Parliament faces tighter constraints when it wants to spend money than when it wishes to regulate. The Regulatory Standards Bill would set the two on slightly more equal footing. Read more
Who knew that fixing something that works would become New Zealand’s signature planning move? In 1988, New Zealand boasted 453 special purpose governance entities. Read more
This week, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee is hearing oral submissions on the government’s Regulatory Standards Bill. I support the Bill, most submitters oppose it. Read more
The Netherlands has long been Europe’s model of commercial pragmatism. Its business leaders built their fortunes on free trade, open markets, and meticulous efficiency. Read more
Supreme Court Matters: Revolution by Judicial Decree A Review of Professor Peter Watts KC’s “Ellis v R: A Revolution in Aotearoa New Zealand, Welcome or Not” Revolutions conjure images of violent uprisings, the storming of institutions, and the forcible overthrow of existing orders. But constitutional foundations can be destroyed through more subtle means. Read more
The way the government went about rolling back 33 pay equity claims lodged under the last government’s Pay Equity legislation was clumsy at best. The changes were made under urgency and applied retrospectively. Read more
A book currently climbing the German bestseller charts caught my attention recently, not least because its title poses a question that seems at once paradoxical and profound. Jan Loffeld’s Wenn nichts fehlt, wo Gott fehlt (“When nothing is missing where God is missing”) examines a growing phenomenon across Western societies that transcends conventional secularisation. Read more
Activist organisations have an important place in democracy. Politicians must negotiate public opinion, media narratives and coalition agreements. Read more
Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop released his Going for Housing Growth discussion document last month, promising a new paradigm for planning in New Zealand. The proposals are the latest waypoint in a reform journey spanning nearly a decade. Read more
Future historians may seek to understand why early 21st century New Zealand struggled to get value from its infrastructure spending. They will need to look no further than Auckland's achievement in speed bump construction and subsequent destruction. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative mourns the passing of our esteemed Adjunct Senior Fellow, Emeritus Professor Des Gorman, who died peacefully at home on 2 July 2025, surrounded by his family. Des was a towering figure in New Zealand medicine and a passionate advocate for health reform. Read more
Rotterdam's port moves 460 million tonnes of cargo each year. That is roughly equivalent to shifting the entire population of Earth sixty times over. Read more
It is legal to buy books. Obviously. Read more
The New Zealand Law Society’s new report, Strengthening the Rule of Law in Aotearoa New Zealand, runs to more than eighty pages, includes seventy-eight recommendations, and reflects a considerable investment of time and goodwill. Its aims are noble: to bolster constitutional integrity, improve access to justice, and promote respect for the rule of law. Read more
The New Zealand Association of Economists’ annual conference is unlike other academic conferences and better for it. The Association’s membership spans academics, officials, consultants and a few think-tankers. Read more