SQ Transp 2048

Featured

  • Should the Reserve Bank target unemployment as well as inflation? Will the new government abolish the dual mandate?

    nonaBack in 1989 – near the end of the fourth Labour government – the inflation-busting Reserve Bank Act was passed. Labour has shifted well away from the Rogernomics of that decade, and in 2021 Grant Robertson added maximum sustainable employment to the bank’s mandate - with the support of coalition partner NZ First.

    Read more: Should the Reserve Bank target unemployment as well as inflation? Will the new government abolish...

  • The next three years – the job ahead for Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori

    The Fabians had a session on Nov 14th reflecting on the elections. Our panel of Simon Wilson, Senior Writer at NZ Herald, Bridie Witton, Stuff Press Gallery Reporter and Ollie Neas, freelance writer used the election results as a springboard to target some of the key issues for Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori as they head into opposition.

    Coverage can be found here

  • Rob Campbell on Pae Ora Health Reforms

    Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Pae Ora health reforms with you.

    Since I was sacked by the Health Minister I have taken time to reflect on the experience and to make a considered assessment of what I learned in the process. My intention tonight is to share that with you, making the assumption that we share common ground in wanting to have an effective, efficient, excellent and equitable public health service.

    If anyone does not want that, I don’t really have anything useful to share with you.

    Read more: Rob Campbell on Pae Ora Health Reforms

  • Interview transcript: Ambassador Wang Xiaolong with NZ Fabian Society

    Hello, my name is Mike Smith, from the New Zealand Fabian Society. It's my great pleasure today to interview Ambassador Wang Xiaolong from the People's Republic of China to talk with us about China's values. I heard Ambassador Wang speak at a meeting convened by the Institute of International RelationsNZIIA last year and in the course of that meeting, he addressed the question of China's values and said, "China's choice for values, social system and path to modernity is made by our own people, based on our own history, culture and realities. All these choices have proven to be suitable and effective to solve China's problems and meet the needs of the Chinese people".

    Read more: Interview transcript: Ambassador Wang Xiaolong with NZ Fabian Society

Lori Wallach & Jane Kelsey (Photo: John Miller)Lori Wallach & Jane Kelsey (Photo: John Miller)On December 3rd Lori Wallach and Jane Kelsey delivered presentations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) to a large audience in Auckland. They identified TPPA as one the biggest political issues facing New Zealand, Jane focusing on the NZ implications of the agreement and Lori on the implications of US participation.

While many specific concerns were raised, the overall picture was one of what amounts to structural and even fundamental constitutional reform being imposed on NZ without any democratic input. Clearly, the agreement affects far more than trade, potentially constraining the social and economic policy options of future NZ governments. Although exit provisions may exist, associated costs mean they are unlikely to ever be triggered. Above all, the nature and extent of these issues has been difficult for observers to assess because of the secrecy and lack of democratic accountability inherent to the negotiating process. Seemingly, only those with the most to gain have been officially privy to the details.

We have had a number of inquiries asking whether the seminar was recorded and available. Sorry, no. However, you can find much of the material referred to at:

www.citizen.org/tradewatch and www.itsourfuture.org.nz/resources/

You can download fact sheets on the TPPA's impact on medicinesenvironmentfinanceGMinvestment and tobacco & alcohol. There also Youtube videos of the these speakers on the same topic available here for Jane and here for Lori.