We urgently need a conversation about education. Not the kind of ‘conversation’ the Ministry of Education typically convenes when it consults on new policy ideas. Read more
A recent report revealed that a third of 15-year-olds cannot read at a basic adult standard. Numeracy rates are similarly worrying, with many students battling to comprehend basic mathematics. Read more
There are many pressing problems facing New Zealand, but none more urgent than the decay of our once great education system. For more than two decades, the literacy and numeracy achievement of our young people has been declining. Read more
More families could receive a $72.50 a week tax credit, as part of a massive and fundamental change to the system, after a review of the $3 billion Working for Families tax credit system that ended last year. A review of the scheme, which currently supports just under 350,000 families with children, is before Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, and has found serious design issues in the way some of the tax credits are applied. Read more
“We all know what needs to be done,” former President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker once said. “We just don’t know how to get re-elected after we have done it.” A need for reform can be clear, but implementing such reform can still be a politically Herculean task that risks backfiring on the reformer. Read more
Recent Ministry of Education publications bring mātauranga Māori concepts into the school curriculum. While concepts like mauri, a Māori term meaning “vital essence” or “life force”, may have something to offer science as a reflection of ecosystem health or the “life-supporting capacity” of rivers, any interpretation that equated mauri with chemical properties, or as “the binding force between the physical and the spiritual”, had no place in the chemistry curriculum and proposals to incorporate traditional knowledge in science curricula need a lot more reflection, with nobody excluded from the conversation. Read more
Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB asks Finance Minister Grant Robertson about his thoughts on the points raised in Dr Bryce Wilkinson's latest report, Made by Government: New Zealand's Monetary Policy Mess.
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ast Thursday, most of New Zealand’s teachers were on strike. Teachers’ unions representatives say that the action was necessary to press their claim for better pay and working conditions. Read more
Inflation is a problem for the first time in 30 years. Property prices have whiplashed. Read more
No matter how good an idea, it takes time for the entire country to hear about it. But that time has now come for localism. Read more
You may recall New Zealand’s sixteen former Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) being merged to form the mega-Polytech, Te Pūkenga. But if you do, it is a false memory. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 16 March 2023) – A new report by The New Zealand Initiative examines the mess the Government/Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) have made of monetary policy. Inflation is once more a real problem, property prices have whiplashed and taxpayers have lost $9 billion. Read more
Mike Hosking discusses Roger Partridge's NZ Herald column about why a public service rethink is needed. Read more
Mike Hosking again discusses Roger Partridge's NZ Herald column about why a public service rethink is needed. Read more
Central banks, above all, are responsible for overseeing financial stability and controlling inflation. Many central banks, including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), have inadvertently fueled excessive inflation through their responses to Covid-19, resulting in massive losses on taxpayers. Read more