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How ready are we for “shovel-ready” projects?
By Julian Wood
As the numbers of people made redundant as a result of COVID-19 rises there is ever increasing pressure on the…
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Taking responsibility
By Kieran Madden
Before a momentous mission launching two NASA astronauts into orbit from Cape Canaveral in May this year, tech entrepreneur Elon…
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Book Club | The Decadent Society
A society that generates a lot of bad movies need not be decadent; a society that just makes the same…
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Youth and the whānaungatanga of work
By Rowan Light
How we do help young people who are “off the grid” and have lost connection with the world of work?…
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A truly conservative approach to statues, history, and memory
By Rowan Light
The decision by the Hamilton City Council to remove a statue of its namesake feels like the crest of a…
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Government should save jobs by “plugging gaps” in council budgets
By Julian Wood
Auckland Council is forecasting a $525 million dollar hole in its budget as a result of COVID-19. It’s not alone….
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After lockdown, an opportunity for our elderly people
By Danielle van Dalen
It’s not very often that elderly New Zealanders attract our attention, but COVID-19 has seen the plight of some of…
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Winning the recovery for our young people
By Rowan Light
The government’s recent welfare package provides an important 12-week bridge for New Zealanders who find themselves suddenly out of work…
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Keeping the “forgotten sector” together
By Kieran Madden
My two-year old daughter hasn’t quite worked out that some things cannot be fixed or brought back to life, no…
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COVID-19 economic analysis – 20.05.2020
By Julian Wood
The following is an overview and commentary on economic information available from Treasury, the Reserve Bank, and the Government’s 2020/21…
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Invest in people alongside new infrastructure
By Julian Wood
The euphoria we are all feeling after entering Level 2 will be tempered by the pain of pay cuts and…
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Covid-19, media and democracy
By Danielle van Dalen
It’s easy to complain about the news and its stories of political mayhem, tragedy, and messy world affairs. It’s also…
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Bursting our political bubble
By Rowan Light
Last month, Opposition Leader Simon Bridges provoked a national controversy when he denounced, on his Facebook page, the Prime Minister’s…
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Educational hubs or babysitters clubs
By Kieran Madden
The Alert Level 3 announcement that schools would be opened was met with a collective sigh of relief from some…
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Book Club | The Road to Character
“I’m hoping you and I will emerge from the next nine chapters slightly different and slightly better.” INTRODUCTION David Brooks’…
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Disruption – more than consensus – has been key to Anzac Day and its history
By Rowan Light
For the second year in a row, Anzac Day is essentially cancelled. In 2019, security concerns following the March 15…
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But now, who pays?
By Julian Wood
On Tuesday last week, the New Zealand Treasury outlined five economic scenarios that aimed to depict how the economy may…
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Covid19 a community corrective to our culture of autonomous choice
By Danielle van Dalen
In my work as a researcher, I’ve noticed the influence of some powerful personal narratives—autonomy and individualism—that form significant foundational…
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Why Covid-19 calls us back to “communities of memory”
By Rowan Light
As we try to make sense of the pandemic, it’s been interesting seeing people turn to stories. The 2011 film…
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Looking beyond our bubbles
By Kieran Madden
We are in extraordinary times, calling rightly for extraordinary measures. Although our vision of the future is obscured by the…
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