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Australians could be forgiven for not closely following the leadership contest of the British Labour Party. After all, what is the point of studying the internal debates of a party that has just suffered a crushing election defeat in a general election and now faces five long years on the opposition bench? Read more

If the irate masses on the internet value African conservation efforts and the survival of wild species like lion, they need to sign a petition calling for Ricky Gervais to be shot, stuffed and mounted on a trophy room wall. Although it sounds extreme, it is the only reasonable call to make based on the internet’s need to publicly flagellate anyone deemed to be hurting animals, and the actual economic facts of how trophy hunting works in Africa. Read more

If recent media reports can be believed, Angela Merkel has decided to run for a fourth term in 2017. This will come as a surprise to those who had speculated that the German Chancellor might resign sometime before the next election. Read more

Last week’s ‘A More Inclusive New Zealand Forum’ brought together government, NGO and community representatives to discuss how to promote social and economic participation. The purpose was to get a variety of expertise in the room from economists, to policy wonks, to those working on the ground. Read more

Central government is squandering billions of dollars of householders’ income. It is doing so simply because it lacks the incentive to assess value for money with sufficient rigour. Read more

When you are in a hole, you should stop digging. What sounds like timeless advice apparently does not apply in the eurozone. Read more

Now that the Greek banks have re-opened, the third bailout package is on the way and something vaguely resembling normalcy is returning to Greece, we can finally deal with other things again: the euro crisis, for example. You may object that what kept us so excited, frightened and busy over the past few months was the euro crisis. Read more

As readers of this column will be aware, I am not Angela Merkel’s greatest fan. Nor do I think that her strategy on Greece has been particularly successful. Read more