OPINION

Wellington City Council’s current leaking water woes epitomise the misplaced spending priorities of successive councils. Wellingtonians now face water rationing in their homes while they see vast quantities of leaked piped water escaping down streets and across pavements. Read more

Half a world away from New Zealand in the Red Sea, a small group is making a big splash in international relations theory and philosophy. The Houthis, already well known for their stunning flag design talents and progressive stance on ageist restrictions to military service, have awed the intellectual community once again. Read more

The New Year always brings the promise of a new beginning. But it also confronts us with last year’s headaches. Read more

Thank goodness New Zealand has an Auditor-General who takes his official responsibilities seriously. Last week, he released a damning assessment of recent ministerial processes for making funding decisions on two major infrastructure investment programmes. Read more

As 2023 draws to a close, we reflect on a transformative year for New Zealand’s political scene. The election ended Labour’s six-year reign and ushered in a new three-party coalition government under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Read more

The demise of the last Government’s Fair Pay Agreement legislation is a cautionary tale for policymakers. Death and taxes are sometimes called the only certainties. Read more

As 2023 draws to an end, it is time for a stocktake on the most significant geopolitical issue of the past couple of years: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At first, this unprovoked attack seemed to trigger a revival of Western unity and determination. Read more

On 5 December 1933, ninety years ago this week, America ended alcohol prohibition. Fourteen years of prohibition had reduced drinking, but at a terrible cost. Read more

Two decades ago, a new term – ‘PISA shock’ – entered the German lexicon. The Germans had prided themselves on a world-class education system. Read more

New Zealand is a long, narrow country with a very low population density. Air transport is expensive and passenger rail almost non-existent. Read more

The country’s education establishment has come out swinging. ‘Destructive,’ ‘weird,’ and ‘radical,’ are how the critics have described the Christopher Luxon-led Coalition Government’s education reform agenda. Read more

In the rugged landscapes of Thingvellir National Park, just outside Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, lies a reminder of a simpler time in governance. During a visit many years ago, I was struck not just by Thingvellir’s natural beauty but by its historical significance: Thingvellir was the site of Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to the 18th century. Read more

Economics enjoys the reputation of being the “dismal science”. And yes, there is hardly a policy in which economists cannot find a flaw. Read more

When it comes to politics, it is often easier to create new policies than to dismantle existing ones. Returning a scrambled egg to its original state would be an apt metaphor for the challenge facing Prime Minister Chris Luxon’s newly-formed coalition government in New Zealand. Read more

Every three years since 2000 - except during the Covid-19 pandemic - the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) has assessed the reading skill of 15-year-olds from an ever-increasing range of countries. From 2003, mathematics was assessed as well. Read more