New Zealand

In the April 2024 issue of Quadrant, I began a column with Enoch Powell’s observation that all political lives, unless cut off at a happy juncture, end in failure.

The Herald’s ‘Mood of the Boardroom’ survey has become a fixture in New Zealand’s media calendar. Once a year, the chief executives and chairs of the country’s largest companies deliver their verdict on political leaders.

Elections are supposed to be the moment when the main parties offer voters a choice between grand plans and rival visions. Indeed, that is the whole idea of democracy: to be able to choose between different paths, especially on long-term spending and taxes.

When I first visited Sydney in 1999, what struck me most were the cranes. They stood over the city in every direction, building towers, stadiums and rail lines for the Olympic Games.

Last week, we co-hosted a dinner with the Selwyn Foundation. Its chair, former Labour health minister David Cunliffe, led the Government’s aged care advisory group and presented their report, A place to grow old.The report describes an underfunded, fragmented system facing more than twice as many over-85s by 2047.

It is election time in New Zealand and as such, political tragics like myself cannot have any meetings without the conversation turning to the question “And, who will win on November 7?”

As election season debate inevitably focuses on the economy and spending, researcher Max Rashbrooke and The New Zealand Initiative’s Oliver Hartwich conduct their own debate on whether the next government needs to tighten its belt or loosen the purse strings.

Donald Trump’s second term has given Europe one fight after another. Tariffs, Greenland, Ukraine, and Iran have all had their turn.