For many online, the mysterious activities of the NZ First Foundation raise serious concerns and the National Party must answer them…
Read MoreTurning the NZ First Foundation fiasco back on National is hilarious and sad
Democracy and Referendum
It’s a referendum. Whether or not the End of Life Choice Bill will come into effect or not will be finally decided by the general public in a referendum to be held along with the general election next year. I thoroughly approve of that process, especially as voters will be in no doubt as to what they are approving. There will also be a vote on whether or not to legalise cannabis for recreational purposes. Again a draft Bill will be available.
Read MoreLess haste, more beef, please
Andrew Little’s law change to stop foreign influence in New Zealand elections really won’t do very much. So it probably shouldn’t be raced into law so quickly.
Read MoreWe simply declined your application; we didn't cut off your grant.
Creative New Zealand is ceasing to fund “New Zealand Review of Books: Pukapuka Aotearoa”, our most significant platform for serious book reviewing.
Read MoreThe Neglect, or, the new cosmogony of the Labour government
All cultures and faiths require a creation myth to help make sense of the world. Things are no different for this government and its supporters. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to see how the internal narrative of the sixth Labour government continues to evolve as it is revised.
Read MoreBritain’s Labour Tragedy
Britain wants a revolution, just not Corbyn’s revolution.
Read MoreLabour Conference Delegates - check your hubris at the door
Labour head in to their annual conference this weekend, and their Party members are likely to be feeling pretty confident about their chances of returning to Government in 2020.
However, it would be smart for them to keep their hubris in check by taking a quick trip across the ditch, where the Australian Labor Party (the ALP) thought they would too romp home at their election.
Read MorePrisoner voting ban: not required; not not required
Of all the things we strip away from prisoners during the term of their incarceration, the vote seems like a pretty small thing.
Read MoreThe Capital of Banks
The desire of the Reserve Bank to require trading banks to hold more capital is about potential bank failures and the security of deposits.
Read MoreThe monarchy is illegitimate, so we should keep it
At best, the royal family are out of touch and irrelevant to our concerns. At worst they are, well, much worse than that. But that doesn’t detract from the essential strength of the monarchy. In fact, it kind of underlines it.
Read MoreThe Tragedy of Privatisation
Should business always be run on commercial principles?
Read MoreJacinda Ardern's Crisitunity
The NZ First donations fiasco presents Jacinda Ardern with a real problem - and a serious opportunity.
Read MoreThe NZ First Foundation: a story with no happy ending
Revelations about the funding relationship between the New Zealand First Party and the New Zealand First Foundation suggest that either our election law has been broken, or that law itself is broken and needs fixed.
Read MoreTVNZ and RNZ: A future for public broadcasting
Of the options in currently front of the Minister of Broadcasting, creating a new public broadcasting entity from RNZ and TVNZ is the most interesting. But are we clear on what we mean by public broadcasting? NB. For those following my blogs on the third way - this is not one in the series.
Read MoreWell, that's just, like, your religion, man...
You can’t expect religious New Zealanders to embrace secular government while attacking them for making secular arguments in policy debates.
Read Moreassisted suicide: that nagging feeling
For me, the death penalty cannot be countenanced as an ordinary part of the justice system because, no matter how stringent the checks and balances, the risk of wrongful execution cannot be eliminated. Those concerns carry no less weight in the case of assisted suicide.
Read MoreIt's not the quid pro quo that's the problem, it's the personal interest
The impeachment hearings have fractured the Republicans’ defence of Donald Trump, but their second position that presidential quid pro quos are no big deal ignore one important difference about this president
Read MoreIs there a constituency for the Sustainable New Zealand Party?
The path ahead for Sustainability New Zealand looks rocky, not because of ingrained left-right ideologies, budgets or green politics… but because of confirmation bias
Read MoreAuthoritarian populism, the third way and the future of social democratic politics. Blog #7
Authoritarian populists can be found in governments throughout the democratic world. Where did they come from, can they be resisted and did the third way clear the way for populists to triumph?
Read MoreNo longer an operational matter: Armed police now must become a political decision
Now that the police’s new Armed Response Teams are being used for “lower risk” events and not just “critical or high risk incidents” and the government’s top justice advisor has stated police have probably made their minds up already on their ‘trial’, the arming of police has become a political hot potato government ministers can’t dodge
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