A big idea 1: Crowdsource our laws
Max Rashbrooke is a research associate at Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, and has just published the report Bridges Both Ways: Transforming the openness...
View ArticleA big idea 2: Let public vote on council budgets
Max Rashbrooke is a research associate at Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, and has just published the report Bridges Both Ways: Transforming the openness...
View ArticleA big idea 3: Let citizens draw up DIY Budgets
Max Rashbrooke is a research associate at Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, and has recently published the report Bridges Both Ways: Transforming the...
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The state of poverty and inequality in 2017
Today the Ministry of Social Development published its 270-page Household Incomes Report, the gold standard annual record of poverty and inequality in New Zealand. So what did it tell us? Below are...
View ArticleA big idea 4: A national holiday to talk politics
Max Rashbrooke is a research associate at Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, and has recently published the report Bridges Both Ways: Transforming the...
View ArticleNew Spinoff piece on the need for civility in political debate
I have an interview up on the Spinoff today with Jeremy Waldron, one of the world’s most respected political and legal philosophers, on what he sees as the urgent need for more civility in public...
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Will Budget 2017 really lift 50,000 children out of poverty?
One item in May’s Budget that slipped through without much discussion was the claim that the changes to income tax and Working for Families payments would lift 50,000 children out of poverty. At the...
View ArticleA big idea 5: ‘Electoral funding vouchers’
Max Rashbrooke is a senior associate at Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, and has recently published the report Bridges Both Ways: Transforming the...
View ArticleTalk and article on capital gains tax
This Wednesday Lisa Marriott from Victoria University and I are talking about capital gains taxes. We’ve got an article up at Newsroom here. Details about the talk here.
View ArticleDoes the new government mean open government?
In one of her first major interviews after becoming prime minister, Jacinda Ardern told Checkpoint that she wanted to not just do more with government but also change the way it operated. “I also want...
View ArticleSome thoughts on Shaw’s State of the Nation Speech
I was at James Shaw’s agenda-setting speech yesterday. Overall I thought it was a good, ambitious, far-reaching speech, and it was pleasing to hear a party leader who clearly reads and thinks, and who...
View ArticleOxfam wealth inequality figures
Earlier this week Oxfam released figures arguing that “the richest 1 per cent of Kiwis bagged a staggering 28 per cent of all wealth created last year while the poorest 30 per cent of the population...
View ArticleRumblings about transparency
For people interested in greater transparency, the last seven days have been filled with little rumbles that could turn into earthquakes. The biggest deal was an announcement by the Green Party over...
View ArticleMedia’s disclosure of interests under spotlight
One fascinating development this week has seen the long-running concerns about undisclosed interests in the media finally burst out into the open. First, it was revealed that a commentator on Radio New...
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New book published: Government for the Public Good
I’m delighted to announce the publication of my new book, Government for the Public Good: The Surprising Science of Large-Scale Collective Action. It is available from all good bookstores and online....
View Article2019: the prospects for fairness and openness
The 2019 political year is now well and truly up and running. So what progress might we see on two key areas of interest for me, and I think for most New Zealanders as well – economic equality, and...
View ArticleSocial Income costings
This week I’ve proposed a Social Income, essentially a more generous though means-tested unemployment benefit set at the poverty line of 50% of average income (currently $19,000 a year approximately)...
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What does the public really think about a capital gains tax?
Many claims have been made recently that a capital gains tax is dead in the water because the public is firmly against it. This is not so, however. While the tax is not wildly popular, there is a...
View ArticleWealth taxes
Many people feel that, following the prime minister’s decision not to implement a capital gains tax while in power, there is no longer any prospect of taxing wealth in New Zealand. I beg to differ....
View ArticleThe politics of love and power
In recent years the idea of love has become increasingly important in political thinking. It’s one of life’s main driving forces, of course. But it’s not a word that has in previous decades been much...
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