MEDIA

Earthquakes are bad enough on their own but policy can always make them worse. Regulatory and planning policy in the lead-up to the February 2011 earthquake and in the subsequent response period led to needless deaths, too few options for those whose homes were damaged, a confusopoly in insurance, and an endlessly drawn out quest for the perfect downtown plan. Read more

Wellington (5 September 2014): New Zealand has improved its rank on the Global Competitiveness Index and extended the lead over Australia, according to an annual survey compiled by the World Economic Forum. The country is now ranked 17th on the Global Competitiveness Index, up one place from last year when it broke into the top 20 for the first time. Read more

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Wellington (25 August 2014): National’s Homestart policy will fuel higher house prices and make it harder for Kiwis to enter the housing market, according to economic think-tank The New Zealand Initiative. Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich says any housing policy aimed at making housing more affordable must start by increasing supply. Read more

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Wellington (22 August 2014): New Zealand faces a chronic housing shortage the size of three major cities within 20 years, according to a new report from the New Zealand Initiative. The report claims claims the country could reach a shortage of 113,800 houses by 2031 and official figures underestimate the scale of the crisis. Read more

Wellington (24 June 2014): The New Zealand Initative is set to host Australia’s new Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson for two lectures in Auckland and Wellington next week. This highly anticipated event has already been booked out in Wellington, and places are filling up quickly for the Auckland event. Read more

Wellington (17 June 2014): Local councils looking to tackle housing affordability and congestion by limiting land supply will only make the problem worse, according to the latest research report from The New Zealand Initiative. The report, Up or Out? Read more

Wellington (4 June 2014): The New Zealand Initiative has expressed concern about a Fairfax Media report today that the RBNZ is not ruling out restricting mortgage lending according to household income multiples. Such a policy is currently being considered by the Bank of England under its new governor Mark Carney. Read more

Wellington (20 May 2014): The New Zealand Initiative has expressed disappointment that proposed reforms of Resource Management Act (RMA) have been abandoned, calling it a missed opportunity to address skyrocketing housing costs. The National Party’s bid to overhaul the legislation was stymied after coalition partners United Future and the Maori Party withdrew support for the reforms citing environmental concerns. Read more

Wellington (19 May 2014): The New Zealand Initiative today announced that Dr Eric Crampton has been appointed as its new Head of Research. Dr Crampton, a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury and author of the popular economics blog Offsetting Behaviour, will take up his new position in August. Read more

Wellington (30 April 2014): If New Zealand does not ease its restrictive foreign direct investment (FDI) regime, the country risks driving away overseas capital that could otherwise be invested to create jobs and contribute to the tax base. This is the message of Open for Business: Removing the barriers to foreign investment, the final report in The New Zealand Initiative’s series on FDI regulation. Read more

John Morris, co-author of Teaching Stars: Transforming the Education Profession, being interviewed on TV ONE Breakfast show on 5 March 2014. Read more

Wellington (3 March 2014): New Zealand has made a good start towards lifting the status of teaching, but the pace of change could be sped up if pay scales were linked to performance, not seniority. That is one of the findings of The New Zealand Initiative’s latest report Teaching Stars: Transforming the teaching profession. Read more

Wellington (31 January 2014): New Zealand’s relative attractiveness as an investment destination has slumped in the last 10-15 years according to Capital Doldrums: How Globalisation is Bypassing New Zealand, a report released by The New Zealand Initiative. Done well, foreign direct investment (FDI) creates jobs, usefully supplements domestic savings and further enhances the host country’s competitiveness by introducing leading-edge technologies, management expertise and access to overseas markets and expertise. Read more