The Good Society is the home of my writing about how we can shape a better world together.
A detail from Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Renaissance fresco The Allegory of Good and Bad Government
The Spinoff: A record-breaking year for political donations is no cause for celebration
We know how to reform political finance, but no party wants to.
The Post: The question we should actually be debating about the public service
The size of the public sector is less important than what we need it to do.
Spinoff: Government risks own goal in cutting funding for Growing up in New Zealand
The longitudinal survey has essential data on poorer households and shouldn’t be cut.
The Post: Country’s populist shift manifests itself most clearly in Mr Jones
While levels of anger can be overstated, the system still needs to change.
The Spinoff: A flagpole, a failed space, and a confused history of white fragility
The strange story of Wellington’s Flagstaff Hill.
The Post: Luxon needs to live up to his maiden speech, and his beliefs
Paying the living wage to government’s precarious contractors would be compassionate conservatism.
The Spinoff: Chris Hipkins might just be the one to make a wealth tax work for Labour
Calling for yet another debate then doing nothing seems politically inconceivable.
The Post: Charter schools won’t fix our educational failings
But they could waste tens of millions of dollars, including redundancy payments.
The Spinoff: Luxon’s budget problem is not going away
National has a $5.7bn fiscal gap to fill, but is giving $2.9bn to landlords.
The Post: To solve our housing crisis, we should look to Vienna
State housing shouldn’t just be a residual service, but the equal of market housing.