The Australian
New Zealand is too busy governing badly to govern well
There is an old joke about a man who visits his doctor complaining of fatigue. The doctor prescribes a course of vitamins and tells him to come back in a month.
Month: March 2026
Quadrant
The End of the Golden Bargain
Campaign slogans used to sell the future. In 1960, John F. Kennedy promised Americans a “New Frontier”. Bill Clinton chose Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” as his anthem.
Insights
Just the opening act
The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Flights through the Middle East have been cancelled. Petrol has surged well past $3 a litre.
Newsroom
Liberal democracy suffers its great leap backward
I was born in West Germany in 1975. Yes, it was still West Germany then. The country was divided, Europe was divided, and much of the world lived under dictatorships.
Insights
A $110 billion illusion?
KiwiSaver has $110 billion in assets and over three million members. Contribution rates rise from April. Both major parties want to push them to 12%.
The Australian
Hormuz crisis may force reform – but only through catastrophe
When oil prices spiked after the Strait of Hormuz closed, New Zealand’s ministers lined up to reassure the public. Fuel stocks were “healthy”. There was “no need for panic”.
Insights
Faith-based asset management
There is something almost admirable about spending a fortune on roads, pipes, schools and hospitals without quite knowing what state any of them are in.
The New Zealand Herald
Why the Government must resist fuel tax cuts
After five years of stagnation, falling living standards and a cost-of-living crisis that ground down households and businesses, New Zealanders wanted nothing more than a return to normality: a bit of growth, stable prices and the relief of things finally getting better.
The Australian
Australia and New Zealand face productivity crisis as economic reform stalls
Within a fortnight last month, Australia and New Zealand placed opposite bets on their economic futures. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates to 3.85 per cent.
Newsroom
Voters will decide whether to punch holes in Europe’s nuclear umbrella
While American and Israeli jets were bombing Tehran last Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron stood before nuclear submarines at the Île Longue naval base in Brittany.