Politics and pokies a bad mix

Gareth MorganPolitics

There’s a bill in front of Parliament that advocates local councils be given the job of allocating gaming proceeds and deciding the location and number of machines in their area. The argument is that councillors are the right folk to … Read More

A Budget for our Times

Gareth MorganEconomics, Tax and Welfare

It was a nothing budget and that’s precisely what’s needed – at least insofar as government spend, revenue and balance is concerned. If taxes had been raised significantly then austerity  would have risked a recession; if spending had been ramped … Read More

Appeal ruling step towards care rethink

Gareth MorganTax and Welfare

The recent Appeal Court ruling about payments to families who provide home-based care for their disabled family members confirms that New Zealand social policies – not just health but early childcare and welfare benefits too – are discriminatory and a … Read More

My views on the 2012 budget

Gareth MorganEconomics

Video Transcript Interviewer: Gareth, the government’s budget is coming up on 24th May and they’ve said it will be their second consecutive budget with no new spending. Is there an argument in times like this for the government to actually be … Read More

Considered Conservation versus the Green Extreme

Gareth MorganEnvironment

There have been times when factions of the conservation movement have been dismissed as too rabid to be taken seriously and at times that extremism ends in a situation being worse than it would otherwise have been. Japanese whaling suffers … Read More