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Life and death consequences of shoddy legislation
By Danielle van Dalen
Now that the Justice Select Committee have reported back to Parliament on the End of Life Choice Bill, our MPs…
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Hate-speech review risks being too hasty
By Alex Penk
The Justice Minister put the cart before the horse when he spoke about hate speech recently. In the shadow of…
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Offering the best of “real” New Zealand
By Julian Wood
We’ve been rightly proud of our country’s unity in response to the Christchurch mosque attacks. But in the weeks following…
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This is our home
By Kieran Madden
Vibrant flowers gild the gates of the Christchurch mosques, each bouquet laid with trembling hands, representing a beautiful solidarity amidst…
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Keeping an eye on transparency
By Danielle van Dalen
“Constant vigilance!” I’m finding that Professor Mad-Eye Moody’s childhood encouragement to be ever watchful still applies now to the way…
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Countering our fear of dying
By Alex Penk
Last week, I was struck by the fear of dying. Not my own, mind you. I was chairing a panel…
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Now is the time to take our changing future seriously
By Kieran Madden
The Government is dead-set on improving “wellbeing” as the mark of their leadership, and “long-term intergenerational wellbeing” in particular. This…
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Think Big 2.0: The Provincial Growth Fund risks turning into a fiasco
By Alex Penk
This article was written by Alex Penk and Julian Wood, and first published on The Spinoff on 26 February, on…
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Making the Provincial Growth Fund a risk worth taking
By Julian Wood
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) represents a once in a generation opportunity to support a sustainable future for New Zealand’s…
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Vocational surgery required
By Kieran Madden
Our vocational educational system is on life support— haemorrhaging badly in desperate need of surgery. Four of New Zealand’s sixteen…
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The status of our own history
By Danielle van Dalen
While many of us are raised with storybook histories of pharaohs, kings, queens, and notable events from all over the…
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Make the change, don’t keep the change
By Jeremy Vargo
Quick question. If a checkout operator gives you too much money back in change, do you tell them and give…
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Financial responsibility goes beyond mere “Rules”
By Alex Penk
Sometimes the most important ideas are the ones that aren’t being discussed. This came to mind with the release of…
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Killing the cult of consumerism
By Kieran Madden
“Our Gross National Product…measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile.” Bobby Kennedy’s famous 1968 speech decried how measures like…
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The process of voting on our voting process
By Danielle van Dalen
Last week, Justice Minister Andrew Little flagged the possibility of having an MMP referendum at the 2020 election to reconsider…
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The little things that can change us
By Alex Penk
Last weekend, my daughter was shrieking in my ear with a mixture of delight and fear as we skimmed across…
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On Common Ground
By Kieran Madden
Illustrations by Anieszka Banks “I could have hit him, I could have hurt him…but something in me said, you know…
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Learning Support funding should bridge to work
By Danielle van Dalen
School can be difficult for everyone, but for students with disabilities the difficulties are generally heightened. The Prime Minister acknowledged…
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The Politics of Diving
By Kieran Madden
Soccer goalkeepers sure look spectacular with their acrobatic dives during penalties, but studies show that simply standing in the middle…
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Two-and-a-half cheers for child poverty bill
By Alex Penk
I was born at the tail-end of Gen X, so I grew up with a pop culture saturated by “fear…
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