Politics

Government should take short-term equity stakes in Covid-19 afflicted companies – rather than free money, says Alex Duncan. Before the Covid-19 crisis, government debt was around $64 billion, or about 20% of Gross Domestic Production (GDP).  Achieving this took years of hard political graft and fiscal discipline by governing parties on both sides of Parliament. It is just as well, …

In assessing the effectiveness of the Government’s response to the Covid-19 threat it is important to distinguish between responsiveness and preparedness. The better the former, the greater the likelihood of glossing over weaknesses in the latter. New Zealand’s response to Covid-19 has been extraordinary.  Compared with much of the rest of the world we have per capita very low death …

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia and James Higham, University of Otago We are hearing increasing talk about a trans-Tasman “travel bubble”, which could see Australia and New Zealand open their borders to each other. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was a special guest at Australia’s national cabinet meeting on Tuesday, which discussed the possibility of setting up a …

Hongzhi Gao, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Monica Ren, Macquarie University When it comes to our economic over-reliance on China, New Zealand consumers need look no further than their most popular big box chain, The Warehouse. The familiar “big red shed” sourced about 60% of its home brand stock from China in 2017 – and a …

Ian Lowe, Griffith University Documentary maker Michael Moore’s latest offering, Planet of the Humans, rightly argues that infinite growth on a finite planet is “suicide”. But the film’s bogus claims threaten to overshadow that message. Planet of the Humans is directed and narrated by longtime Moore collaborator Jeff Gibbs. It makes particularly contentious claims about solar, wind and biomass (organic …

Ilan Noy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington With New Zealand’s May 14 budget expected to chart the way out of the economic crisis, Finance Minister Grant Robertson should be looking to the past as well as the future. Finance ministers elsewhere are facing similar decisions, many even more constrained than New Zealand’s. But the common claim that …

Phil Goff speaks with Tim McCready about the impact of Covid-19 on Auckland’s infrastructure plans.   In February this year, Auckland Council was focused on the challenges ahead of a city enjoying relentless growth: building transport infrastructure to relieve traffic congestion, coping with the highest ever level of building consents, and dealing with environmental issues including water quality and climate …

In their new paper ‘In a new world, new thinking is required’, Hon Sir Roger Douglas and Professor Robert MacCulloch argue the prioritisation of resources is crucial to New Zealand’s economic recovery in the wake of Covid-19. They argue that New Zealand can either “muddle through as we are – relying on policies that haven’t worked since the 1950s and …

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra After the COVID crisis, what will be the “new normal” in Australia’s relations with China? The short answer is, probably both worse and more complicated than pre-COVID. This week has seen a fresh low point, with the Chinese government threatening economic retribution in response to the Morrison government’s call for an independent international inquiry into …

Infrastructure NZ’s Paul Blair tells Tim McCready that infrastructure investment and construction will play a major role in New Zealand’s economic recovery programme – but central and local government collaboration is required to make it happen. Infrastructure NZ – New Zealand’s peak infrastructure body representing 140 public and private sector industry members – says the Government’s response for the infrastructure …