Category: Guest Posts
The decision by New Zealanders to keep MMP means that any changes that come as a result of the “review” of MMP will be those the politicians prefer to implement. This piece discusses the scope of the “review”, some desirable changes to MMP and the need for our politicians to put any changes to our voting system to voters.
The Coastal Coalition was set up in May 2010 to support public ownership of New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed, for all New Zealanders. But John Key with Maori Party support, passed the Marine and Coastal Area Act last April. This removes Crown ownership, and allows iwi Customary Marine Title, in spite of 90 percent of public submissions opposing it.
Welfare reforms the government will legislate for later this year have been typically denounced by opposition politicians and child advocates. Many have railed in particular against the idea that mothers with children as young as 1 year-old will be expected to be available for part-time work, which, incidentally, may involve as few as 12 hours per week.
Control over the interpretation and symbolism of the Treaty of Waitangi was one of the most effective of the brokerage mechanisms used by the emergent neotribal elite. It enabled a strategic march through the institutions of a democratic society by nondemocratic neotraditionalist forces.
Many people around the country are unhappy with the performance of their Councils and demanding action of one kind or another. Perhaps surprisingly, the same key issues are being debated in places as diverse as the UK, Ireland, Florida, California, Texas, Melbourne, Sydney, and Honolulu.
The matter of children and the benefit system has long concerned me. It began with the death of Wairarapa toddler Lillybing (Hinewaoriki Karaitiana-Matiaha) in 2000....
The Waitangi Tribunal claims just announced by the New Zealand Maori Council are unapologetically an attempt at legal mugging. Though purportedly based on the deep wounds Maoridom will feel if SOE shares are sold before the ownership of water is settled, the NZMC has made it plain that they will go away if they get some soothing free shares. The claims have little apparent legal merit. But on form to date I predict a reasonable chance they will succeed in levering shares out of an easy-touch government.
A settlement of the Ninety Mile Beach tribe’s complaints plus Maori politicians posturing over proposed asset sales have awakened interest in the on-going saga of quasi legal claims by a handful of high profile individuals and compensation payments by the government. Although details of Treaty of Waitangi settlements are publicly available, information is more accessible in our Treaty Transparency Research Report here on a spreadsheet or in a document format - as a list of settlements to date with links to summaries and deeds on the Office of Treaty Settlements website.
Nobody really seems to know just what will come of the proposed changes to New Zealand’s food safety regime. Minister for Food Safety Kate Wilkinson assures us that the regime simply modernizes New Zealand legislation and, if anything, reduces the regulatory burden facing food producers. Where current legislation does little to distinguish large from small processers, the revised legislation provides a graduated scale ranging from government provision of safety information to very small informal producers of low-risk products to full-scale safety regulation for larger concerns. Despite those assurances, many small producers fear the new system will impose costs that they cannot bear. 3 News reports on a small organic food exchange whose founder says they’ll more likely close than bear the up-front costs of developing compliant food safety plans; the founder of Lisa’s Hummus says she could not have started had she been subject to the new rules. Without a legal background, it’s pretty difficult to tell just what the effects will be.
Economists often talk about shocks, and in the next breath about impulse response functions, which is basically how an initial shock follows through over time to the rest of the economy. So this week’s article will describe how the Eurozone shock might be expected to flow through to the rest of the world and thence trickle down to us. I’ll conclude with a few general lessons for us, hopefully not too unctuous.
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