Category: imported_weekly
Last week the Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy wrote an open letter to all New Zealanders. She wants to hear your views on racism in New Zealand.
A new battleground is forming, one that has been likened to a real life “Game of Thrones”. It is a battle for the control of the Maori Seats and involves the Maori King Tuheitia Paki and his closest advisor, the new president of the Maori Party, former New Zealand First MP Tukoroirangi Morgan.
There has been a heated debate over recent months about whether New Zealand needs so many migrant workers, and indeed whether they prevent unemployed New Zealanders from securing jobs.
A nation’s future is determined by the vision of its leadership. That is essentially the message that Taranaki born Stephen Jennings, one of country's most successful global entrepreneurs, delivered when he returned to New Zealand last month to present a keynote address for the New Zealand Initiative.
The right of candid expression is the hallmark of an open society. The ability to challenge ideas and the perceived wisdom of the day, in a free and unfettered manner - even at the risk of offending others - is the cornerstone of liberty.
Last Wednesday the Green Party’s co-leader Metiria Turei made a shock announcement - the Green's want to reduce house prices to half their present value, to create more affordable homes. Their radical ideological agenda is why no ruling party should have anything to do with them - and certainly not as partners in Government.
The recent political debate over the shortage of housing has been more heat than light. The real issue that needs addressing is the policy framework that’s preventing the housing market from operating properly and meeting the growing demand for houses - especially those in the lower and medium price brackets.
Not content with the failure of the Local Government Commission to merge councils in Northland, the Hawke’s Bay, and Wellington, National is now proposing to put their amalgamation agenda into effect via the back door, using a new local government bill to increase the power of the Commission, while removing important democratic rights from residents and ratepayers.
Public policy has a major impact on our lives; that goes without saying. If the assumptions upon which policy is based are sound, there is a good chance that the resulting laws and regulations will have a positive influence on the country. But when the assumptions are driven by ideology instead of reason, the outcomes can be detrimental.
Last Saturday, Australian voters went to the polls to vote in a double dissolution election - only the sixth in the country’s history. The Prime Minister had made use of a constitutional mechanism designed to resolve deadlocks between the two Houses of Parliament.