Another key economic driver for regular boosts in arts funding was a point made decades ago by the economist William Baumol – namely, that arts activity is simply not conducive to the technological ...

Politicians do like being tough on crime. Flexing law and order muscle is a feature of the patriarchal Daddy State, and is beloved by the very same conservatives who deplore the workings of the Nanny ...

On a similar quest, Labour’s likely future leader and campaign chair Kieran McAnulty was in Australia this year to observe how the centre-right government of Anthony Albanese won re-election.

Myth One: Iran was building nuclear weapons and had to be stopped. Not true. Instead, it is entirely legal for member states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) to pursue ...

In the interests of efficiency, maybe Brooke van Velden should just outsource her Workplace Relations and Safety Ministry to Business NZ and be done with it. Because (obviously) corporate wishes are ...

Over the past week, L.A. musician Jessica Pratt and her band have performed in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. A reclusive presence on stage, Pratt’s voice is so unusual and her music so well ...

Paper plance on travel map symbolizing and expensive journey In the wake of the Greens’ alternative Budget – and the criticism levelled at it – it seems pretty obvious that when it comes to tax policy ...

Underwhelming, as promised. All week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis had actively reduced public expectations by saying that her second Budget would not be filled “with rainbows and unicorns” although ...

Heavens to Betsy. Let me get this right. In her own opinion column, a female journalist (the fearsome Andrea Vance) used a bad word to refer to female politicians who had just extinguished the ability ...

The election of any Pope tends to be retro-fitted in ways that make the choice seem inevitable. God’s will, no less. If the new Pope had been Italian (“Time for the papacy to return home!”) or a ...