Our emphasis on strengthening these features of the Bill also reflects our view that it is desirable to allow local authorities to use risk management techniques to manage existing liabilities prudently rather than just at the time of borrowing. Read more
This paper is a critical review by the NZBR of the December 1994 report by Energetics Pty Ltd and George Wilkenfeld & Associates for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority of New Zealand. Read more
This study looks at the progress that has been made in improving the contribution of local government to community welfare and identifies areas where improvements still need to be made. Read more
All parties in the kiwifruit industry are seeking improved profitability, which would contribute to an increase in national income. This is the primary objective of the current industry review which is evaluating options “to maximise the profitability of those in the industry and the net benefits to New Zealand.” Read more
Last month there was a spate of commentaries marking the anniversary of the election of the Labour government in 1984 and reviewing a decade of change in New Zealand. There was overwhelming agreement that the changes were mostly for the better and that the clock would not be turned back. Read more
Unemployment is unacceptably high in New Zealand. Although it is now falling sharply, on the latest figures 8.4 percent of the reported labour force is still without employment. Read more
It is unrealistic to ask at this early stage whether the Resource Management Act has been a “success”. We still to a very large extent in transition from one regime to another. Read more
This report addresses the question of what should become of New Zealand's minimum wage law. Read more
I have been asked to review issues raised by the International Labour Organisation ('the ILO') in response to a complaint ('the complaint') dated 8 February 1993 made by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions ('the NZCTU'). In substance the complaint is that the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (NZ) ('the Act'), which came into operation on 15 May 1991, does not accord with principles adopted by the ILO in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Read more
A year ago the New Zealand Business Roundtable published the ACIL report Agricultural Marketing Regulation: Reality versus Doctrine. Since then its conclusions have been widely debated and there have been developments in each of the five major industries studied. Read more
The 93,000 kilometre roading network is one of the New Zealand’s most expensive assets. In the absence of any official estimate, informed observers put its depreciated replacement cost at around $60 billion. Read more
The authors analyse three reform proposals to the 1992 system of government: the replacement of the first-past-the-post electoral system with proportional representation, the reintroduction of a second chamber of parliament and increased use of referenda. The study assesses whether such reforms would improve the workings of government. Read more