Author Archives: Peter Winsley

He Puapua proposes constitutional, institutional and public policy changes, notionally to respond to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).  However, careful analysis shows that it is a flawed political advocacy document, and if its recommendations were … Continue reading →

The draft school History Curriculum omits the tumultuous events leading up to the Treaty (Tiriti), what motivated the signatories, and how this shaped today. As chronicled in Ron Crosby’s book The Forgotten Wars, from 1807 until the early 1840s iwi … Continue reading →

New Zealand’s housing shortages reflect regulatory barriers to making land available, and lack of supporting infrastructure for new housing.  Despite high housing demand, supply is inelastic.  As a result, high demand inflates fixed housing stock prices without inducing more supply.  … Continue reading →

Māori MPs are giving good leadership to their communities through the coronavirus challenges, however it is reported that some are reluctant to tell Māori they should get vaccinated.  This supposedly reflects longstanding distrust of the Crown. Pushback against mask wearing … Continue reading →

Rawiri Waititi is right to support commercial trout farming, and he has economic and cultural history behind him. In pre-European times freshwater fisheries were important Maori food sources.  A staple species was the upokororo (Prototroctes oxyrhynchus), which early settlers called … Continue reading →

It’s great that we will soon have a history curriculum.  It needs to offer rich knowledge to all New Zealand school students, regardless of their socio-economic status, ethnicity or religion.  As Elizabeth Rata and Briar Lipson would argue, rich disciplinary … Continue reading →

Donald Trump won the 2016 election after a polarising, scandal-ridden campaign amidst allegations of moral turpitude and foreign interference.  Despite nepotism and manifest incompetence in his term as POTUS, in 2020 Trump won more votes (74M) than any other presidential … Continue reading →

Digital technology giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon create value  through their technology, network effects, information non-rivalry, and through managing aggregated or “big data” in service delivery.  However, their dominance creates market power concerns.  Big data misuse can erode … Continue reading →

“Good leaders join networks so that their followers can have greater opportunities. Bad leaders develop walls so that outsiders cannot get in and insiders cannot get out.” Sir Mason Durie Unlike the US, New Zealand has no supreme constitution, and … Continue reading →