Wellington, 9 September 2020 – Almost a third of Kiwi voters do not know which political parties are in Parliament and less than half understand how a party can get there, according to a new study. With elections just around the corner, new research by The New Zealand initiative reveals just 69% of Kiwis can name all five political parties in Parliament today. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Duncan Garner on The AM Show about our survey that shows a shocking lack of civics knowledge amongst New Zealanders. He says it is hard to vote well if you don't know the basics. Read more
How much of what Kiwi voters should know about democracy do they really know? Our Chief Economist Eric Crampton discusses the results of our new report on the state of civic knowledge in New Zealand on TVNZ Breakfast. Read more
Wellington, 9 September 2020 – If Labour’s goal is to get debt back under control then it would make more sense to prune back spending, such as on superannuation, says David Law, senior research fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. Today, Labour finance minister Grant Robertson announced a lift in the top tax percentage from 33% to 39% for anyone earning over $180,000. Read more
Our new report Democracy in the Dark shows that almost a third of New Zealanders cannot name the political parties currently in parliament. Less than half of the one thousand people surveyed understood how New Zealand's political system MMP, works. Read more
In our report Democracy in the Dark, we argue that New Zealanders might need to brush up on their civics homework before the upcoming election in October. Chief Editor Nathan Smith joins Radio NZ's The Panel to discuss the report's findings. Read more
Wellington, 3 September 2020 – A chokepoint at the border is blocking entry of critical workers and suffocating the economy, according to a new paper from The New Zealand Initiative. New Zealand’s small size means both the public and private sectors often need international experts with niche skills. Read more
On Newstalk ZB, Mike Hosking reviews Roger Partridge's latest NZ Herald article "The inconvenient questions over NZ's virus setback" and explains why it is important to read it.
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Wellington, 10 August 2020 - State-integrated schools are the best value for money compared with private and state schools, according to a new report by The New Zealand Initiative. Many parents want their kids to go to private schools. Read more
State-integrated schools offer best value for money compared to their private and public counterparts and on average students at state-integrated schools are likely to gain university entry qualifications. While the average student at a state school has a 30.5% chance of gaining UE, those at state-integrated schools had a 38.8% chance. Read more
Roger Partridge tells Corin Dann on Morning Report that border exemptions for critical workers have become a bit of a lottery. A survey among New Zealand Initiative members showed that large projects are stalling, major plant commissions are being deferred and senior executives and their families are marooned overseas. Read more
Wellington, 28 July 2020 – Should the government buy medicines for people who could afford the drugs themselves? This is one question asked in a new report by think tank The New Zealand Initiative. Read more
Following the release of his new report Pharmac: The right prescription?, Bryce Wilkinson talks to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB about the Pharmac funding model. Bryce says Pharmac deserves credits for lowering the costs of many medicines, but he raises questions about whether the government needs to pay for medicines for everyone. Read more
Wellington, 23 July 2020 – New Zealand needs to ‘raft up’ with other Covid-free countries while building stronger border capabilities, according to a new report by The New Zealand Initiative. And a voucher programme for helping returning Kiwis cover the cost of managed isolation could help New Zealand’s managed isolation system safely scale up. Read more
As we expect the Covid-19 pandemic to continue for many months if not years, we must find ways to re-engage with the world safely. Chief Economist Eric Crampton makes in a new report practical recommendations on how New Zealand can safely re-open our border. Read more