As a newcomer to New Zealand, one of the biggest surprises to me was the degree of polarisation I perceived in its political discourse. In the complex world of 21st century globalisation the way in which debates are still conducted as "Left versus Right" is not only anachronistic. Read more
A new independent, non-partisan public policy think tank was launched today by Business Roundtable chair Roger Partridge and New Zealand Institute chair Tony Carter, following the merger of the two organisations on 1 April. The new think tank has been named The New Zealand Initiative. Read more
New Zealand’s youth are more disadvantaged than youth in other OECD countries on average, the disadvantage is strongly concentrated in Māori and there is no convincing sign of improvement trends. Read more
A joint submission by the Major Electricity Users’ Group and the New Zealand Business Roundtable on the 2012-13 appropriations for electricity efficiency appropriation. Read more
A submission on the Spending Cap (People's Veto) Bill to require a voter referendum to approve any real per capita increase in core Crown operating spending and proposed strengthening measures. Read more
Prime minister John Key observed that the 2011 election was about the economy. Business people are looking to the incoming government to address critical weaknesses in our economy and implement policies to boost economic growth. Read more
A submission by the New Zealand Business Roundtable on the Auckland Council's Draft Plan. Read more
The Taskforce has produced a report and draft Bill of exceptional quality. The Bill provides the best current option for improving regulatory quality, even though on its own it is no panacea. Read more
The affordability of housing is an important issue. The quantity, quality and price of housing services obtained through owner-occupation, renting and other arrangements are vital for the overall welfare of all New Zealanders. Read more
The Business Roundtable supports well-conceived law regulating cartel conduct. However, for the reasons explained in our March 2010 submission on the earlier Ministry of Economic Development discussion document, we are opposed to criminalisation. Read more
More ladders, fewer snakes proposes that accelerated roll-out of e-learning to low decile schools and improving the school-to-work transition will materially reduce youth unemployment and resulting social issues. Read more
A submission by the New Zealand Business Roundtable to members of the 2011 Emissions Trading Scheme Review Panel. Read more
This is a submission by the Major Electricity Users’ Group and the New Zealand Business Roundtable on the paper “Gazetting New Zealand’s 2050 Emissions Target - Minister’s Position Paper” released 29th January 2011 by the Minister for Climate Change Issues along with a media release “50 by 50 emissions reduction target proposed”. Read more
We see the issue of welfare dependency and welfare costs as hugely important – economically, fiscally and socially. The WWG’s work should be seen in the context of the precarious current economic situation, with an anaemic GDP growth outlook and dangerous external vulnerabilities due to very high foreign indebtedness. Read more
Plugging the gap proposes 14 policy directions to improve the success of internationalising New Zealand businesses. Internationalisation performance improvement will accelerate growth in high value exports and lift prosperity. Read more