Eric Crampton talks on Radio NZ about the Integrated Data Infrastructure and how it might be best used to inform government policy. Read more
Bryce Wilkinson talks to Peter Williams on Magic Talk about our report Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour. He discusses the findings of the Fair Pay Agreements Working Group and explains why Fair Pay Agreements will not improve productivity. Read more
Wellington (16 July 2019): The New Zealand Initiative has welcomed the decision by Minister of Energy and Resources Hon Megan Woods to accept the Interim Climate Change Committee’s recommendation to shift focus away from 100% renewable electricity to other more effective and less expensive emissions policies. The Interim Committee found the Government’s 100% renewables policy would increase power prices by up to 39% and could effectively raise New Zealand’s emissions by preventing a transition off fossil fuels to electricity in transport and parts of industry. Read more
Heritage buildings are in the spotlight after a devastating fire at Christchurch's 110-year-old Antonio Hall. The owners had not done any maintenance to it for more than 20 years and this led to calls for tougher rules for owners of heritage properties to take more care of their buildings. Read more
The Government must reject the recommendations made by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger’s Fair Pay Agreements Working Group (FPAWG) or face harming economic growth and productivity and the interests of workers, the unemployed and consumers, says public policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative. The Initiative’s new report Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour, reveals that the Bolger report misrepresents New Zealand’s labour market record. Read more
Our report, Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour, was released on Tuesday, 9 July. Chairman, and co-author of the report Roger Partridge spoke on TVNZ Breakfast to discuss how our research has found that the case for the recommendations of the Fair Pay Agreement Working Group (FPAWG) in pursuit of the government's goal of a highly-skilled and innovative workforce and an economy that delivers well-paid, decent jobs and broad-based gains from economic growth and productivity, does not stack up. Read more
The Government must reject the recommendations made by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger’s Fair Pay Agreements Working Group (FPAWG) or face harming economic growth and productivity and the interests of workers, the unemployed and consumers, says public policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative. The Initiative’s new report Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour, reveals that the Bolger report misrepresents New Zealand’s labour market record. Read more
Wellington (7 July 2019): The New Zealand Initiative is proud to support the release of Local Government New Zealand’s (LGNZ) localism discussion paper, Reinvigorating local democracy, which was launched today at the 2019 LGNZ Conference in Wellington. The discussion paper outlines a gradual process for New Zealand to move from being one of the world’s most centralised countries in the developed world to one that is prepared to trust its communities to play a meaningful role in our social, economic and cultural development. Read more
Wellington (4 July 2019): The New Zealand Initiative commends the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s draft report on local government funding and financing. “The report stresses the importance of high performing local government for community wellbeing. Read more
New Zealand has been confirmed, by industry sources, as the primary location for a massive new TV series on Lord of the Rings. It is being produced by Amazon and it was a toss up between here and Scotland. Read more
The Independent Climate Change Committee's (ICCC) report into how New Zealand can reach the 100% renewable energy target seems to suggest the policy will be very expensive and will undermine New Zealand's efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions overall. This is completely in line with findings from our report Switched On! Read more
The New Zealand Initiative has appointed Barbara Chapman, CNZM, as Deputy Chair of its Board of Directors. Ms Chapman, who has sat on the Initiative Board since 2017, is a former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ASB Bank. Read more
New Zealand attracted global attention after unveiling a "world-first" well-being budget. It's based on priorities such as mental health and child poverty instead of the usual growth and jobs. Read more
Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton talks to Newstalk ZB about the deterioration of the Treasury and the lack of economists being hired. Listen to the full interview below: Read more
As we wait for the release of the Interim Climate Change Committee's (ICCC) report on the 100% renewable energy policy, the Initiative's Matt Burgess and Oliver Hartwich explain why a Government decision to abandon the policy and take a different approach will be a win for the environment and a win for Kiwi households - and that is something to be congratulated. Matt Burgess is the Initiative's energy expert, and published his report, Switched On! Read more