Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
Not a member yet
6045 research outputs found
Sort by
Censored! Developing a framework for making sound decisions fast
Get PDFPublic sector leadership often demands fast thinking and rapid response. Our decisions are more likely to be sound, however, when they are informed by ‘slow thinking’ when we are not in crisis mode. The art of ‘thinking, fast and slow’ (Kahneman, 2011) is illustrated by decisions of the Office of Film and Literature Classification (the Classification Office) in the days following the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019. This article engages with political philosophy to support the Classification Office in applying its decision framework and encourages public sector investment in ‘slow thinking’, so that public administration can be both responsive and anticipatory, pragmatic and principled
Who’s donating? To whom? Why? Patterns of party political donations in New Zealand under MMP
Get PDFThis article considers the data on donations to New Zealand political parties collected by the Electoral Commission. The purpose is to address who gets what, and why. Relatively small amounts are donated. A little may buy considerable influence. There is limited evidence of strong upward trends in political donations, suggesting a systemic equilibrium. The plurality of donations is received by unsuccessful parties, suggesting that money is insufficient for political success. Most donations come from individuals (mostly men) or families. Cross-political spectrum donations are mostly from businesses and to the two dominant parties, suggesting that businesses are trying to buy the ear of the major power in government
Representative Democracy in an Age of Inequality: why legal reforms are needed to protect New Zealand’s system of government
Get PDFNew Zealand’s system of government is vulnerable to undue influence and distortion by private wealth. Our legal framework contains no limits on domestic political donations (including donations from corporations and lobbyists), weak disclosure standards for political financing, no political expenditure limits outside the election period, insufficient regulations on lobbying and the revolving door between public and private employment, and few meaningful regulations on conflicts of interest. Given the nation’s high level of wealth concentration, these vulnerabilities pose a critical threat. Comprehensive electoral reforms are required to prevent economic inequality from becoming politically entrenched and representative democracy from being undermined
Vested Interests and Business Diplomacy: biotechnology companies and gene editing in New Zealand
Get PDFNew Zealand is known worldwide for its green image and environmentally friendly products, including a GMO-free status. However, recent advances in biotechnology suggest that new technologies, such as gene editing, may help to combat climate change and contribute to sustainability. Debate about whether to allow the use of gene editing in the dairy, farming and livestock industries in New Zealand has begun because of vested interests in new technologies from multinational corporations, the dairy industry and the government. In New Zealand, companies utilise business diplomacy strategies in order to promote their corporate interests and participate in multi-level networks of influence and information. This article identifies the main stakeholders in gene editing, their roles in a multi-level network of vested interests, and their uses of business diplomacy in New Zealand
Sex, Gender and Women's Rights
Get PDFDespite legislation proposing sex self-identification being deferred in early 2019, numerous government departments and agencies have implemented self-identification in their policies and practices. If a man can declare himself to be a woman, what, then, is a woman, and how can women’s rights as a political class be maintained? This article explores the tensions between women’s sex-based human rights and the claims of transgender advocates. In so doing, it discusses the nature and implications of gender ideology and highlights the failure of public sector institutions, in embracing key tenets of this ideology, to follow well-established policymaking processes
Local Alcohol Policies in New Zealand: An overview of their implementation and effects on crime
Get PDFWe document the implementation of local alcohol policies in New Zealand and then study their impacts on crime. A key contribution of our study is that we construct a detailed data set on local alcohol policies applicable across territorial authorities between July 2014 and January 2019. To our knowledge, we are the first ones to provide such a comprehensive overview. In a subsequent analysis, we find that local alcohol policies as recently implemented in New Zealand do not appear to have reduced crime. This result holds for specific policy dimensions and their stringency (e.g., closing times and geographic restrictions on issuing new licences), and is reasonably robust across crime types, days/times of occurrence, and socioeconomic subgroups. Our failure to identify significant reductions in crime following the imposition of local alcohol policies may partly reflect the policies being non-binding in some cases: for example, licensed premises had sometimes already operated within the restricted trading hours specified by a local alcohol policy
Re-socialising Aotearoa New Zealand Housing
Get PDFUrban housing in Aotearoa New Zealand is predominantly unit-titled, individualised dwellings whether the housing is owner-occupied or a rental investment. As housing increases in density, the provision and management of common space becomes necessary. In Aotearoa New Zealand, when this occurs, the extent of privately owned housing space is typically privileged, and shared common space minimised. In contrast, cooperative housing integrates housing, economic factors, and social contexts to create long-term socially and economically sustainable housing. Since the 19th century, cooperative housing has provided evidence of internationally awarded and recognised, self-help, community-generated housing that includes shared components. Cooperative housing offers a third way of achieving affordable housing security, one that lies between home ownership and renting. Legislatively mandated and protected cooperative housing is needed in Aotearoa New Zealand to augment our existing housing production systems and types, and to help address the need for enduring, affordable, and socially sustainable housing
Dispossession and Gentrification in the Porirua Redevelopment: An Account of Housing Action Porirua and the Fight for State Housing
No full textPorirua East is currently undergoing a state-led gentrification project under the guise of ‘regeneration’. Residents of Porirua East saw what happened in other areas like Glen Innes and, anticipating this threat, formed Housing Action Porirua (HAP). Contextualising the Porirua redevelopment within a broader history of colonisation and racist exploitation, we outline the redevelopment to date and give a history of displacement and dispossession of iwi, and later migrant workers, in Porirua. We chart HAP’s struggle for the community and outline the group’s five demands for a true regeneration that honours te Tiriti o Waitangi, protects the earth, and ensures that no whānau are displaced. We urge that the expansion of state housing is a critical demand for working-class communities which, if guided by te Tiriti, also has the potential to concretely restore mana and rangatiratanga to tangata whenua
Driving Through the East: An Insight into City Planning in Porirua
Get PDFThis intervention asks how the people of Porirua can feel empowered and included in the decision-making processes that will shape the future of their city. I draw on my experiences as a life-long resident, activist, artist, architect, landscape architect, and urban designer in Porirua to find answers. I have found that young Pasifika are very concerned about whether their cultural values will be represented in housing and development in Porirua. This speaks to an issue facing the country as whole: while the Pasifika population continues to grow in size and importance in Aotearoa New Zealand, they are subject to flawed cultural assumptions, and are frequently overlooked or misunderstood in decision-making processes that will have profound impacts upon their future. There is room for more talanoa between Pasifika in Aotearoa New Zealand, and between Pasifika and the wider population. It is only when architects and planners expand their cultural kete that they will provide suitable housing and neighbourhoods for Pasifika
Hard to Centre
Get PDFAfter a landslide victory for Labour in the 2020 general election, what can we expect from the second Ardern administration
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!