The price of unhealthy processed food needs to rise by at least a fifth, if New Zealand is to tackle diet-related problems that threaten to be just as bad for our health as smoking, Gareth Morgan says. Morgan, an economist, public policy analyst and philanthropist, was giving a lecture to the Institute for Governance...
Read more →The diminished power of local councillors, election booklets that have “passed their use-by date” and uncertainty over amalgamation all helped drive turnout to a record low in this year’s local council elections. That was the verdict of Mike Reid, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ)’s principal policy advisor, in a lecture given to the Institute...
Read more →The time is right for New Zealand to consider adopting a Committee on Standards in Public Life and a code of conduct for MPs, to ensure it remains relatively transparent and free of corruption. That was the message from Michael Macaulay, the deputy director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, in a...
Read more →The New Zealand media is like “a junkyard dog”, sometimes ferocious but with a short attention span, according to Otago University politics lecturer Bryce Edwards. Giving an Institute for Governance and Policy Studies lecture, Edwards discussed his report on the media for the New Zealand National Integrity Assessment, an exercise that looks at the...
Read more →A “green” economy is the only realistic way to reverse environmental damage while improving living standards, says a visiting public policy expert. Professor Daniel Fiorino, a leading writer on environmental and public policy issues at the American University in Washington, DC, was in New Zealand as the second Sir Frank Holmes Visiting Fellow. The...
Read more →“Fear and hostility” towards religious values is leaving public debate impoverished, according to Andrew Bradstock, Director of the University of Otago’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues. Professor Bradstock, who is returning shortly to Britain, said the media were often “indifferent” towards religious perspectives, and members of the public frequently feared that religious speakers...
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