• Businesses failing to engage on trust and transparency, says Snively

    by  • April 22, 2013 • 0 Comments

    New Zealand companies are failing to capitalise on the country’s reputation for being open and transparent, even though it’s a genuine competitive advantage – unlike our ‘100% Pure’ brand. That was the verdict of Suzanne Snively, the executive chair of Transparency International, speaking at a panel session organised by the Institute for Governance and...

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    Too many Cabinet ministers, says Mallard

    by  • April 18, 2013 • 1 Comment

    New Zealand has too many Cabinet ministers and too many government agencies – but more departmental mergers is not the solution, Labour MP Trevor Mallard said at a joint lecture for the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies and the Institute of Public Administration New Zealand. Mallard, a former Minister of Education and State...

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    Even retirees not safe from inequality

    by  • April 18, 2013 • 1 Comment

    A couple of recent reports have shown that even New Zealand’s pensioners – who do relatively well financially, compared to other age groups – are increasingly threatened by the spectre of inequality. The first, by Kay Saville-Smith of the Centre for Research, Evaluation and Social Assessment, argues that many young people will not be...

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    Too much focus on schools’ bottom fifth – Mallard

    by  • April 18, 2013 • 5 Comments

    Labour MP and former education minister Trevor Mallard has suggested that the school system might be spending too effort on working with the bottom fifth of students at the expense of “the most talented kids”. Giving a lecture in Wellington on Tuesday this week, Mallard noted efforts to make sure the school system responds...

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