REPORTS

Closing his 2020 Budget speech, Finance Minister Grant Robertson looked back to the First and Fourth Labour governments for lessons on how to tackle New Zealand’s current economic challenges. His first history lesson was that the way forward today lay in the “great traditions of the First Labour Government” (1935–49) that “rebuilt New Zealand after the Great Depression” under Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage. Read more

Government policies should be judged by the outcomes they deliver for people who need public support. This report has described a fundamentally different funding model for public services which gives control and responsibility to recipients of support services. Read more

Providing future generations with rivers and aquifers at least as clean as our generation found them requires durable freshwater management systems that can stand the test of time. Regulatory measures can improve outcomes for now. Read more

Last week, on Monday 9 August, very cold weather over most of the country meant national electricity demand reached a record high. About 35,000 consumers (1.75% of consumers) experienced power outages between 7 – 9 pm. Read more

The personal grievance provisions of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA) prevent an employer from firing an employee without good cause. Instead, dismissals must be justified. Read more

The purpose of secondary schooling varies depending on who you ask. For many parents, educators, and education professionals, schooling is meant to transmit the most ‘powerful’ knowledge that exists. Read more

Pressure to intervene in the rental market is growing. The government’s new housing package, announced in March of this year, will increase rents and reduce the supply of rental accommodation to the detriment of many. Read more

The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) uses prices to lower emissions. The scheme launched in New Zealand in 2008 and it is now one of the best-designed schemes in the world. Read more

On Tuesday morning, 23 March 2021, the Government announced a set of housing policies that, among other things would substantially change the tax treatment of interest payments on residential investment properties. The changes to tax policy are substantial. Read more

The year 2020 was one none of us will forget in a hurry. Lives were put on hold. Read more

A well-functioning education system that delivers good outcomes for all is essential to New Zealand's future prosperity and the wellbeing of its people. However, there have been a number of recent reports highlighting our declining educational performance. Read more

The political ‘buck passing’ of the responsibility for unaffordable housing by successive governments in New Zealand has created extremely expensive housing markets in cities such as Auckland and Wellington – and a national housing crisis. Auckland is the sixth least affordable city among 92 major global housing markets, according to the 2020 Demographia housing survey. Read more

Thanks to the work of successive climate change ministers from David Parker to James Shaw, New Zealand has a world-leading Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). We should rely on it to drive down our carbon emissions, argues the Initiative’s executive director Dr Oliver Hartwich. Read more

On 24 November, the Helen Clark Foundation and the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research released a joint report (the HCF&NZIER report) outlining an inclusive growth agenda for New Zealand. Its recommendation on the minimum wage is concerning and risks hurting the most vulnerable. Read more

New Zealand has long struggled with housing affordability. Since 2000, real house prices nearly trebled. Read more