Reports & Media

Hamas’s actions last weekend were abhorrent, vile, and unjustifiable. It does not matter if your sympathies lie with Palestine or Israel. Read more

With the New Zealand election just a day away, the closeness of the race is astonishing. It is especially so when one considers the social and economic turmoil the country faces. Read more

In Amusing Ourselves to Death, the American cultural critic and media commentator Neil Postman argued that television had debased public discourse. His central thesis rested on the idea that television, with its emphasis on soundbites and sensationalism, reduced even the weightiest of matters to mere trivialities. Read more

Winston Churchill is often wrongly credited with saying that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. If a modern-day Churchill sought an argument against democracy, he could easily find one in New Zealand’s election campaigns. Read more

With only a few days left until New Zealand’s general election, you might think the outcome should be easy to predict. Many polls have shown that New Zealanders think the country is on the wrong path. Read more

Pro-housing policy generally tries to find ways of outflanking NIMBYs – the Not In My BackYard objectors to new development. It’s an approach well-supported in academic research and reflected in New Zealand policy. Read more

As a proud Canadian, I am occasionally compelled to draw Kiwis’ attention to the wonderful service that my homeland provides to the world. The election here has been tedious. Read more

In 1981, the German electronic band Kraftwerk released a song called Pocket Calculator. At the time, affordable calculators were a recent phenomenon. Read more

October 15 cannot come soon enough, and not just because of a potential Rugby World Cup showdown between the All Blacks and Ireland. Like many, I have found Election 2023 a tedious affair. Read more