The government's latest Resource Management Act (RMA) consultation promises improvements to a broken system. The proposals for new national directions for infrastructure, the primary sector, and freshwater raise a critical question: are they preparing the ground for a property-rights-based resource management system or merely tinkering at the edges? Read more

Who knew that fixing something that works would become New Zealand’s signature planning move? In 1988, New Zealand boasted 453 special purpose governance entities. Read more

Parliament faces tighter constraints when it wants to spend money than when it wishes to regulate. The Regulatory Standards Bill would set the two on slightly more equal footing. Read more

This week, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee is hearing oral submissions on the government’s Regulatory Standards Bill. I support the Bill, most submitters oppose it. Read more