New Zealand’s education system is in a state of deep malaise. For more than two decades, the literacy and numeracy achievement of our young people has been declining. Read more
Hate speech is back on the Parliamentary agenda for 2023. Justice Minister Kiri Allan’s slimmed down reform proposals are expected to pass into law before the election. Read more
When the government broke for the summer, Prime Minister Ardern told her Cabinet to cut its legislative cloth to suit the government’s election-year capacity. The government was attempting complex reform of the resource management system, council water infrastructure, and the entire health system. Read more
Going public with a complaint against your employer is always difficult. But enough is enough. Read more
New Zealand is small and relatively young, but it has a rich history that can help us think through today’s problems. Unfortunately, we often ignore the lessons of the past. This historical amnesia has a cost, even if it is difficult to quantify. Read more
I hated sitting exams at school and university. I would break out in sweats and get the shakes. Read more
FIRST PUBLISHED OCT 31, 2022 Updated Jan 19, 2023 In June 2020, the Labour government strengthened New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme, ensuring it would be effective in getting the country to net zero by 2050. The government then promptly forgot how an Emissions Trading Scheme works – if it ever understood the ETS in the first place. Read more
FIRST PUBLISHED OCT 31, 2022 Updated Jan 19, 2023 Jacinda Ardern swept to office in 2017 on the back of public anger over New Zealand’s long-simmering housing crisis. Rightly or wrongly, there was a perception that the previous National government had failed to address the problem. Read more
FIRST PUBLISHED OCT 31, 2022 Updated Jan 19, 2023 It was an exciting night in New Zealand politics. With bated breath I waited for Winston Peters, the perennial kingmaker in the country’s proportional representation system, to announce which of the two major parties would govern. Read more
FIRST PUBLISHED OCT 31, 2022 Updated Jan 19, 2023 It is tempting to look at the usual economic indicators when evaluating a government’s performance at the end of a Prime Minister’s run ... employment, growth, inflation, and maybe the exchange rate. Read more
In this week's podcast The New Zealand Initiative's chief economist, Dr Eric Crampton, chats with Christian van der Pump about building regulations, fire safety and the causes of 'market failure' in the building industry. Christian van der Pump is a professional engineer with qualifications in chemistry, engineering and economics. Read more
Government clean car scheme breaks EV records, but ‘Ute Tax’ may need to rise to pay for discounts. New Zealand broke two records for electric vehicles in the month of December, capping off a year of surging demand for clean cars. Read more
It is the time of the year when people reflect on the past year and wonder what the new year will have in store. So let’s take stock of 2022. Read more
In May 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill led Britain to victory. He was celebrated as a hero, but only two months later, the Brits elected a new Parliament and a new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. Read more
This submission in response to the Grocery Industry Competition Bill is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. The Initiative has been actively involved in the Commerce Commission’s market study process investigating retail grocery competition. Read more