The Opportunities Party wants to bring German-style renter protection laws to New Zealand – and that’s great, says Berlin-based New Zealander Maddie Holden. But how exactly does that policy fit with Gareth Morgan’s devotion to neoliberal economics? Gareth Morgan’s The Opportunities Party (TOP) unveiled an interesting new policy about rental housing this week, proposing to … Read more
The headlines don’t quite capture the core message of Winston Peters’ party, finds Branko Marcetic when he attends their pre-election conference. Midway through the first day of the New Zealand First conference, the 300 or so assembled party members considered a remit put forward by the party’s South Hutt branch. It proposed that the party … Read more
Mainfreight founder Bruce Plested has used the company’s annual report to criticise the political response to the housing crisis, educational underachievement and the degradation of the environment. Here’s an edited version of what he wrote. Mainfreight’s 39th year saw a record profit, up 17% on the previous year. As is the way with business and … Read more
Emails between the New Zealand branch of the US Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade offer a fascinating window into the way trade lobbying happens in NZ, writes Branko Marcetic. If you have a passing familiarity with US politics, you’ve probably heard of the US Chamber of Commerce. Alyssa Katz, … Read more
Max Harris’s new book on NZ politics has had a striking impact, selling out its first print run in weeks and sparking a vigorous debate, with responses at the Spinoff and elsewhere. We invited Max to respond in turn, and elaborate on his call for a values-based politics Writing my book The New Zealand Project, and having the book released … Read more
Danyl Mclauchlan agrees with most of the ideas in an acclaimed and bestselling new book by Max Harris about New Zealand politics, yet the What Must Be Done tome leaves him feeling even gloomier about the immediate prospects for the progressive left. Max Harris’s book The New Zealand Project is an urgent attempt to confront the … Read more
In the third of Guyon Espiner’s extended interviews with former prime ministers for RNZ, Jim Bolger, who led the National Party to power in 1990 pledging to return the ‘decent society’ to New Zealand, criticises the prevailing economic orthodoxy, saying it has led to a dangerous gap between rich and poor. Bolger defends the record of Ruth Richardson, who as finance … Read more