Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
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The Effects of COVID-19 on International Contracts: A Comparative Overview
Get PDFThis article provides a timely consideration of the effect of COVID-19, and legislative measures taken to deal with it, on contractual liabilities. The relationship of COVID-19 events to the defences of force majeure and hardship are investigated by comparative analyses of several countries' laws as well as the issue whether the national lockdown measures can be qualified as "overriding mandatory provisions". The study is of both domestic contracts and international commercial contracts
Introducing Issue Three
Get PDFThis issue has taken shape within the context of a global pandemic, and despite these challenges it has provided a welcome space to continue our common intellectual work. Our authors hail from around the globe and have each experienced different aspects of this volatility in different ways at different times. The issue features a special collection entitled Trial by Fire. These essays probe and question the underlying assumptions embedded within the initiatory rites of immersive fieldwork, and the personal consequences and costs that fieldworkers sometimes bear. This issue also contains two articles on the complex ethics of collaboration, an interview with the authors of a graphic ethnography, as well as an extract of this work. Taken together, the contributions to this third issue of Commoning Ethnography continue to address the journal’s core provocations. They explore the way in which ethnography exceeds the boundaries of the Academy and connects scholarly knowledge to other intellectual and artistic modes of knowing and doing. And they probe the complex ethics and politics of ethnographic knowledge production in innovated ways. 
The Possibilities of Graphic Ethnography: An Interview with Claudio Sopranzetti, Sara Fabbri and Chiara Natalucci
Get PDFClaudio Sopranzetti, Sara Fabbri, and Chiara Natalucci are the team behind the new graphic ethnography The King of Bangkok (University of Toronto Press 2021). The King of Bangkok tells the story of Nok, an urban migrant from Thailand’s northeastern region as he moves back and forth from his home village and attempts to build a life in the country’s capital across periods of massive economic growth and collapse and periods of democratic expansion, state violence, and political closure. Structured around a series of flashbacks, The King of Bangkok shows how these historical events shaped Nok’s life and how Nok’s life came to shape those events. The book was originally published in Italian (Add Editore, 2019) and was subsequently translated into Thai as Taa Sawaang (Awakening, อ่านอิตาลี 2020). In this interview we ask Claudio, Sara, and Chiara about their experience creating this text, its relationship with more traditional ethnographic genres of writing, and the effects their project has had in Thailand. We are delighted to feature a small section of the book following the interview
Lessons from Child Welfare: why accountability to ministers cannot meet the needs of public legitimacy.
Get PDFIt is an historical fact that tamariki Mäori are over-represented in Aotearoa New Zealand’s child welfare system, with a recent disproportionate increase in that over-representation. The recent spotlight on the removal of babies and, in particular, several highly visible examples in the media of attempted removals of babies, however, has once again raised the issue of the legitimacy of state involvement in ensuring the care and protection of children among Mäori. Increased accountability and transparency is one vital step towards restoring the public legitimacy of the child welfare system. This article examines the factors that led to and exacerbated the most recent crisis in Mäori views of the legitimacy of the child welfare system, and details contextual factors both common among state actors and unique to New Zealand’s child welfare system that influence systems of accountability. I conclude by providing a set of key factors that are imperative when moving towards increased systemic accountability of the child welfare system – factors that acknowledge and incorporate the historical legacy, current socio-economic position, and the significance of whänau and family. 
Enhancing long-term governance: Parliament’s vital oversight role
Get PDFThis article explores how the New Zealand Parliament scrutinises the quality of long-term governance and considers how such scrutiny could be made more systematic, proactive and rigorous. The analysis is based, among other things, on extensive interviews with current and former MPs and other active participants in the policy process. Interviewees were generally critical of the existing system of parliamentary scrutiny: it was variously described as ‘weak’, ‘inadequate’, ‘cursory’, ‘patchy’ and ‘unduly partisan’. Scrutiny of long-term matters – such as governments’ strategies, foresight, planning and risk management – was seen as inferior, on average, to other forms of scrutiny, especially the scrutiny of legislation. Drawing on the suggestions of interviewees and the experience of legislatures in several other parliamentary democracies, we outline and assess various options for parliamentary reform
Valuing Impacts: the contribution of CBAx to improved policy practices
Get PDFPolicymaking involves trade-offs to ensure the best possible use of limited resources. Identifying and measuring the impacts – for example, health gains – of different policy alternatives helps decision makers with these trade-offs, and is a key component of policy analysis. The New Zealand Treasury’s approach to cost-benefit analysis includes CBAx, which is a toolkit for estimating the societal value of alternative policy options. A 2018 review showed increased quality of costbenefit analysis in budget proposals following the introduction of CBAx. In this article, we provide some context to CBAx developments and share insights from agencies’ practical experiences. We focus on the perspective of policy advisors using CBAx to undertake cost-benefit analysis, and touch on the application of the results to decision making. We conclude by outlining potential developments and inviting colleagues to make use of the CBAx toolkit to enhance cost-benefit analysis practices to better value policy impacts for New Zealanders
Keeping cost effectively warm: the inclusion of thermal performance in the New Zealand Building Code
Get PDFThe 1990s saw change from the (nominally) prescriptive NZS1900 to the performance-based New Zealand Building Code (NZBC). Although there had been thermal insulation requirements for new houses since 1 April 1978, the change provided the opportunity to develop a performance-based requirement. It also provided the opportunity to include non-residential buildings, notably including for the first-time office and retail buildings. While around two thirds of energy use in houses is for space conditioning (heating) and water heating, in commercial buildings the main energy uses are space conditioning (heating and cooling) and lighting. Extensive background research developed a set of proposed documents, which were then refined using the Committee structure of Standards New Zealand. The three standards (NZS 4218 Energy Efficiency: Housing and Small Building Envelope, NZS 4243 Energy Efficiency: Large Buildings and NZS 4305: Energy efficiency: Domestic type hot water systems) provided an integrated series of standards. The paper will explore the background research, the use of Standards Committees, and the political issues that played a crucial role in delaying the implementation
The last decade: the New Zealand architectural designs of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) in the 1990s
No full textConstructivist in his approach to both painting and architecture, the Austrian designer Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s technical innovations in building anticipated many of the principles of sustainability which characterize eco-structures. These include rooftop planting for insulation and temperature control, rainwater harvesting and use of recycled materials including glassware. His regeneration of Kaurinui in Northland has been located by some within the tradition of Land Art in the way in which it interconnects ecology and humanity. He became a New Zealand citizen in 1986 and produced an architectural model called "Spiral Monument" as his entry for the architectural competition for the Museum of New Zealand in 1990. In it, some have seen a hybridizing of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty with Māori spiral designs. In 2021, his 1993 plan for improving a council building in the Town Basin in Whangārei and making it into an art gallery will come to fruition. His 1998 Kawakawa toilets have become iconic in the North. This paper will consider how these designs from the 1990s reflect Hundertwasser ongoing concern with rejecting rationalism in architecture
Supporting Child Wellbeing: a health assessment tool for the Hamilton Children’s Team
Get PDFThe Hamilton Children’s Team received its first referral in 2015, with dedicated lead professionals appointed for each child referred. The role of these lead professionals is to assess need, develop a plan for each child, and coordinate a cross-sector Child Action Network to improve care and wellbeing. Challenges were identified in Hamilton for the assessment, identification and coordination of health need within the Children’s Team, particularly for lead professionals from outside the health sector. Therefore, a health assessment package was developed in partnership with the Hamilton Children’s Team, the Waikato District Health Board and other relevant agencies. The use of a standardised and systematic approach, with training and relationship development, resources and referral pathways, resulted in identification of significant unmet need. A number of referrals to the health sector resulted from this assessment and there are implications that such a process can support ongoing attendance at health appointments, monitoring of outcomes from the Children’s Team process, and improvements to physical, emotional and mental wellbeing for families. This approach was well received by lead professionals and families, and future use is likely to enhance the Children’s Team programme and service delivery, and improve wellbeing outcomes
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