Dr Muriel Newman

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Politicising poverty

In her final speech in the House of Commons on 22 November 1990, the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher engaged in one of her more memorable exchanges with the Member from Southwark and Bermondsey, to explain that policies aimed at reducing the gap between rich and poor will result in everyone becoming poorer.


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Sabotage or Open Disclosure

Irresponsible sabotage or keeping the market fully informed? As anyone who has followed politics closely will know, there is no doubt that the coincidentally timed announcement by the Labour and Green parties to nationalise the wholesale electricity industry was designed to materially impact on the sale of Mighty River Power shares.


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Welcome to the future

One only needs look at the present to see what New Zealand will be like in the future. The North Island will be known as Te Ika a Maui, the South Island as Te Waipounamu, and New Zealand as Aotearoa. Those who use water for commercial purposes will be charged “storage” because lakes and rivers will be known as vessels owned by iwi...


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Charities Under Review

According to a survey carried out in 2010, New Zealand ranked first equal with Australia as the world’s most charitable nation. The World Giving Index, published by the Charities Aid Foundation used a Gallup survey of 195,000 people in 153 nations to assess the extent of charitable activities. It showed that 68 percent of New Zealanders had given money to charity during the last month, 41 percent had volunteered time, and 63 percent had helped a stranger.


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Protecting the Banking Sector

The banking crisis in Cyprus came as a sharp reminder to savers around the world that banks are not necessarily the safe havens they like to imagine. The plan to impose a 6.75 percent tax on savings up to €100,000 (NZ$153,000) and a 9.9 percent tax on savings above that was proposed by the Cyprus government as a way of raising the €5.8 billion they needed to find to qualify for a €10 billion International Monetary Fund bailout. However, politicians swiftly backed away from their plan to tax savings once they saw the depth of public fury.


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OIA - analysis of submissions to the constitutional review

Here are the details of all of the submissions to the Constitutional Advisory Panel from an Official Information Act request - you can increase the size of the text by using "Control+" to magnify and "Control-" to restore the original.


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Race Relations

It’s not often that a government appointment ignites major controversy, but last week’s announcement that Dame Susan Devoy was to step into the role of Race Relations Commissioner did just that. The Race Relations Commissioner is one of six commissioners employed by the Human Rights Commission, an independent Crown entity established in 1977 that currently functions under the Human Rights Act 1993.


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Technology Changes Democracy

The IT revolution is dramatically changing how we live, in a way that is probably just as profound as the agrarian and industrial revolutions of previous ages. This new revolution has given people control over the way they communicate - in a manner that few of us could have ever imagined. As with all revolutions, change has casualties.


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Time to Have Your Say on the Management of Resources and Fresh Water

A World Bank Report published in 1998 ranked New Zealand second in terms of ‘natural capital, behind Saudi Arabia. However, while we have a wealth of land, minerals, water, and good clean air, our bureaucratic planning and resource management laws have hindered New Zealand’s ability to use many of those resources effectively. The well-being of our communities has suffered as a result.


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Time to End Policy of Appeasement

The Maori Council’s claim over the ownership of New Zealand’s fresh water was a blatant attempt by a powerful political group to seize control of a public good natural resource. New Zealanders are angry about it and so they should be. The opportunistic endeavours by tribal corporations to seize control of public good resources such as air, wind, the electromagnetic spectrum – maybe even sunlight itself – are outrageous but very real.