Nick is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, focusing on local government, resource management, and economic policy.
Nick brings 30 years of policy and advocacy experience both inside and outside government. He joins us after 19 years at Federated Farmers, as the National Policy Manager. Nick managed a team of policy advisors, and led work on economic policy, including fiscal, tax, monetary, banking, competition, and overseas investment policies.
He also worked extensively on local government policy issues and has been the administrator of the Local Government Business Forum, a grouping of national business organisations interested in local government policy issues.
Localism is a wonderful thing. I recommend it to any politician in opposition. Read more
In this episode, Eric talks to Nick Clark and Paul Melville about the illustrative national policy direction, the draft document that will put the detail into the two acts replacing the Resource Management Act. They go through what the draft gets right, including a presumption that people can use their land without unnecessary constraints, and where it falls short, from the exceptions that could undercut that presumption to the detail pushed down again into standards yet to be written. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY 1.1 The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the illustrative National Policy Direction (NPD) for the new planning system. Read more
Greater Manchester's 2014 devolution agreement included powers over transport, housing and skills, with matching funding. That was my model for New Zealand two years ago, in a research note for The New Zealand Initiative. Read more
Here is a paradox that ought to trouble ministers more than any single threat named in the NZSIS’s 2026 Security Threat Environment report, released in August. The New Zealand Government has never had more useful intelligence available to it than it does today. Read more
In this episode, Dr Eric Crampton talks to Nick Clark and new senior fellow Paul Melville about the two new acts replacing the Resource Management Act and what the new system gets right, including standardised zoning and a new Urban Land Market Officer. They also weigh up how much has been left for ministers to decide later, and where the acts could still end up in court. Read more
Five weeks out from an election, bottom lines are everywhere. Almost every minor party has one. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 23 September 2026) — Parliament has passed the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill, ending the Resource Management Act's 35-year reign. The New Zealand Initiative says the Acts settle the system's architecture but defer almost every decision about how it will behave to national direction that does not yet exist, to be written by whoever is the Minister after next year's election. Read more
Picture a councillor about to vote on whether her council should sell its shares in the local airport. Management tells her that voting one way could expose the council to legal risk. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the opportunity to submit on the Local Government (Management of Local Authorities) Amendment Bill. Read more
Imagine you run a business as a “dag crusher”. For those unfamiliar with the term, a “dag” is a dirty bit of wool attached to a sheep’s rear end. Read more
In this episode, Nick talks with Oliver Hartwich about how the 2026 election could break MMP from two sides. Oliver's latest research note traces Te Pāti Māori's call for supporters to split their votes, why current polling could leave National with an overhang, and how the absence of compensation for overhang seats in New Zealand, unlike the German system it copied, could produce a Parliament that does not match the popular vote. Read more
Suppose a business is deciding where to expand around Christchurch. It can compare rates and building consent performance in Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the opportunity to submit on the Draft Guidance on Regulations for Groups of Activities for Councils’ Planning and Reporting. Read more
Eric shows that, under the right ministers, the government’s replacement legislation should be an improvement on the existing RMA. But being better than the RMA is a very low bar. Read more