The tail wagging the dog is a risk in any coalition arrangement. But with two tails wagging vigorously, the National-led government is testing the limits of consensus and policy coherence.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on NZ First Party
Displaying 1 - 20 of 21 articles
Finance minister Nicola Willis is promising to chart a ‘middle course’ in her first budget. Her bigger challenge is to bring middle New Zealand along with her.
If a future government wanted to block fast-tracked projects, it could trigger investor-state dispute settlement clauses built into existing trade agreements, with billions potentially at stake.
Punishing parents of truant children misses factors – such as poverty and hunger – keeping some children out of school.
National’s tax policies have been tweaked since the election, thanks to coalition agreements with NZ First and ACT. But the plan for tax cuts seems to have survived, to the benefit of core supporters.
The coalition has made good on pledges to repeal, reduce or reverse the previous government’s policies. But the real test will be paying for its own policies and staying stable in the process.
Rather than leave the Treaty principles to parliament and the courts to define, why not embed the essence of the Treaty articles themselves in all laws?
Labour’s 2021 property tax changes were meant to lower the cost of housing. But without a proper capital gains tax it only hurt investors and renters, and made the tax system overall less coherent.
Despite demands for an urgent ‘reservation’ and ‘national interest test’ over new WHO regulations, New Zealand’s sovereignty is not at risk from international agreements or treaties.
The ACT Party claims revisiting the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi is about political equality. But removing a Māori cultural dimension to New Zealand’s democracy would have an opposite effect.
The country’s first formal three-party coalition will test Christopher Luxon’s promise of ‘strong and stable’ government – and the minor parties’ patience if things don’t go their way.
National and ACT will need to get past their animosity towards NZ First, and its mercurial leader Winston Peters, if the right wing coalition is to have any hope of forming a government.
Coalition talks can now start in earnest after the final results for the 2023 election were released.
With final results awaiting the inclusion of special votes, the shape of New Zealand’s next parliament hangs in the balance. Here are the variables in play.
New Zealand has swung decisively back to the right at the 2023 general election. With official results pending, it seems National and ACT can still form a government without the help of NZ First.
With two days of the campaign left, what had earlier seemed like a relatively predictable election has narrowed considerably, with several variables potentially influencing the outcome.
The latest political opinion polls confirm the rightward trend since mid-year. But with NZ First on the rise, the shape of the next government remains unpredictable.
Under the new Natural and Built Environments Act, it will take ten years to phase out the old Resource Management Act. Parties promising reform will likely end up presiding over the status quo.
New Zealand’s proportional electoral system makes coalition governments all but inevitable. Ahead of the October 14 election, the jockeying for power is all on the right.
The Conversation’s poll-watcher breaks down the party support trend since March – which has all been surging one way, despite some variation between pollsters.
Job Board
-
Team Leader, Admissions, Future Students
-
Economics Editor
-
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services)
-
Chief People & Culture Officer
-
Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Construction and Project Management
Top contributors
-
Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor of Politics, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
-
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University
-
Professor of Law, University of Waikato
-
Senior Lecturer, School of Accounting and Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
-
Visiting Scholar in Politics, City St George's, University of London
-
Professor of Law, University of Waikato
-
Professor of Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
-
Honorary Research Associate, School of People, Environment and Planning, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
-
Associate Professor in Commercial Law and Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
-
Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
