Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, July 3rd, 2026 - 115 comments
Denmark produces excellent beer, world class design, unmanageable open sandwiches and an object lesson in the operation of proportional representation. A particular interest in Denmark is triggered by the emergence of the Opportunity Party as a possible threshold party in the NZ system. It may, at a stretch, arrive at 5%, which, as commentators have […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, June 7th, 2026 - 20 comments
Surging populist thinking is compounding neo-liberalism’s dislike of the public sector and our democratic institutions.
Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, May 15th, 2026 - 4 comments
Some initial ideas about the integrated policy package Labour must consider if it is to meet contemporary challenges posed by emerging populism and the narrowing of the Labour vision over the past five decades
Written By: - Date published: 5:54 pm, April 21st, 2026 - 65 comments
The world is turned upside down and challenges progressive politics to change gear.
Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, March 5th, 2026 - 39 comments
Trump’s attack on Iran, in cahoots with, or in support of, his regional proxy, Israel, is illegal, but also unconscionable in moral and political terms. It is a resurgence of the post-war experience, in which the development of the rules-based international order was qualified by the arbitrary actions of “big players” in Iran, Suez, Cuba […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, December 7th, 2025 - 2 comments
The world is entering a generation of challenges not seen since the late 1930s. New Zealand is better placed than most states to weather this challenge if it prepares now.
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, November 7th, 2025 - 10 comments
The importance of a New Zealand focus
on the rebuild of Gaza.
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, October 28th, 2025 - 46 comments
Today’s leak of Labour’s tax policy is unsurprising. The later Robertson and long-term Parker views are lost. And this position is at odds with much of the thinking in the Labour Party.
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, October 18th, 2025 - 44 comments
While we should acknowledge Jim Bolger’s life of service to New Zealand we should also recognise the critical and continuing damage done to New Zealand by his government.
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, May 28th, 2025 - 26 comments
The challenge posed by migration pressures is real and often underestimated. They are greater today than ever before in modern history.
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, April 23rd, 2025 - 55 comments
The “Win the Wealth Tax” group offers a welcome return to Labour’s political and policy roots.
Written By: - Date published: 4:52 pm, March 19th, 2025 - 73 comments
The world is in turmoil as political and economic uncertainty grow, and as conflict spreads. How the Left prepares for the next decade is a pressing challenge.
Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, December 5th, 2024 - 30 comments
The resurgence of the tax debate reflects impacts of neo-liberal economic policy and developments in the global economy over the last half century. As Labour considers further its approach to tax policy, this wider context should be considered
Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, November 21st, 2024 - 36 comments
We woke up last week to the post-mortem on the US election. How and why Trump won, and their implications for political alignments everywhere, are front and centre. A fundamental issue, explicitly identified when Trump won in 2016, is the presence of large sections of the working class vote into the Trump camp. So why has that happened – again?
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 21st, 2024 - 62 comments
“We’re doomed” was Private Frazer’s inevitable response to any crisis in “Dad’s Army”. One might stray into such despondency when considering the external context in which New Zealand finds itself, then considering what we are doing as a nation to respond. Nigel Haworth looks at where we are at.
Recent Comments