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Participate in, don’t just consume community
By Danielle van Dalen
Every time the local elections roll around I read through that little booklet of candidates and find it difficult to…
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Naked politics blocks decent policy-making
By Alex Penk
There’s been a lot of cynicism about the Provincial Growth Fund, and last week Minister Shane Jones went a long…
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Census success needs all of us
By Danielle van Dalen
Imagine if you could influence funding for the healthcare you receive, or for the schools your children attend, with just…
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Review our reliance on temporary workers
By Julian Wood
New Zealanders are heavy users of temporary work migration, so it was disappointing that no-one seriously discussed this last week…
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Choices, consequences, and euthanasia
By Alex Penk
“You see, the reality is that for every choice, there is a consequence.” As the End of Life Choice Bill…
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The failure of audacious goals
By Kieran Madden
“Goals are for losers.” I wouldn’t put it quite as provocatively as cartoonist Scott Adams did in his book How…
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Checking our climate blind spots
By Julian Wood
When it comes to emissions it is easy for us to obsess about factories and farmers as if these activities…
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Avoiding the election budget “black holes”
By Kieran Madden
In April this year, astrophysicists did the seemingly impossible and took a photo of a black hole. The black hole…
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Removing rage from our public debates
By Alex Penk
Rage against the machine. Stick it to the man. If you’re not for us, you’re against us. They’re familiar sayings,…
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The Art of Disagreeing Agreeably
By Kieran Madden
Illustrations by Anieszka Banks When engaging with someone you disagree with, own the fact that it could get awkward. New Zealanders…
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Preparing for economic downturn
By Julian Wood
There’s been a lot of recent chat about a possible economic downturn, and many seem to be living under the…
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“Adulting” is only hard without community
By Danielle van Dalen
Growing up can be tough. But last month the British Government took cushioning the blow to new extremes when they…
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Beyond the “Growth Mindset” hype
By Kieran Madden
In just over a decade, “Growth Mindset” has graduated from an exciting theory to accepted wisdom in classrooms across the world. But when it comes to actually changing mindsets in the classroom, the hype is way ahead of the evidence.
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Black Caps offer leadership lessons even in loss
By Alex Penk
Big moments reveal who we really are, and they don’t come much bigger than a World Cup final, especially when you’ve lost in controversial circumstances.
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Don’t turn away
By Kieran Madden
“Our noses were almost touching…we were breathing the same air.” These are the words of Marcia Khoza, whose mother was…
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The pitfalls and priorities of Public Private Partnerships
By Julian Wood
New Zealand has a long and contentious history of private public partnerships (or PPPs). The biggest argument in favour of…
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Weaving together: Aroha as capacity and work
By Guest Author
Susan Wardell is the winner of the 2019 Maxim Essay Competition. On the 15th March 2019, fifty lives were violently…
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Future of End of Life Choice Bill more murky than ever
By Danielle van Dalen
The End of Life Choice Bill passed its Second Reading in Parliament last week with 70 votes in favour and…
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We can’t afford to sleep on climate risks any longer
By Julian Wood
The story of Rip Van Winkle, first published 200 years ago, resonates deeply with me. I too feel like I…
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Referendums are not the pinnacle of democracy
By Alex Penk
If the most recent polls are right, the cannabis referendum won’t pass. Some will be pleased with this, others frustrated,…
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