Is New Zealand destined to suffer the civil unrest of Chile with its youth concerns that things are not going well, that they are not being addressed, and that their future is being severely compromised?
Read MoreMike Bush as Dirty Harry: Well, do ya trust him, punk?
All year - before and after the Christchurch mosque murders - Police Commissioner Mike Bush insisted he had no plans to routinely arm police officers. So why, this week, has he just put routinely armed teams on the streets to police a third of all New Zealanders?
Read MoreThe Three Year Term is Too Short
The three year term has done its dash and in more complex times it’s time to change
Read MoreProgressive Pragmatists - New Zealand Labour and the Third Way. Blog #6
New Zealand Labour has the distinction of being a first, second and third way party. Sometimes all at once! But did it fully implement a third way platform? Maybe not. Maybe it is time to look again at what the third way, with its focus on civil society/community, has to offer. .
Read MoreAre We Doing Enough for Those on Low Incomes?
The IMF suggests it may be necessary to cut GST; it would be better to cut bottom income taxes.
Read MoreLessons from Labour’s Wellington Mayoralty Loss.
Justin Lester’s loss of the Wellington mayoralty may provide some lessons for Labour at a national level.
Read MoreReorganising the Governance of DHBs.
Electing local representatives to the governance boards of our hospitals is ineffective and farcical. We need a system which provides patients with better representation and support.
Read MoreFixing the local government snooze-fest
Why is there so little voter interest in local government elections? And how do we fix it?
Read More'Why Don't We Celebrate the Arrival of Tupaia in New Zealand?'
James Cook arrived in New Zealand accompanied by an impressive Tahitian chief and priest. Eurocentrically writing Tupaia out of our history distorts it and loses valuable lessons.
Read MoreBehind the Census
Data from the newly released augmented 2018 Population Census seems to be OK in quality terms. But there are some irritating gaps – and perhaps deeper problems..
Read MoreLike Saturn, the Revolution devours its children
It turns out that the real enemy of free speech in New Zealand is local government corporatisation. Who is going to tell Don Brash, Stephen Franks and Jordan Williams?
Read MoreThe Speaker did what now?
The Speaker has applied a silly rule to stop National making fun of Labour MPs on Facebook. That’s largely Simon Bridges' fault.
Read MoreIn Praise of Dictators – Those Under the Control of Representative Democracy.
A British Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, described parliamentary democracy as an ‘elected dictatorship’. Recent events illustrate how right he was.
Read MoreTwo cheers for capitalism – Fiji redux
Reflections on small kindnesses, resort life and capitalism’s pros and cons after a week in Fiji
Read MorePlaying the question, not the ball
If the public are to decide whether to permit aid in dying in New Zealand, they should be asked a proper question. And that question is, do they want the only law that is on offer?
Read MoreJohn Tamihere's 'sieg heil' lets Phil Goff off the hook on his claimed ban
Phil Goff has been in court and on the ropes over his false claims to have banned two alt right speakers from Council venues last year, but now John Tamihere has gone and shot himself in the foot. Again
Read MoreWhat Happened to Egalitarian New Zealand?
New Zealand is a less egalitarian society today than it was when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Read MoreIf only the Czar knew…
Jacinda Ardern is getting the benefit of the doubt over claims of sexual assault by a Labour Party staffer, just as the Czars did in olden-days Russia. But facts will out and so far her actions have hardly screamed leadership
Read MorePrivate Affluence and Public Squalor?
What does National’s just-released economic manifesto tell us about the state of economic discussion in New Zealand and where the economy might go?
Read MoreThe “Moderniser”. Tony Blair on the Third Way. The Giddens Project Blog #5
British Prime Minister Tony Blair saw himself as a ‘moderniser’. New Labour was his answer to the challenges of modernity. But, despite his best efforts, he remained stuck in the past.
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