Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Open letter on China aimed at government, no new taxes if Simon Bridges is elected to government, and three issues could be on the ballot in 2020. The government has been called on to protect academic freedom, and the personal safety of academic Anne-Marie Brady, reports the NZ … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM Ardern at a series of international summits this week, Pike River plan revealed, and NZ to host the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup. PM Jacinda Ardern will be walking a series of fine lines at international summits over the rest of the week. She’s currently in … Read more
From Monday almost 100 NZ exporters are taking part in the China International Import Expo in Shanghai. The forum heralds a more prosperous and integrated China, but it takes place against the background of a debilitating trade war, writes Stephen Jacobi of the NZ International Business Forum Competing economic visions will need to find a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM Jacinda Ardern touches down for UN meetings, gloom falls over mining, and that idiotic strawberry needle trend has made it to New Zealand. Jacinda Ardern has arrived in the USA for her first visit as Prime Minister, and there’s no shortage of issues on the … Read more
If NZ wants to continue to build the relationship with China, we need to get serious about the initiative that defines the country’s view of its place in the world, writes Stephen Jacobi of the NZ China Council Five years ago when he announced his grand vision for investment-led development along ancient trade routes linking … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Donald Trump behaves like Donald Trump overseas, National wins Northcote by-election, and PM Ardern reassures nation about imminent reign of Lord Winston of Whananaki. It’s been a massive weekend of news for international politics, centred around the US President Donald Trump. The photo above of Trump … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: EU gives go ahead for trade talks with NZ, marijuana referendum could be held next year, and Auckland’s mayor is under scrutiny over report secrecy. The European Union has given the go–ahead for free trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand. The story was broken by SBS yesterday across … Read more
The way we sign up to trade deals must change, and parliament needs to lead the process to prevent flawed agreements like the TPP getting through, write lawyer Oliver Hailes and academic Max Harris. There has been sustained and vocal public opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a treaty that would bind a number of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Free trade with Britain moves closer, police and government at odds over drug driver testing, and EQC checks may be recalled. The PM is in London reassuring Britain that New Zealand is very keen on a post-Brexit free trade deal. The meeting between Ardern and Britain’s Theresa … Read more
Journalist, broadcaster and former member of the press gallery Guyon Espiner analyses New Zealand’s foreign policy, and how it must look to outsiders, in the first of a new fortnightly column for RNZ. To outsiders New Zealand foreign policy must look like a riddle wrapped in a mystery, perhaps clear only to the enigmatic deputy prime … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A new poll is out, the government is considering public-private partnerships, and rents are rising rapidly. A new 1 News Colmar Brunton poll shows a drop for Labour, but government parties still comfortably ahead of the National party. It’s being reported by 1 News as the ‘end of the … Read more
With the rise of China, Japan has taken something of a backseat in trade discussions. Lawyer Steven Moe says New Zealand’s relationship with the world’s third largest economy is still going strong, but may need some TLC. Whenever foreign investment or overseas strategies are mentioned in New Zealand boardrooms these days it is most likely … Read more
Last week on The Spinoff economic lawyer Chris Gillies called for Labour to rethink its opposition to investor-state dispute settlements, a key part of trade deals like the TPP. Quite the contrary, argues solicitor and TPP scholar Oliver Hailes: New Zealand is far better off without them. Buckle up, because the election result has reignited … Read more
New Zealand’s trade policy could be set for a shakeup under the new Labour government. A likely target is investor-state dispute resolution provisions in New Zealand’s free trade agreements, which may go from status quo to status no. Chris Gillies explains why that’s not a good idea. Investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) is a dispute … Read more
By plunging into negotiations with Latin American countries in the Pacific Alliance, New Zealand maintains its shameful record of failing to hold partners to account on labour abuses, argues Laila Harré. New Zealand has launched into formal trade negotiations with four Latin American countries, becoming first in line to join the Pacific Alliance as an … Read more
When President Donald J Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a number of New Zealand’s trade cards flew into the air – including a possible bilateral deal with “America first”. Trade advocate Stephen Jacobi reviews the options. The apparent demise of the TPP is is not … Read more
Obama wants to get the trade deal through Congress during the lame duck session, but both Trump and Clinton are vocally opposed. It is too early, however, to declare the battle lost, argues TPP advocate Stephen Jacobi Trade has been described as “war by other means”. That inspired the US Defence Secretary, in peak hyperbole, … Read more
The Brexit vote is entirely understandable. In Britain and across western democracies, some sense of democratic renewal is needed to avoid alienation, writes former NZ prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer Brexit resulted in my view from a break down in accountabilities. It is entirely understandable. Having spent most of February in the UK when the … Read more
At something like 5am in the Coca-Cola city, the deal was done. The nations’ representatives had presumably been reduced to 12 hangry men – or, more precisely, 11 men and one woman – and after more than five years of negotiation, squabbling and secrecy, a Partenariat Transpacifique, as they like to call it on the … Read more