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With security increasingly on the agenda of politicians, it’s a good time to ask whether New Zealand’s 5-year passport regime is adequate. Last year, the Taxpayers’ Union released an in-depth, comprehensive and well-rounded report prompting debate about the cost of New Zealand’s passports. Read more

When Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis visited his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin last week, there was a telling scene at their joint press conference. Schäuble, in trying to keep a diplomatic semblance of harmony despite the fundamental disagreements between the two governments, claimed that they had “agreed to disagree”. Read more

There are many things one might accuse the new Greek government of: scaring investors, breaching diplomatic protocol or rather odd sartorial choices. In fact, new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has ticked all those boxes in his first week in office. Read more

It turns out that you can both agree with Local Government New Zealand that we need to change how local government is financed, and with the Taxpayers’ Union that a lot of local governments could be more efficient. I think we can manage to hit both targets with one instrument in this case: fixing how local government is financed can help to make local government more efficient. Read more

There’s a lot to like in Local Government New Zealand’s report on local government finances. The report gets one very important thing right: It’s time that central government moved to tie local government finances more closely to local government performance to encourage development. Read more

Before Christmas, The Dominion Post asked why public sector pay “hardly ever come[s] down” and whether it has to follow international and corporate trends. It is a reasonable concern, especially for taxpayers who ultimately foot the salary, but is it as simple as the numbers suggest? Read more

Having become leader only a couple of months ago, there were great expectations for Andrew Little to spell out what Labour would focus on under his watch. He delivered in his ‘State of the Nation’ speech. Read more

There is nothing like a Kiwi summer to make you proud to be a New Zealander - from our pristine beaches, to our acres of green pastures, to the great sense of community that naturally forms in holiday parks and campgrounds across the country. There is something special about this land and its people that many of us feel is worth preserving. Read more

The contentious debate over foreign ownership has been heartily reignited, subsequent to Labour MP Stuart Nash questioning whether foreign investors are really adding value to the country. He has described the selling off of productive land to foreign investors who repatriate the profits overseas as a “dead end street” and is demanding greater transparency in the approval process of foreign investment applications. Read more

Ending the Swiss franc’s peg to the euro surprised market participants, analysts and commentators alike, including this writer. Unlike the introduction of the euro peg in 2011, which was flagged beforehand, the end of the measure was prepared in secret. Read more