Our executive director at the New Zealand Initiative, Oliver Hartwich, has always had a strange antique monkey’s paw on his desk. I never thought much of it – perhaps a bit creepy but maybe it’s normal for Germans. Read more
Last time you booked a hotel or restaurant, you may well have checked it out on TripAdvisor first. Whatever your price bracket, if a place was rated below about a three out of five, then the chances are you’ll have discounted it. Read more
Nearly a decade ago, I first encountered millennials’ strange fascination with avocados. A younger colleague in Sydney often prepared her office lunch with fresh avocado, spread thick across a slice of bread. Read more
A hard task for government is getting the books in order after a recession. A harder task is choosing how best to distribute tax revenue once stability is restored. Read more
Labour’s Grant Robertson and National’s Nicola Willis witnessed an animated debate about paying down debt Timing could not have been better when teams from the universities of Auckland and Wellington debated New Zealand’s debt strategy. Hours after the Government released its Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update, The New Zealand Initiative held the Grand Final of its Next Generation Debates. Read more
Sensible and drugs. Two words that used to be unlikely bedfellows. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative's Dr Randall Bess and Geoff Rowling from Our Fishing Future, speak to Radio New Zealand about the future of recreational fishing in New Zealand. Throughout August and September, Dr Bess will be travelling the country holding public meetings to gather feedback from local fishing communities and discuss the draft recommendations in his latest report, 'The Future Catch: Preserving Recreational Fisheries for the Next Generation'. Read more
Ahead of the Future of Recreational Fishing public meeting in Christchurch, Dr Randall Bess is interviewed on Newstalk ZB. On Wednesday 23 August he visits the Woolston Club to hear the ideas and opinions of the New Zealand recreational fishing community in Christchurch. Read more
To start this column with a disclaimer, I greatly respect Labour’s candidate for Ōhāriu, Greg O’Connor. Perhaps it is because the former Police Association president’s views remind me of my father, who was also a copper. Read more
Originally published in the Blenheim Sun. Read more
Two proposed taxes - on petrol and water - in her first week could have voters believing the new Leader of the Opposition has something against fluids. Any such fears, though, should have been relieved when Jacinda Ardern sent a tweet last week showing the contents of her liquor cabinet rival Winston Peters’. Read more
When Aesop told the fable of the Four Oxen and the Lion, and uttered the famous phrase “United we stand, divided we fall,” I doubt he was thinking about the plight of recreational fishers. But, as with any good fable, this lesson nevertheless holds true. Read more
Die Mutter aller WahlkämpfeNeuseelands neue Labour-Chefin Jacinda Ardern hat beste Chancen, Premierministerin zu werden. Noch vor kurzem interessierte sie das Amt nicht, weil sie eine Familie gründen wollte. Read more
I was nearly ready to blame the Government for all the things wrong with the country. But then at the weekend National kindly helped me to figure out which scapegoat deserves to be the target of my ire. Read more
Research Fellow Randall Bess talks on Radio Ngati Porou about the future of Recreational Fisheries and his latest report. Read more