The early years consensus

By Kieran Madden

The first three years are critical for a child’s development and long-term success in life, but policy has unfortunately been…

Investing in a resilient workforce

By Julian Wood

When the Government closed New Zealand’s borders in response to COVID-19, flaws in our labour market were exposed. Not only…

Preparing our democracy for the next emergency

By Danielle van Dalen

The COVID-19 pandemic saw New Zealand enter its second nationwide state of emergency in March 2020. This gave the Government…

Policy Paper: Civic Defence

By Danielle van Dalen

The COVID-19 pandemic saw New Zealand enter its second nationwide state of emergency in March 2020. This gave the Government…

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….

Media Release | Government’s rushed COVID-19 Bill denies New Zealanders a say in their own future

By Danielle van Dalen

“New Zealanders deserve to have a say in their own future, and the Government’s use of urgency to pass the…

Government should not allow further overreach from Court

By Alex Penk

The Opposition just rolled out the usual tough-on-crime rhetoric disconnected from evidenced-based solutions, announcing that it’s “time to smash the…

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…

Budget reveals wellbeing will cost more than Rules allow

By Julian Wood

The figures announced in last week’s Wellbeing Budget stretches the Government’s self-imposed Budget Responsibility Rules (keeping the level of net…

Government needs to give answers on “wellbeing”

By Alex Penk

This week the Government will unveil the first-ever Wellbeing Budget, somewhat breathlessly described by the New York Times as “New…

MEDIA RELEASE: Creating work opportunities for people with disabilities to get out of poverty

Thursday, 23 May In New Zealand people with disabilities earn just half of the average income of people without disabilities….

The “yeah, nah” government

By Kieran Madden

That gutting feeling of unfulfilled expectations is hard to shake, and the bigger the promise, the bigger the disappointment. The…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Shaking off stardust politics

By Kieran Madden

Famously elusive about her political leanings, pop sensation Taylor Swift recently went beyond her usual neutral get-out-and-vote message to endorse…

Better the ballot box we know

By Danielle van Dalen

When online banking was first introduced, my Dad was sceptical. He worried there would be problems with security, access, and…

Losing All Blacks nothing to fear

By Julian Wood

In a surprise move, a group of the top 1 percent of male New Zealand income earners are appealing for…