Policy Analyst, New Zealand Policy Unit
Luke’s current research interests include NZ public policy, the welfare state, and political philosophy. He worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Canterbury, where he will soon complete a Master of Arts in political philosophy. Originally from North Canterbury, Luke holds a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours from the University of Otago.
Posted: 3:00 pm on 2nd December 2011
The return of economic nationalism In the recent general election in New Zealand, a solid bloc of voters cast their ballot for what can best be termed economic nationalist parties – those who do not necessarily see the free market, particularly if it undermines certain uncompetitive or traditional sectors, as being in the best interest of the nation. Two minor parties together gained a surprising and unpredicted 10% of the…
Posted: 8:44 am on 30th November 2011
At the time of writing, and special votes aside, Labour has 27% of the party vote. This is the worst result since 1928, before the New Zealand Labour Party was the major party of opposition, and pips the 28.2% they gained in the first MMP election in 1996 election under Helen Clark. 1996 was also coincidentally the last time that there were two minor parties in politics that gained a reasonable portion of the…
Posted: 1:21 pm on 28th November 2011
An initial thought on the NZ election: The overriding theme seems to swing toward economic nationalism by the wider electorate. This was witnessed by NZ First getting 6.8% of the vote, The Conservative Party getting 2.7% of the vote, and a National Party that has been quite prepared to get hands on with economic management. Of course both the Labour Party and the Greens ran strong campaigns on the inherent badness of foreign ownership and ‘controlling our own…
Posted: 2:03 pm on 22nd November 2011
My recent report about the spending binge of New Zealand’s government has inspired a small liberal political party running in the upcoming election. New Zealanders head to the ballot boxes this Saturday. To help the good folk decide on their next government, The Libertarianz Party – as the name suggests they are a libertarian party – produced this campaign ad, with my paper as the protagonist. While the Libz have no…
Posted: 10:00 am on 2nd November 2011
On Monday night on Radio New Zealand Nights, I gave some thoughts on Roger Kerr and his influence. We discussed some of his views and the effect he had on New Zealand public policy. You can listen here. As our Executive Director Greg Lindsay put in an earlier post, Roger was a friend to the CIS both personally and professionally. The quality and scope of the NZBR’s work and influence can be squarely put down to his…
