Recent Posts

Andy Asquith, Andrew Cardow, and Karen Webster: What ever happened to local government?

We would like to congratulate Nanaia Mahuta on her promotion to the role of Foreign Minister – an important historic move. We are delighted both to see some stability in the local government portfolio holder and to see it held by someone senior in the cabinet rankings. For once we do not have a new Minister who has to learn …

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Australia can repair its relationship with China, here are 3 ways to start…

Melissa Conley Tyler, University of Melbourne China has certainly got Australia’s attention with a highly inflammatory tweet from a government spokesperson. It has provoked the desired reaction — a storm of outrage. This is the latest in an ever-growing list of problems between Australia and China. In recent days, China imposed new tariffs on wine, while Australia threatened legal action …

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Why NZ is ideally placed to broker a truce between China and the Five Eyes alliance

Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato With tension escalating between China and members of the Five Eyes security alliance, most recently over a Chinese tweet that used a doctored image to attack Australia, New Zealand is arguably in a prime position to broker a kind of truce. Someone needs to take the initiative. Right now, things are deteriorating, as the trade …

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