Bennett and an Easter message about children

Easter Monday and Anzac Day coincide next week: the remembrance of two dark times that turned to light. Paula Bennett on Sunday echoed the Easter theme in what may be the government’s most important statement this year.

Gallipoli, the job for the first Anzacs, was ill-conceived, wrong-footed, a bloody defeat, curtain-raiser to a slogging war in Europe that cut a swathe of death through the ranks of our young men, laid a pall on every small settlement and a blight on survivors’ lives and piled debt high on the young economy. Victory, when it came, was more relief than joy. read more

Labour: a party in transition – but to what?

Phil Goff is a baby-boomer. He is a quintessential member of what has been called the educational meritocracy. And, though you might be forgiven for wondering after all the media coups, he is leader of the Labour party.

All three dimensions are part of Labour’s challenge and opportunity as it adjusts to the 2010s. Forget poor Darren Hughes and grumpy 2008 losers Judith Tizard and Damien O’Connor. The frissons around them say much less about Goff and Labour than about National agents’ and hard-left non-Labour elements’ twitterings, bloggings, poll manipulations and rumour-fuelling. read more

Bill English and the question of innovation

The hard test for the government in next month’s budget is whether it can look past fiscal consolidation to the future.

Bill English restated his Presbyterian message to public servants last Tuesday. They packed the Beehive Banquet Hall, a phalanx of chief executives, luminaries, not-so-luminaries and unionists from the Public Service Association, to hear him tell them they have 10 years ahead of constraint and pressure to do “more with less”. read more

How far will McCully and Key rebalance foreign policy?

How will the relationship with Australia go long-term? Where does China fit? These questions will be teased out at two forums later this week. The large shadow on the wall at both will be the United States. Where is the government on this?

At Victoria University on Thursday offshore luminaries, among them China expert Michael Wesley, director of the high-powered Sydney-based Lowy Institute thinktank, will explore the economic, security, domestic and diplomatic dimensions of “Australia, New Zealand and China’s rise”. read more

And old friend is back. Will the new one mind?

April is Australia-New Zealand month, with China thrown in — a variation on February, which was Australia-New Zealand-United States month. That highlights the external priorities which New Zealand has to balance in the 2010s.

New Zealand has regular “track 2” forums with Australia (the oldest, formed in 2004), the United States and Japan. They bring together business and other sector leaders, officials and ministers. They are unofficial, aimed at deepening connections and building a joint constituency for action on bilateral matters and combined actions abroad. read more

Why the Maori party can take heart

The big news last week was not Darren Hughes’s dalliance. It was the passing of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill. Hughes is ephemeral. The indigenous rights push has a way to go yet. Iwi are here to stay.

The big buzz around Hughes last week was how ephemeral Phil Goff is. The real 2011 worry for Labour is whether its vote goes down or up on November 26 and whether changing to someone — anyone — else makes it less likely to go down or at least likely to go down by less. That anyone else has to be prepared to be expendable if the result is still bad. read more

A rare opportunity for excellence

Colin James for Boardroom on Christchurch and Auckland 28 March 2011

Christchurch was a mostly flat and mostly unremarkable place, with a CBD out of proportion to its modern economic weight. That’s a common Wellington view. Sure, Canterbury is 15% of the national economy but much of that is outside Christchurch. What’s the fuss, now it’s (nearly) off the TV screens?
The fuss is the opportunity. For New Zealand. read more

Public services are changing, not just being cut

Which pinko lefty bloated waffler said this: “Public servants … are a vitally important component of democracy. The better the public servant, the stronger and more effective the democracy?”

Answer: Rodney Hide, in a speech to the Society of Local Government Managers on 14 February. That was shortly after John Key said the public service was bloated and Bill English said it delivers waffle. read more

Justice before politics

Random thought 27 March 2011

One of the great battles on the way from monarchy to democracy in Britain was the abolition of the bill of attainder. A bill of attainder was in effect a political trial of someone who had run afoul of the authorities. It was aimed at a person, not a type of activity. You could act within the law but nonetheless lose your head. read more