Queer Politics Parliament’s apology on July 6 to people who were convicted of once-criminal acts of homosexuality put queer rights back on the political agenda, but there is still little consensus on LGBTQ+ issues within New Zealand politics. There has been considerable debate over legislation produced since the Homosexual Law Reform Act of 1986, showing […]
Todd Barclay Prime Minister Bill English came under intense media scrutiny in June when it was revealed that he had known of MP Todd Barclay’s alleged illegal surveillance of an employee since February last year. On two occasions over two years, Bill English had made dishonest statements to media about Barclay’s actions. Barclay and his […]
Housing Housing affordability featured heavily in National and Labour’s weekend conferences on May 13–14. Both parties scrambled to build on policies dealing with the nationwide housing shortage in what is a particularly crucial issue for the upcoming general election in September. Last year Labour pledged to build 100,000 houses over the course of a decade […]
The political zeitgeist of the Western world today is undoubtedly populism, the ideology which favours a “pure people” over a “corrupt elite,” according to Political Scientist Cas Mudde. Populists have gained a number of victories recently. In the Brexit referendum in June last year Britain voted to “take back control” from what many saw as […]
Prime Minister Bill English announced changes to New Zealand’s retirement rules on March 6. The changes include raising the retirement age to 67, and requiring that migrants must have lived in New Zealand for 20 years to receive a pension from the government. The new retirement age, which affects people born after June 1972 — […]
