Is the private health system impacting negatively on the public health system? Health commentator Ian Powell evaluates a recent NZ Herald article by Natalie Akoorie (“Public v private healthcare: Moonlighting, skimming, duplication – should NZ do better”), and looks at how the dual system works, and concludes that the answer is a better-resourced public sector. …
John AZ Moore and guest contributor Sue Bradford join the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller to discuss welfare reform and whether the voting age should be lowered to 16.
Many New Zealanders take a strong interest in US politics, with the death of Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg being the latest example. Liam Hehir wonders if it very wise for New Zealanders to get so worked up about it. Many politically engaged New Zealanders are now furiously invested in the death of …
By Geoffrey Miller New Zealand should continue to champion human rights in Belarus amidst an ongoing crackdown on protests by the country’s regime, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says. Protests in Belarus – often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ – erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections on August 9 and are now entering …
In the run-up to the euthanasia referendum, conservative Christians are leading a campaign to sow doubt about passing an assisted dying law. Graham Adams finds it odd that they never mention religion. With only weeks to go before advance voting begins for the election, a very expensive campaign is running across mainstream and social media — …
It would be a great time to reform the benefit system according to former Deputy Chief Economic Advisor at the Treasury, Tony Burton. He argues the complexity of current benefit system means that it’s failing to achieve its difficult three core objectives, which form an “iron triangle”. New Zealand’s benefit system is remarkably unpopular. …
New Zealand’s media and online politics often reflect the values of liberal and progressive agendas. According to Liam Hehir, the current proposals to lower the voting age to 16 years – which the media overwhelmingly supports – is indicative of a wider mismatch with society, which is not good for democracy. Not the first …
John AZ Moore and guest contributor Justine Sachs join the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller to discuss Labour’s tax and dental care policies
Over the last three years there have been growing calls for the government to provide dental services under the health system – universal free dental care. This is because at the moment there’s an anomaly in which teeth are regarded as different from the rest of the body which means all adults need to get …
Is the 2020 election result really the foregone conclusion that the polls and commentators are suggesting? Josh Van Veen suggests otherwise, pointing to some of the shortcomings of opinion polling, which could have some politicians saying “bugger the pollsters” on election night. In November 1993, opinion polls foretold a comfortable victory for the incumbent …
By Geoffrey Miller A former Minister of Defence says the government was too slow to involve the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) in New Zealand’s response to Covid-19. But Wayne Mapp, a National MP from 1996-2011 who served as Minister of Defence for three years during John Key’s first term as Prime Minister, told the …
Will the rich get richer under Labour’s latest tax policy? Based on the analysis in reaction to yesterday’s announcement, the answer would seem to be yes. The consensus from commentators is that inequality and severe economic problems will remain unchanged or even be made worse by Labour’s new policy. Although the policy incorporates a small …
John AZ Moore joins the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller to discuss the Green Party’s troubles over private school funding.
How badly will James Shaw’s private school debacle affect the Greens? Will it push them out of Parliament? This is increasingly the question being asked as the scandal rolls on and on this week. After all, the two main polling companies have had the party very close to the 5% MMP threshold in their surveys …
Was it just a terrible stuff-up? Or a reflection of the political direction the Green Party is shifting in? The announcement this week by co-leader James Shaw that he had secured nearly $12m for a private school has angered educationalists and raised significant questions about the Greens and what they now stand for. The decision …
Political analyst John AZ Moore joins the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller to discuss recent articles on the Covid-19 response
Inequality and poverty look to be the forgotten issues of the election campaign, with not much more than lip-service being paid to them on the campaign trail. Yet decisions are currently being made that appear to be fuelling a greater gap between rich and poor. Newsroom’s Bernard Hickey has tweeted this week to sum up …
Today’s content Border failures, criticism Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Mediawatch: A backlash over tough questions for Dr Ashley Bloomfield Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup – How serious are the Govt’s border botch-ups? Andrea Vance (Stuff): Big little lies: Getting to the facts in New Zealand’s border failures Michael Morrah (Newshub): Conflicting messages over whether returnees’ bus drivers have to wear …
There’s a debate raging about how serious the Government’s Covid-19 border testing botch-ups are. Many Labour partisans are calling complaints and media investigations into border management a beat-up and overly-aggressive. They claim problems at the border are being exaggerated, with testing failures of minor importance in the government’s overall success in dealing with the pandemic. …
John AZ Moore talks to Geoffrey Miller about issues raised in recent Democracy Project articles