The Latest Breaking News from Robert Muldoon

Education Ministry inquiry the latest sign NZ’s Official Information Act isn’t working

A leaked video of apparent attempts at the Education Ministry to circumvent the Official Information Act (OIA) has advocates for open and transparent government worried – but possibly not surprised.

The Conversation · Sep 30

‘We’ll slaughter the bastards’ – how Bob Jones and the New Zealand Party changed politics in 1984

With New Zealand’s 11th election under the MMP proportional system due in November, it’s easy to take the influence of minor parties for granted. But just over 40 years ago, things were very different.

The Conversation · Sep 9

NZ’s fastest growing town was once the future of urban planning. What happened?

Travel 25 kilometres south from Christchurch on the new 110 kilometre-per-hour, multi-million-dollar “road of national significance” and you’ll reach New Zealand’s fastest growing town.

The Conversation · Aug 27

Resource management is always political – the Fast-track Approvals Bill is just honest about it

The government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill has been widely criticised for potentially handing too much power to three cabinet ministers, and raising the risk of conflicts of interest and political interference in environmental management.

The Conversation · Jun 20, 2024

Fast-track laws, parliamentary urgency, Treaty tension, media retreat: warning signs for NZ’s ‘brittle’ democracy

There have been so many submissions on the government’s proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill – 27,000 written, with 2,900 wanting to appear before the select committee in person – that a ballot system has been introduced to manage the process.

The Conversation · May 19, 2024

Strikes, protests and collective action: how fighting a cost-of-living crisis wasn’t always about tightening your own belt

Most people today are coping with the rising cost of living individually: cost cutting, looking for a better paid job, taking on “side hustles”, and so on. But not so long ago, many workers globally and in Aotearoa New Zealand approached the same problem in far more collective ways.

The Conversation · Apr 10, 2023

Lego Jurassic Park 30th anniversary 2023 sets revealed

Five new Lego Jurassic Park sets for different ages are being launched to celebrate the toy brand’s 30th anniversary.

Evening Standard · Mar 9, 2023