Hipkins planning radical changes to public service
The new Government is planning the most fundamental and far-reaching overhaul of the public service since the 1980s.
What it plans to do could even...
Now it's time for the Government to confront the big issues
Over the past two weeks a series of under-reported events and one over-reported one have pointed to what is likely to dominate the next...
When we went where Britain went – our long (and heroic) battle to retain...
"Both with gratitude for the past and confidence in the future, we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes, we go. Where...
New thinking and a big shopping list for Defence
The Defence White Paper released yesterday is by the ordinary standards of past papers a different document.
It describes a region, which in the words...
The statistics revolution
StatisticsNZ may seem to be one of Wellington's more prosaic Government departments.
But in fact, it is the engine room that is powering the Government's...
Democracy by invitation — new RMA proposal
A new way to solve the kind of planning stalemate that has been seen Auckland get bogged down with its Unitary Plan is being...
Less is more. Treasury's approach to health spending.
The challenges are obvious.
A grey tsunami is about to hit our health sector while poor lifestyle choices right across the population are leading to...
The case for irrigation. Farmers becoming impatient.
While the Government appears to be procrastinating over the resolution of how to allocate water, the country’s irrigation industry is starting to get impatient.
And...
The dairy price slump and the "not implausible" scenario
The current dairy payout is the lowest (in real terms) since 1991.
It is against that background that the Reserve Bank yesterday published the results...
THE TPP – WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT
Its TPP day and the media focus will undoubtedly be on the size and temper of the demonstrations against its signing rather than the...
MCCULLY REDEFINES OUR FOREIGN POLICY
New Zealand was “in” ANZUS for 34 years and has now been “out” for 30.
Yet it is only recently that the country has begun...
AMY ADAMS — THE CABINET'S BIG DRY
One of the grim and unpleasant realities emerging from the activities of ISIS or Daesh (or whatever you prefer to call then) it is...
LABOUR'S RADICAL ECONOMIC RETHINK
This is the year that Labour will try and shift the goal posts that define the economic debate in New Zealand politics.
In one of...
HOW THE GOVERNMENT APPEARS TO HAVE PANICKED OVER RISING AUCKLAND HOUSE PRICES
The Government’s Budget moves to try and slow down the Auckland housing market were rushed through Cabinet after the deadline for the Budget had...
POLICY BRIEF: THE SOCIAL HOUSING DEBATE – TWYFORD v BENNETT
Labour's Housing spokesman Phil Twyford yesterday sent POLITIK 10 bullet points of his criticisms of the new Social Housing legislation. Because the points were...
