Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
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Sovereign Encounters
Get PDFIn this article, which is an edited version of my inaugural lecture at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, I argue that the concept of sovereignty is crucial to understanding one of the main questions of constitutional theory: how can constitutions facilitate self-government and, at the same time, function as mechanisms for the limitation of political power? I do so by re-examining four different ways in which I have encountered the concept of sovereignty through my academic work
Catholic Canon Law and Homosexuality: An Assessment of the Natural Law Justification for Homosexual Intolerance
Get PDFThe Catholic Church is a global power capable of influencing the development of domestic law in multiple jurisdictions. This influence can be obvious, such as where politicians vote according to a religiously formed conscience. The influence of the Church can also be more subtle. At the heart of several social conventions is a collection of traditional societal norms that originated within the boundaries of the Catholic canon law. In many states these conventions have developed naturally due to advancements in modern philosophical and scientific thought. However, in states with strong Catholic or Christian traditions, societal development is prone to stagnation due to conflicts between the official canons, the more liberal canons and societal development. One example where this conflict is most obvious is the canon law surrounding homosexuality. The official position of the canon law is conservative. Homosexuality is treated as a disease-like condition requiring strict abstinence to achieve spiritual enlightenment. The foundation for this position derives from natural law theory. Natural law theorists repel suggestions for reform based upon the idea that the rules stemming from natural law theory are either divine in origin or are articulations of naturally existing goods. I make the appraisal that the natural law foundation to the conservative position collapses when the true historical origins and motivations for the traditional position are revealed. When the origins of the canon law are no longer regarded as "divine in nature", the law can be more receptive to societal development
Weaving "Equity, Belonging and Power/Authority" for Pasifika into the Law Schools and Universities in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThe report (Fofola na ibe) of the "Improving Pasifika Legal Education Project" concluded that the law schools in New Zealand have not served Pasifika peoples well. The reasons for this are diverse, and the range of possible solutions are complex. For many Pasifika peoples, the law school is inherently foreign to their views and values. Armed with the findings and recommendations of the report, this article uses the Pasifika weaving conception to reflect on the ways that law schools in New Zealand can ensure, through discussion, dialogue and action, that they are a just, equitable and welcoming place for Pasifika law students
How the Families Package Increased Income and Created New Opportunities for Life-course Research
Get PDFThe Aotearoa New Zealand government’s 2018 Families Package increased financial assistance for families as part of a strategy to reduce child poverty, improve child and youth wellbeing, and provide parents with more choice around working and caring in their children’s first three years of life. Mothers who had children born after implementation of the package qualified for substantially more financial assistance in the pre-natal period and in their children’s first three years than previous cohorts. This article examines the size of the income gains. Using linked administrative data, we estimate that by the time children turned three, having a birth on or after 1 July 2018 increased financial assistance received by mothers by almost 9,600 (a 7% increase in total income). This natural experiment offers new opportunities for research on the causal effects of increased financial assistance in children’s early years on life-course outcomes
"redolent of the soil": New Zealand Interior and Landscape Architecture of the 1890s
Get PDFThe 1890s was a period when Pākehā began to strongly identify with New Zealand. There were several reasons for this. By the 1890s a majority of Pākehā had been born in New Zealand, the first generation of Pākehā settlers was passing, the Māori population had dropped, in 1891, to 44,177, and there was a perception by many Pākehā that Māori were a dying race. It was thus considered by many Pākehā that Māori "no longer posed the same threat" as they did during the civil wars, reframing Māori "as a brave and noble race." Smith also writes that "elevating Māori to honorary whites was a further way to render Pākehā superior to white Australians, as well as affirming the long-held belief in a hierarchy of races in which Māori were superior to Aboriginal Australians
"Lions and wyvens and dolphins, oh my!": Jessie Mitchell Elmslie's Arts and Crafts furniture
Get PDFJessie Mitchell Elmslie was in her early twenties when she carved an intricate and highly decorative oak and kauri sideboard. The 2.5 metre high sideboard is dripping with Arts and Crafts iconography, including wyverns, lions and a Green Man with a flowing beard. Elmslie also incorporated copper tooling into her design, with beaten copper handles and repousse heraldic dolphins. Elmslie's father, Dr Rev John Elmslie, was the minister at St Paul's Presbyterian Church in Christchurch and one of his parishioners taught Elmslie to carve. She produced at least two large pieces of furniture during the 1890s: the sideboard now in the collection of Canterbury Museum and a walnut settle in the collection of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand.Woodcarving became popular with New Zealand women during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Arts and Crafts movement, along with the establishment of art and design schools from the 1870s, meant that women were able to engage in practices formerly reserved for men. This paper will look at Elmslie and her work in the context of Arts and Crafts practice in New Zealand and consider the work of another talented carver, Evelyn Vaile
Green Expectations: Hamilton in the 1890s
Get PDFIn August 1889, Hamilton celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary of European settlement. A public holiday was declared, flags flew from several flagstaff, and the old Fourth Waikato veterans paraded. Despite the fanfare, expectations were low for the decade ahead. Prosperity in Hamilton was hampered by its inland isolation, the lack of profitable natural resources, and poor returns from land investment. The town's establishment was as a military outpost and its strategic advantage offered little to settlers who struggled to make a living. Hamilton's main street had the unflattering appearance of an American Frontier Town. Waikato soil was naturally unproductive. Farming in the Waikato had originally been a mixture of grain and other crops, cattle for its meat, and sheep for wool. Waikato's reputation for abundant and profitable dairy was some years away. The fortunes of Hamilton would change for the better in the late 1890s. Scientific breakthroughs in soil research, new farming techniques, the introduction of refrigerated freight, and improved global prices for meat and dairy products, would all lead to prosperity in the region.
This paper will examine the context and circumstances that shaped Hamilton's difficult years leading up to the 1890s, influenced for better or worse by its landscape, and the prosperity that would eventually arrive by the end of the decade
Book Review: The Law of Criminal Investigation in New Zealand
No full textChristopher Corns The Law of Criminal Investigation in New Zealand (Thomson Reuters, Wellington, 2021)
Six Unique Years: why did Think Big happen?
Get PDFThis article addresses the question of what caused the 1980 growth strategy which led to investment in major energy projects in NewZealand. It argues that it was a rational policy response at the time. However, the political goal of self-sufficiency in transport fuels was costly and inefficient. Pressure on construction resources and inflation led to unacceptable cost overruns and the forecasting of future prices was astray. As a result, the ventures needed financial restructuring. Some lessons for the imminent investments to combat climate change are drawn
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