguity surrounding Section 5. The latest overhaul of the legislation was announced yesterday by the Hon Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Building and Housing, citing economic research that indicated the RMA had cost the country 40,000 homes and added $30 billion in costs. Read more

22 January, 2015

Media release: Alcohol advertising bans need stronger evidence

Wellington (18 December 2014): The New Zealand Initiative’s Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, today urged Cabinet to look to the evidence before banning alcohol advertising and sponsorship. The Ministerial Forum on Advertising and Sponsorship this week recommended reasonably comprehensive bans on alcohol advertising and sponsorship. Read more

18 December, 2014

Media release: NZ businesses want Merkel to talk Euro Crisis, not just innovation

Wellington (13 November 2014): Angela Merkel’s talk at the University of Auckland on Germany’s innovation policy will be interesting; but what the New Zealand business community want to know is how she plans to address Europe’s economic crisis, says the head of The New Zealand Initiative. In the first visit of a German head of government to New Zealand since 1997, Merkel will meet with Prime Minister John Key ahead of the G20 Summit in Brisbane this weekend, deliver a speech at the University of Auckland, and attend a reception for German and New Zealand business leaders. Read more

13 November, 2014

Media release: ‘Investing in education’ must show returns

Wellington (21 October): The government must incorporate a rigorous evaluation framework into Investing in Education Success (IES) programme, to ensure that the $359 million is indeed a good investment, says The New Zealand Initiative. That is one of the recommendations from No School is an Island: Fostering Collaboration in a Competitive System, which analysed the performance of Learning Change Networks (LCN), a similar model to the IES where networks of schools voluntarily come together to share the best ways of lifting student achievement. Read more

21 October, 2014

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