It is fashionable to see climate as the main threat to the future quality of life of young people today. The word “climate” is commonly followed by “crisis” or “emergency”. Read more
The Education and Training Act enshrines academic freedom in law. It distinguishes aspects of academic freedom over which the university itself has jurisdiction, from aspects that protect its students and academic staff from institutional interference. Read more
More than two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shattered the continent’s illusion of perpetual peace, Europe finds itself confronting a once-unthinkable question: is it time to bring back the draft? For decades, conscription seemed like a relic of a bygone era. Read more
I may have been the only New Zealander to raise a glass on Monday to the 300th birthday of Immanuel Kant. In our age of unreason, conspiracy theories and disinformation, we would do well to rediscover this Enlightenment philosopher. Read more
It is time we liberalised our Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) regulations. Benefits to New Zealand would include pest-resistant crops, more productive crops and fruit, sterile pines for forestry, reduced carbon emissions, reduced agricultural methane, better healthcare products, cheaper medication, and pest control. Read more
Shortly after the turn of the millennium, the gurus of progressive education coined the term twenty-first century learning. After all, what is the point of a new millennium if we don’t take the opportunity to try something new? Read more
New Zealand faces significant challenges in managing growth, delivering infrastructure, and improving the well-being of our communities. Our productivity performance has been dismal. Read more
In New Zealand, one of the most exciting education reforms in the world is quietly getting underway. Erica Stanford, the country’s new Education Minister, is on a mission to overhaul the education system from top to bottom – and she is leaving no stone unturned. Read more
For a few months after last year’s elections, Wellington consultancies seemed to be scrambling to publish reports on city deals. National’s coalition agreement with ACT promised long-term city deals for funding and financing infrastructure but was short on details. Read more
Both the prior Labour government and the current National-led coalition have wanted to deliver more affordable housing. But getting there is like trying to traverse an overgrown forest path. Read more
Imagine two farmers, each with a plot of land. One farmer finds ways to make his land just 1% more productive each year - a bit better irrigation, a new crop rotation strategy, or a slight improvement in fertiliser use. Read more
Under a better Resource Management system, there would be no need for fast-track approval processes. The fast process would simply be the process. Read more
There’s a weird art to commissioned cost-benefit assessments. Even when it seems like a report’s funder really wanted a particular result and even if the final number seems absurd, the report can still be valuable. Read more
When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand's first-world status was at stake. Read more
Once upon a time, it was the role of parliaments to make laws, governments to execute them, and the role of courts to uphold them. Civil Law jurisdictions, such as those in Europe, do not share the Anglosphere’s tradition of judge-made law (known as the ‘Common Law’). Read more