Government is present in most aspects of our lives. It taxes and spends more than a third of our economic output. It employs hundreds of thousands of people. It regulates the way New Zealanders can work, travel, do business, and interact with one another.
Our research focuses on the how the will of Parliament interacts with society, whether legislation is fit for purpose, and whether certain policy settings can be improved.
For examples of our work in this field, read our report on government efficiency Fit for Purpose? (2018), our recommendations for regulatory reform, or Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Costs(2015).
In our submission to the Ministry of Transport on transport emissions - pathways to net zero by 2050, we support the commitment to lower emissions and our national emissions targets. MoT’s strategy to reduce transport emissions is incompatible with national targets. 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
Read our submission to the Ministry for the Environment on phasing out fossil fuels in process heat. The New Zealand Initiative fully supports New Zealand’s emissions targets. Read more
Here is our submission to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee on the inquiry into congestion pricing in Auckland. We broadly support the analysis and recommendations provided in the “The Congestion Question: Main Findings” (the Report). 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
About a year ago, North American friends started looking to New Zealand as an early glimpse of their own potential post-Covid world. They were still stuck in lockdowns; we had emerged from ours. Read more
Two cars pull up to a traffic light. One is a farmer in his trusty ute. Read more
Last week's protests by farmers show it is only a matter of time until the Government's punitive approach on emissions will fail. With each new policy the Government is burning political capital at a faster rate than it is cutting emissions. Read more
In my book, governments that do not publish a competent cost-benefit assessment justifying their spending and regulatory proposals do not take community wellbeing seriously.(Only if the wellbeing benefits plausibly exceed the costs is the policy likely to benefit the public.) The absence of such an assessment is now common. It suggests that a measure is being imposed on the public for partisan or elitist, paternalistic reasons. Read more
When opposition parties produce policy documents, they can be overly simplistic and populist. They can be unrealistic because they do not have to be implemented straight away. Read more
