The Supreme Court has found the current voting age limit discriminates against young people. But there are other good arguments for lowering the age, including strengthening our democracy.
The New Zealand prime minister might have sometimes enjoyed spectacular popularity, but that’s not the same thing as being a cult of personality in the manner of Trump or Putin.
At a time of geopolitical uncertainty, New Zealand’s government has distinctive reasons for opposing Putin’s Ukraine invasion and expressing public reservations about China’s ambition in the Pacific.
Jennifer Curtin, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The success of independents at the Australian election is a sign the political culture has shifted in Canberra, with potential benefits for expat New Zealanders and trans-Tasman relations in general.
Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
For years, New Zealand has tried to separate its economic dependency on China from its pro-Western strategic alliances. The new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework tests that balancing act even more.
Anxious not to be easy targets for their pro-business opponents, labour parties everywhere now run on a ‘thin ideological platform’. Anthony Albanese’s ALP is no exception.
With academic freedom comes moral responsibility. Men within New Zealand universities – and beyond – must challenge misogynistic abuse of their women colleagues and not stay silent.
Giacomo Lichtner, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Political activists on both the left and right have long appropriated the rhetoric and symbolism of Nazism and the Holocaust, a tactic usually based on ignorance and false equivalence.
As the government approaches the mid-term mark, is the protest in parliament grounds a PR boost for Jacinda Ardern or a sign of declining political consensus?
Bad laws, political tribalism and cancel culture – philosopher Arthur Prior was describing similar things in the 1950s, and his challenge is just as relevant today.
Once a broad political church, the National Party has become a house divided against itself. New leader Christopher Luxon faces huge challenges uniting both the party and its wider congregation.
Managing the competing demands of a pandemic inevitably erodes Jacinda Ardern’s political brand – but changes to Labour’s leadership rules don’t necessarily signal the end of an era.
Michael Plank, University of Canterbury and Shaun Hendy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Today’s announcement sent a clear message to all regions – get to a 90% vaccination rate or face the possibility of a lockdown when COVID-19 inevitably arrives.
Many Indigenous people in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are lacking food security due to public health orders preventing them from traditional food sourcing.