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New Zealand has got itself into a right proper muddle over methane emissions and their impact on climate change. A simple change to the proposed legislation would sort it out.
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. However, methane from livestock is measured gross.
Read MoreThe issues surrounding child uplift are complex, but we won't make progress without a better understanding of whānau and the tikanga behind it.
Later this month, thousands of people are expected to march to parliament as part of the #HandsOffOurTamaraki movement. At its heart, the movement is about preserving whānau and demanding that the state stop removing children from their whānau, hapū and iwi.
Read MoreMany foreign appointments to leading public agencies have proved disappointing. Is that inevitable?
The discussion on the quality of economic advice, which we reported last week, has spilled over into a discussion about whether so many senior appointments should be of non-New Zealanders. Recall I discussed the failure to develop career paths within the New Zealand public service.
Read MoreConscience and consultation are good paths through the mire of emotional and controversial policies such as euthanasia. But referendums are key to ensuring voters are heard
The End of Life bill has been read a second time and is now heading for the House for further debate. Personally, I support the proposal. I don't ever expect to take advantage of the Bill's provisions myself, but as I see this is it my life – inasmuch as it is possible, how I end it should be my decision and mine alone.
Read MoreThe kerfuffle over the budget leaks precipitated a public exposure of a simmering concern about the quality of Treasury’s work.
Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.
Read MoreIn part three, after the new right revolution of the 1980s, social democratic parties such as Labour were searching their souls. Then came new ideas and new 'third way' leaders such as Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, with answers to the identity crisis
First way – the state, Keynesian demand management, the working class as the base of support. Second way – free-market, reduce the scope of the state and cut taxes, relative indifference to social justice. Third Way – well that's the question.
Read MoreIt may be that higher levels of inequality have increased the incidence of poor mental wellbeing in the community. A recent book suggests a causal mechanism from one to the other.
International research shows that there is a socioeconomic status (or class) gradient, in which those with low SES experience higher morbidity from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, ulcers, rheumatoid disorders, a number of cancers, psychiatric diseases, dementia and so on.
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Would permitting terminally ill people to obtain a consenting doctor's help to end their life really undermine our entire system of law? Yeah ... nah.
Grant Illingworth QC is concerned that if David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill is enacted, we somehow would be breaching the social contract on which our entire system of law rests.
Read Moreespite its manifesto promise to make the Chief Archivist an officer of Parliament, the government has not yet announced its decision. It is taking so long there must be a problem. Let’s guess an outcome if the officials have their way.
One of the major issues which face a democratic nation is the challenge of keeping its bureaucracy accountable and responsive to the public. Over the years a variety of arrangements have developed with this objective.
Read MoreThe ACT Party's "plan to protect freedom of expression" is long on aspiration, short on detail, and would usher in an extremely unpleasant society should it ever be put into place.
This morning I had a chat to RNZ’s Morning Report about the ACT Party’s “plan to protect freedom of expression”.
Read MoreShirley Smith would say that in her childhood she was known as the daughter of (later Sir) David Smith, then she was known as the wife of Bill Sutch and later as the mother of Helen Sutch. Throughout her life she struggled to be a person in her own right.
Read MoreEveryone loses when families become fair game. That goes for the attacker as well as the target
Read MoreOur Court of Appeal thinks that China's criminal justice system is so unsafe that it simply cannot try cases fairly - and our government ministers can't really trust China's promises that it will do better.
Read MoreIf the Government is serious about redirecting policy towards wellbeing, it is going to have to do a lot more than making the odd statement in the budget.
Read MoreThe Leader of the Opposition forced a No Contest and inflicted a Dusty finish on the Wellbeing Budget... a story of politics through the lens of professional wrestling
Read MoreYou don't have to believe the conspiracy theories to see that Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf is in serious trouble. A new inquiry will have to uncover something yet unknown to excuse the three strikes he committed last week
Read MoreWhile delving into the details of how Simon Bridges got hold of Budget 2019 details can bring out partisan nastiness and seem like nothing compared to the lives of real people, process matters and it‘s good someone is keeping watch
Read MoreIn part two, the development of New Times thinking in reaction to urgent changes in the late 20th century, as those on the left struggled to respond to social upheaval, globalisation and the rise of a new politics dominated by the likes of Margaret Thatcher and Roger Douglas
Read MoreReality forces limits. But expectations once created have to be managed. The government is learning that the hard way. Plus money for striking teachers and poll lessons
Read MoreThe Chatham Islands are a world we have left behind.
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