Image from the Productivity Commission’s issues paper. Printable version The Productivity Commission has been instructed by the government to work on delivering advice on legal and policy changes to support “More Effective Social Services”. The issues paper is open for submissions with a closing date of 2 December. The paper focuses on social services as […]
Wanted: A media environment that supports democracy
Printable version Several months ago I pursued a press complaint about an opinion piece published on the Stuff website by Journalist Pattrick Smellie. It was about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and his main point was that the TPPA does not pose a threat […]
Democracy Conference report and proposed actions
Conference report – working towards a better quality democracy in NZOur August conference feedback has been analysed and included in the conference reports which are available to download. They have been developed into three goals and three broad actions for future work. Conference Reports and DownloadsThe Conference Report Summary 7 pages pdf which has links […]
On the cusp of something very special (part two).
So Bill English thinks that welfare is like crack cocaine and the successful National Government has announced its intention to cut the welfare bill significantly. He revealed in June that if re-elected National will bring about the biggest changes to public services that NZ has seen in 50 years. How will it do this? Here is […]
On the cusp of something very special?
Is the National Party keeping some things out of sight in case they frighten the electorate? Here is some worrying evidence that this may be the case. On 20 June this year there was a Wikileaks release on the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) and the media coverage internationally was mainly related to its potential […]
Conference report back
Democracy, ethics and the public good – The 2014 Geering Event Our conference took place on the weekend of 1/2 August and attracted a good crowd. Listed below is information about the presentations made and organisations represented at the conference. Panel presentations, workshops and time for networking helped us to refresh the language of democratic […]
Speech to the clean politics rally Parliament 10 September
Several people at the rally asked me to publish this speech. Here it is Tena koutou e hoa ma Ko Jan Rivers toku ingoa We held a conference at St Andrews on the Terrace on Aug 1 and 2. The topic was democracy, ethics and the public good. But the Public Good is really much […]
Clean politics rally Wednesday September 10 12.00 Parliament Steps
A ‘washing-line’ of placards with three key ideas for cleaning up politics in the wake of the Dirty Politics saga will be displayed by attenders of a Kiwis for Clean Politics gathering on Wednesday at 12pm. Melinda Gamlen, organiser of the event was so shocked and dismayed at the corrupt activities going on in the […]
Democracy issues for candidates using Askaway
Campaigning organisation Action Station is using the social media election site Askaway to pose questions about the quality of our democracy. Some of these questions were raised by participants at the recent conference Democracy, Ethics and the Public Good. There are many great questions but the following relate specifically to the quality of our democracy […]
Lowered enrolment levels – the practical impact of dirty politics?
Media release 15 August 2014 A healthy democracy should be about more than the government being able to enrol voters effectively and run the mechanics of an election. With the historically low levels of voter enrolment this year, including a 5% fall in 18-25 year-olds signing up, it appears that even this minimal requirement of […]
Democracy, ethics and the public good – The 2014 Geering Event – conference papers
Kickstarting a NZ-wide conversation about the quality of our democracy Our conference took place on the weekend of 1/2 August and attracted a good crowd. Listed below is information about the presentations made and organisations represented at the conference. Panel presentations, workshops and time for networking helped us to refresh the language of democratic engagement […]
An Open Government Plan developed in secrecy is a contradiction in terms
According to its website, the State Services Commission sent NZ’s Open Government Action Plan to the international Open Government Partnership (OGP) Secretariat on 31 July. The countries involved in the OGP since its inception – from the UK and US to Indonesia and Brazil – have signed up to meaningful and aspirational goals: better oversight, […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- Next Page »
Latest Comments