Month: February 2025

gardens by the bay singapore
Quadrant

Turning New Zealand into Singapore

26/02/2025
Published in Quadrant magazine (Sydney), 26 February 2025 New Zealand is the best country on Planet Earth,” Christopher Luxon keeps telling everyone. Indeed, he has been saying this since before becoming Prime Minister. It is a marketing message, of course. And this should surprise no one. For New Zealand’s Prime Minister, a former chief executive […]
Uncategorised

Foreword to ‘The People’s Portfolio’

25/02/2025
Foreword to ‘The People’s Portfolio’ by Dr Bryce Wilkinson, published by The New Zealand Initiative (Wellington), 25 February 2025 For some people, ‘privatisation’ is a dirty word. To me, it is the opposite. Maybe that has something to do with how I experienced the practical effects of privatisation – and the blessings it brought me. […]
grayscale photography of buildings
Newsroom

The day the West died

18/02/2025
US President Trump’s historic call with Putin marks a dramatic shift in global security, effectively abandoning Ukraine, undermining Western alliances, and heralding the end of the postwar international order.

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Newsroom

Merkel’s legacy still haunts German politics

04/02/2025
Published in Newsroom.co.nz (Wellington), 4 February 2025 If you believe last week’s hysterical headlines from Germany, you might think the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is about to take power in Europe’s largest economy. The reality is more complicated. Last Wednesday, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz allowed a parliamentary statement on migration controls […]