American libertarian author and satirist P.J. O’Rourke used to joke that “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” The problem really is one of trust. Read more
Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister for most of 1968 through 1984, and father of the current Canadian Prime Minister, had a wonderful quip about being neighbours with the United States. In a 1969 state visit with President Nixon in Washington, Trudeau said, “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. Read more
The Future of Our Universities is now in the past. The long-awaited symposium, hosted by the Initiative, took place on Wednesday at the Royal Society Apārangi in Wellington. Read more
Barrister Gary Judd KC’s complaint to the Regulatory Review Committee has sparked a fierce debate about the place of tikanga Māori – or Māori customs, values and spiritual beliefs – in the law. Judd opposes the New Zealand Council of Legal Education’s plans to make teaching tikanga compulsory in the legal curriculum. Read more
While instant gratification reigns supreme and attention spans are shorter than a Tik-Tok video, the grand old game of test cricket finds itself, like the New Zealand economy, on a sticky wicket. The rise of T20, with its frenetic pace, flashy uniforms, and pyrotechnic displays has left the traditional five-day format looking as outdated as a record player. Read more
The Government plans to implement road pricing tools like congestion charging and toll roads. This will be an important first step in establishing a more rational transport system. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Dr Murray Horn, former Secretary of the New Zealand Treasury and former CEO of ANZ. They talk about the fiscal challenges facing the new government as it prepares its first budget amidst high inflation, recession, and mounting debt. Read more
For the past six years, I have had the privilege of writing this Newsroom column on any Europe-related topic. While some may appear obscure at first, I always choose topics that I think New Zealanders can benefit from knowing more about. Read more
Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away. Read more
Social media use is ubiquitous. Young people, especially, are relying on it for social interaction, sometimes to the near exclusion of offline friendships. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative has taken advantage of the tumultuous media landscape and branched out this week into news coverage. Your faithful reporter’s first task was covering the approval of the Wellington City District plan by the Minister for RMA Reform. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to John Morris, ONZM, an educator and a former footballer who represented NZ on an international level. They discuss the decline of New Zealand's school system in recent decades and the difficulties in reforming it. Read more
In this podcast episode, James talks Professor Abhishek Saha about the state of academic freedom and free speech in UK universities. They discuss the newly passed Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act, its key provisions, and its potential impact on protecting the right of academics and students to express diverse viewpoints without fear of censorship or repercussions. Read more
New Zealand has an infrastructure deficit of at least $100 billion, a huge amount for a small country and a significant drag on productivity and economic growth. Not all of this can be financed from within New Zealand, meaning a need for overseas investment. Read more
1.1 This submission, in response to the Controller and Auditor-General’s report Making Infrastructure Investment Decisions Quickly (2023), is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative). The Initiative is a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. Read more