Buzz from the Beehive There’s plenty to raise a Health Minister’s blood pressure. Take – for example – news that Health New Zealand spent $72 million on contractors and consultants for a single IT project, in the lead-up to moving to get rid of over 1000 positions for IT employees. One recruitment company alone, Robert […]
So that’s what gets Reti riled – a National Public Health Service submission against McDonald’s setting up shop in Wanaka
So that’s what gets Reti riled – a National Public Health Service submission against McDonald’s setting up shop in Wanaka
30 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: nanny state, zoning
The Royal Commission on Covid-19 Report is a Repugnant, Unstructured Mishmash of Disinformation, Dressed up as a Single Source of Truth.
28 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of pandemics
How can Professor Blakely, who is co-author of NZ’s Royal Commission Report into Covid, write a report critiquing our government’s approach to Covid when he was the intellectual architect of that approach? He co-authored the 2020 British Medical Journal article with Professor Michael Baker called, “Elimination could be the optimal response strategy for covid-19”. That…
The Royal Commission on Covid-19 Report is a Repugnant, Unstructured Mishmash of Disinformation, Dressed up as a Single Source of Truth.
Centrist: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer admits Māori have ‘different rights’
26 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The Centrist reports – In a Q&A interview with Jack Tame, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer acknowledged Māori have separate rights under Te Tiriti o Waitangi as tangata whenua. When pressed on whether this meant different standards of citizenship, she said, “We have different expectations and different rights, absolutely.”
Centrist: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer admits Māori have ‘different rights’
Small but promising change
26 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Mark Mitchell released data on crime. The summary was: So a huge reduction in ram raids and modest reductions in violent crimes. Change takes time, and hopefully next year will see larger drops.
Small but promising change
The Treaty Principles debate: Parliament is having a third go at addressing this conundrum
25 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
Muriel Newman writes- ACT’s Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill was tabled in Parliament on November 7, and the first reading debate was held on November 14. The Bill was referred to the Justice Select Committee, where a closing date for submissions of 7 January 2024 has been set – full details can be found HERE. This […]
The Treaty Principles debate: Parliament is having a third go at addressing this conundrum
Guest Post: Response to Max Harris
24 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
A guest post by Lucy Rogers: On 8 November 2024 Max Harris wrote an op ed for The Dominion Post on the Israel – Lebanon conflict. Harris’ article was profoundly misleading in numerous respects and I immediately wrote a response which was submitted to the editor of the Post on 9 November. To that email […]
Guest Post: Response to Max Harris
Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power
23 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Roger Partridge writes – Should judges stick to applying the law, or should they reshape it to reflect society’s values? This fundamental tension over judicial power was laid bare at a New Zealand Law Society webinar this month about what it takes to become a High Court judge. Comments from the country’s two senior legal […]
Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power
Do the KCs believe in democracy
22 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Liam Hehir points out: Forty-two senior lawyers, known as King’s Counsel, have written to the government with a scathing critique of the Treaty Principles Bill. Their letter raises a number of concerns with which I am in full agreement. However, they also make a statement about Parliament’s law-making authority that contains a fundamental and egregious […]
Do the KCs believe in democracy
Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration
19 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Bob Edlin writes – Associate Justice Minister David Seymour “refused” Morning Report’s invitation to be interviewed on RNZ’s Morning Report, the day after the Treaty Principles Bill he is promoting had passed its first reading in Parliament after “a fiery debate and vote”. No matter. There were plenty of other people all too eager to […]
Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration
How come the new Ministry of Regulation has been taken over by Career Regulators, Mr Seymour?
19 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
America is super excited about the new Department of Government Efficiency that is being set up, headed by Elon Musk and Vivak Ramaswamy. We all know Musk – his achievement was launching a space program at about 1% the cost of NASA’s space program. What had gone wrong at NASA? It had turned into a…
How come the new Ministry of Regulation has been taken over by Career Regulators, Mr Seymour?
Mum jailed for letting a 10 year old go for a walk
17 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: nanny state
Reason reports: It was dinnertime on October 30, 2024, when police handcuffed Brittany Patterson in front of three of her four children and drove her to the station in Fannin County, Georgia. She was then fingerprinted, photographed, and dressed in an orange jumpsuit. Her crime? Hours earlier, around noon, Patterson had driven her eldest son […]
Mum jailed for letting a 10 year old go for a walk
DON BRASH: WHY I WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR TRUMP
17 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
I was surprised, indeed astounded, when I discovered that some of my New Zealand friends were enthusiastic about Donald Trump’s winning the US presidency. How could they be supportive of such a man becoming the chief executive of the most powerful country in the world? How could John Key support such a man for President?…
DON BRASH: WHY I WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR TRUMP
DON BRASH: A picture paints a thousand words
16 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
A picture paints a thousand words and the photograph above is a snapshot of the most disgraceful reading of a Bill I can recall in New Zealand’s history. The Treaty Principles Bill is not the first controversial and polarising Bill to have been introduced to New Zealand’s Parliament. We have debated abortion, same-sex marriage, and…
DON BRASH: A picture paints a thousand words
Resolving the infrastructure deficit
16 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, transport economics, urban economics
Peter Dunne writes – Last week the government announced plans to build two new tunnels in central Wellington to ease traffic congestion. One will be a second tunnel through Mount Victoria to improve the flow of traffic to the eastern suburbs and Wellington International Airport. The other will be alongside the existing Terrace tunnel to […]
Resolving the infrastructure deficit
Marsden Fund goes even more woke
15 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, politics - New Zealand Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In September I looked at the proportion of Marsden Fund grants that go towards actual science over time. The summary was: 200820172023Science88%80%72%Humanities8%11%13%Maori3%5%8%Identity1%2%5%Political0%3%2% We now have 2024 grants, and the big winner is of course anything to do with Maori. 2008201720232024Science88%80%72%73%Humanities8%11%13%7%Maori3%5%8%17%Identity1%2%5%3%Political0%3%2%1% Some examples include: We all aspire for a future that is fair, just and sustainable.…
Marsden Fund goes even more woke
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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