New Zealand has faced many crises. Few have inspired such quiet resolve as the campaign to save our most productive soils from houses. Read more
It matters in its own right, as part of the basic bundle of civic, economic, and personal freedoms that we all should be able to enjoy. The State has no place in the bedrooms of the nation, and it shouldn’t have much place in its boardrooms either. Read more
Appointments to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court come down to a list of no more than three names. Who decides which names make the list is not straightforward, even if you have read the relevant statute. Read more
Donald Trump’s second term has given Europe one fight after another. Tariffs, Greenland, Ukraine and Iran have all had their turn. Read more
Ten years ago, Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler asked me to speak at the Auckland launch of A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand, their first draft. They knew I would not endorse their proposal, which speaks well of them. Read more
Our dollar has fallen a lot since 24 August. On 30 September it was down 6% against the US dollar, 3.2% against the Australian dollar and 4.8% against the Reserve Bank's basket of currencies. Read more
Imagining 19th-century schooling might bring to mind characters like Thomas Gradgrind from Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times. Gradgrind was a disciplinarian, obsessed with drilling facts into pupils' resistant brains. Read more
Five weeks out from an election, bottom lines are everywhere. Almost every minor party has one. Read more
Might the plunge in the value of the New Zealand dollar in the last five weeks make you poorer? The reason for asking is that, on 29 September, a New Zealand dollar bought 5.1% fewer US dollars than on 24 August, 3.1% fewer Australian dollars and 4.6% fewer units of the Reserve Bank’s basket of currencies. Read more
If Labour forms government after the election, it will forgive a portion of some student loans. The policy announced on Sunday aims to leave graduates “with less debt, more of their income in their pocket, and a better chance to build their lives here in New Zealand.” The policy will certainly reduce the outstanding student loan balances of eligible borrowers. Read more
This month’s big housing story was not the Reserve Bank’s rate rise, whatever the media coverage suggested. Mortgage rate rises, the effect on house prices, whether the spring market will stall – all of it was reported, correctly, as housing news. Read more
The Commerce Act forbids anticompetitive conduct. There are established processes for proving that commercial conduct is unlawful, with penalties and remedies that follow. Read more
When law firms advise foreign clients on investing in New Zealand, they usually include some version of the same paragraph. It describes the country as a stable democracy with independent courts, secure property rights and predictable politics, and for decades nobody had to think twice before writing it. Read more
Over the past couple of months, we have heard mounting alarm from business leaders about this election campaign. They are asking whether New Zealand still welcomes people willing to invest here. Read more
Last week, Labour announced its flagship education policy for the election. If it wins in November, it will introduce a new statutory authority, called the Independent Council for Curriculum and Assessment (ICCA). Read more