Heritage buildings help make New Zealand’s cities and towns beautiful. While foreign visitors might snicker that an eighty-year-old building has heritage value, the art deco styles in our small towns are jewels. Read more
With regulations in Auckland controlling the minimum size of new apartments and requiring all newly built apartments to have balconies, is it time to move outside to the gardens? When more and more junk food is thrust upon us each day, it has never been so important for tenants and home owners alike to have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Read more
Imagine if the New Zealand Rugby Union’s collective agreement with players mirrored the agreements negotiated by the teachers’ unions. The pay scale for teachers has all teachers starting on more or less the same salary, and stepping up in small increments over seven years or so to a fixed maximum. Read more
It is bad enough when the government compulsorily acquires your house for a public purpose, like building a road or railway line. Sure, the government will hopefully pay a bit more than the going market rate for the property. Read more
The Overseas Investment Act 2005 is a piece of national legislation doused in controversy. It is complex, time-consuming, and difficult to navigate. Read more
The first rule of journalism is that “dog bites man” is not news. But “man bites dog” is worth a news story, an editorial demanding government do something about it, and an in depth feature exploring the motivations of the biter. Read more
Replace the word London for Auckland and you could be forgiven for thinking that The Economist was writing a lament about housing affordability in New Zealand’s biggest city. In an article titled “Little London”, the magazine notes that soaring property prices are dragging on the city’s economy. Read more
History offers great value in learning. But sometimes its lessons are too difficult to understand and apply – even for those who have written the history books. Read more
History offers great value in learning. But sometimes its lessons are too difficult to understand and apply – even for those who have written the history books. Read more
Remember social bonds? Or Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) as they are known internationally? Read more
Many of New Zealand’s future surgeons, scientists and teachers are right now sitting in front of an adult charged with teaching them the skills and knowledge that will help them in their post-school careers. In this way, would it be far-fetched to conclude that teachers have one of the most important jobs in New Zealand? Read more
Donald Trump is a demagogue and a proud ignoramus. Knowing nothing of the detail of policy, even in its broadest take, would be bad enough. Read more
This was one of the main messages in The New Zealand Initiative's latest report on public health regulations. Shocking as it is. Read more
Nothing is worse than politicians running out of ideas. Or to say it in the famous words of Abraham Maslow, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” In the case of politicians, the hammer is the power to tax and the nails are all the problems that are coming their way. Read more
The New Zealand Treasury has a vision. It is to be “a world-class Treasury working for higher living standards for New Zealanders”. Read more
