Samuel Clack, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Tony Ward, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Understanding of depression has advanced significantly since the first diagnostic criteria were introduced in the 1980s, but we still lack clear consensus on how this mental disorder should be explained.
Tax reforms generally imply a trade-off between average income and inequality.
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Nicolas Herault, The University of Melbourne; John Creedy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, and Norman Gemmell, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
At 33%, New Zealand’s highest income tax rate is relatively low compared to other economies. Lifting it and cutting tax for low-income earners could improve welfare.
One in four New Zealanders are living with a disability. Non-disabled people think they know what disability “looks like”, and often how to help. And that can be a problem.
Governments can choose to spend money in ways that support climate change policy, including a shift to electric vehicle fleets.
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Barbara Allen, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand is introducing new procurement rules to better link government spending with climate change policy. The first target is to reduce emissions profile of the government’s vehicle fleet.
More than 32,000 civilians have been killed in the Afghanistan war between 2009 and 2018 - most of them by anti-government forces.
AAP/GHULAMULLAH HABIBI
An official inquiry is underway to examine if New Zealand troops committed war crimes in Afghanistan during an event known as Operation Burnham, when six civilians were killed.
After winning the right to vote in 1893, New Zealand’s suffragists kept up the battle, but the unity found in rallying around the major cause had receded.
Jim Henderson/Wikimedia Commons
New Zealand was the first nation to grant women the vote in 1893, but during the pre-war years enduring prejudice against women in politics outweighed any support for women to stand for parliament
Since the industrial revolution began in the mid-1700s, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have gone up by 46%.
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James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
For the past two and a half million years, Earth has experienced regular ice ages, but with carbon dioxide levels now over 400 parts per million, the next ice age is postponed for a very long time.
The climate crisis is itself an appalling lapse in duty of care by decision-makers, but we shouldn’t overlook this duty in our response.
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Climate change is a super-wicked problem. With a growing sense of urgency to act on climate change, it is vital we strike a balance between encouraging action and limiting pushback.
New Zealand is one of few places in the world where teaching the country’s own history has not been compulsory.
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Teaching history is as much about facts and people as it is about contested narratives and disputed interpretations, which is why it’s time to make New Zealand history a compulsory subject at school.
Auckland Council’s upgrade plans highlight the importance of local Māori communities as part of the process.
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As part of an upgrade of Auckland’s city centre, the council promises to include local Māori communities and their histories. But without addressing inequalities, it is no more than a token gesture.
Research shows that New Zealand children are exposed to an average of 46 ads for unhealthy products every day.
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Despite repeated calls for an overhaul of New Zealand’s marketing regulations to protect children from exposure to ads for unhealthy products, successive governments have failed to act.
Returning nutrients, including animal feces, to the land is important to maintain the soil’s capacity to sequester carbon.
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Should lakes, rivers and other resources have legal rights? New Zealand, Ecuador and other countries have taken this step. Now Toledo, Ohio is a US test case.
The new measures that give police discretion not to prosecute are in keeping with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision not to join US President Donald Trump’s “war on drugs”.
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A change to drug laws in New Zealand has been hailed as a leap towards treating drug addiction as a heath issue. But it has also been criticised for essentially decriminalising class A drugs.
After years of delay, the New Zealand government is pushing ahead on a national plan to clean up the nation’s lakes, rivers and wetlands.
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A proposed plan to clean up New Zealand’s waterways draws clear limits on the expansion of dairy farming and irrigation, as well as on the use of nitrogen fertiliser in some key areas.
Agriculture is an important sector for both New Zealand and the European Union.
EPA/Stephanie Lecocq
New Zealand is in the process of negotiating a free-trade agreement with the EU. Agriculture is likely to become an issue because it is heavily subsidised in Europe but not in New Zealand.
While growing grass takes up carbon dioxide, it emits it again back into the atmosphere when it is mowed or eaten.
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All plants take up carbon dioxide when they grow, but when they are harvested or cut down, they release the greenhouse gas back into the atmosphere.
The land occupation at Ihumātao brings together Māori and heritage activists seeking to stop a housing development on a site that marks the earliest human occupation of New Zealand.
Alika Wells/Wikimedia
The land occupation at Ihumātao, near Auckland’s airport, is reviving forms of protest common in the 1970s, now enhanced by new media and led by a new generation of Māorikeen to see grievances addressed.
People with high cultural intelligence are more likely to have broader knowledge of foreign politics and economic systems.
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People with high cultural intelligence are non-judgemental, tolerant of ambiguity and inclusive – and these qualities mean they are more likely to be successful in global business positions.
The number of Māori and Pasifika students is growing, but they do not see themselves represented among the people who teach them.
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New research shows that Māori and Pasifika scholars are significantly under-represented in New Zealand’s universities, making up only 5% and 1.7% of the academic workforce, respectively.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University