Once again, the Ministry of Education has shown that it prefers ideology to evidence. Last week, it published a Common Practice Model (CPM) – a model of teaching literacy and numeracy to be followed by teachers across the country. Read more
Anyone who has read Douglas Adams's excellent Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy knows about the Vogon race of Vogsphere – the galaxy’s natural bureaucrats. They’re officious and callous. Read more
New Zealand’s resource management system is a contradictory mess. At least, that is the impression you get reading a recent report commissioned by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission on the cost of climate consenting. Read more
In a liberal democracy, the police are crucial to maintaining order and enforcing the law. But recent incidents, such as the disruption of British feminist Posie Parker’s event in Auckland, have raised concerns about the police’s ability or willingness to carry out these duties impartially. Read more
In recent years, threats to freedom of speech have intensified. The Posie Parker brawl last Saturday is just the latest example in the culture war around free speech. Read more
Mike Hosking discusses the Initiative's media release about the consultation process for the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill that gave submitters less than 24 hours to respond, a timeframe that Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich has described as “outrageous.”
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In this week’s podcast, Oliver Hartwich and Michael Johnston are joined by visiting professor Dr Antje Barabasch to discuss vocational education and training, the Swiss dual education system, and the differences with the New Zealand system. Professor Dr Antje Barabasch is head of the research axe “Teaching and Learning in VET” and the research field “Learning cultures and instruction”. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 29 March 2023) – The New Zealand Initiative has damned the consultation process for the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill. It urges that the Bill be amended to force rigorous post-enactment scrutiny, with the legislation repealed by 30 September if that scrutiny does not take place. Read more
This submission in response to the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. Read more
Public servants jumping roles may have melted the Government's pay freeze. The policy that was introduced for high-paid public servants during the Covid-19 pandemic has now ended. Read more
In September 1969, hippies thronged to Auckland’s Albert Park to stand up for free speech, protest the Vietnam War, and enjoy the grass. It was part of a movement for free love and free minds that was sweeping the English-speaking world at the time. Read more
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is worried, and rightly so. His city is battling an invasion of road cones, and something must be done about it. Read more
Tokona Te Raki, an advocacy and research group for Māori issues, has recently released a report titled Kōkirihia. The report takes aim at the practice of streaming in our schools and pushes forward the bold suggestion to ban streaming by 2030. Read more
For a brief moment last year, it looked as if the Ministry of Education was finally going to embrace methods of teaching literacy and numeracy supported by scientific evidence. They published a new literacy and numeracy strategy that made reference to structured teaching methods. Read more
The National Party wants to see teachers get back to the basics with a bigger focus on reading, writing and maths. The party introduced its policy yesterday, including a standardised assessment of student progress for primary students. Read more