Urban geographer and spatial planner Ben Ross looks at whether a department of public works has merit in the 21st century. Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones was recently quoted (Newsroom, April 2020) that New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) will no longer be just managing contracts. He also said that NZTA and KiwiRail should be allowed to self-consent projects under $20m. This …

Tony Walker, La Trobe University Australia’s relationship with China is fractured. Arguably, this is the worst moment in Sino-Australian relations since Gough Whitlam normalised ties on his election in December 1972. The Chinese saying “kill the chicken to frighten the monkey” would seem applicable in Beijing’s reaction to Australia’s push for an investigation into the operations of the World Health …

As the human and economic cost of the COVID-19 epidemic continues to reveal itself across the globe, in some quarters the blame game has already begun. Liam Finnigan suggests now is not the time to beat any drum demanding China take responsibility for the pandemic.  In what initially appeared to be a casual interview on TV3’s  AM Show, the US …