NZEDGE Politics & Economics — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

South Pacific Secret to Breaking Poverty Cycle

“Migration to pick fruit is probably not the first thing you think of when you think of the World Bank’s work, or the broader global effort to eliminate poverty after 2015,” global development expert…

New Zealand FM Calls for Bigger UN Role in Middle East Peace Process

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully called for the United Nations Security Council to have a greater role in the Middle East peace process. “Secretary Kerry has been closely involved in efforts to re- establish…

New Zealand Steps Up To Chair UN Security Council

Throughout July, New Zealand’s top UN diplomat Gerard van Bohemen will take on the responsibilities of the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council, and his cited his main goal to facilitate…

New Zealand a Prosperity Index Success Story

While Greece, Spain and Portugal face a bleak scenario as they struggle on their road to recovery New Zealand, Canada, America and Britain emerge from the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index as success stories, Newsweek…

New Zealand’s Super Fund – World’s Best-performing Sovereign Wealth Fund

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has outperformed all of its counterparts with its generated returns of more than 17 per cent a year over the past five years according to analysis by JPMorgan. “Acting as…

New Zealand Elderly Protected from Crisis as Income Gap Widens

“Income inequality has risen in most OECD countries” in the last 30 years and the age profile of poverty has shifted “with young people replacing the elderly as the group most at risk of…

Helen Clark Ranked 23rd Most Powerful Woman

Helen Clark has been ranked #23 in Forbes annual audit – The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. “As the most powerful woman in the United Nations (and first UNDP female head), Helen…

Australia Needs to Follow New Zealand’s Example

The New Zealand Dollar is in sight of reaching the same value as the Australian Dollar. While New Zealand has developed structural reforms to secure future economic growth, Australia “is still operating on the…

Leon Grice and Milou Dogged Diplomats in LA

New Zealand’s consul-general to Los Angeles Leon Grice and his Bichon Frisé Milou feature in Monocle’s “Ambassadogs” series. “The eight-year-old, named after Tintin’s companion, has accompanied the Grice’s through Leon’s stints as executive of a…

New Zealand’s “Rock Star Economy” Takes Centre Stage

Australians are going to have to get used to New Zealanders going on about how much better their economy is, according to the Guardian. Paul Bloxham, the HSBC economist who first called New Zealand a…

The tide turns in New Zealand’s favour

For more than 20 years, “the trans-Tasman migration tide” has been a one-way wave – a relentless flow of Kiwis to Australia. Australia was the land of milk and honey, a rich big brother…

New Zealand Breaks Renewable Energy Record

The share of renewable energy on the grid in New Zealand is the highest it has been in close to 20 years, Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges said. The share of electricity generated from…

New Zealand, Vietnam Agree to Increase Trade

New Zealand and Vietnam have announced ambitious new trade goals following a meeting between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Wellington. “New Zealand and Vietnam have agreed…

Panicked Super Rich Buying up NZ Bolt Holes

Hedge fund managers are buying up remote stations and land in places like New Zealand to flee to in the event of civil uprising against growing inequality, it has been claimed. With growing inequality and…

ACT MLA Meegan Fitzharris Sworn in at Assembly

Incoming ACT Legislative Assembly member New Zealand-born Meegan Fitzharris introduced herself as “the first MLA from Gungahlin” at her maiden speech delivered when the former bureaucrat and government staffer was sworn in…

Sheep Numbers Fall to Their Lowest for 75 Years

New Zealand has long been the butt of sheep jokes but latest figures show the nation’s woolly flock has slumped to its lowest number since World War II, with numbers dropping by 3.2 per…

Monocle’s Forecast for NZ in 2015

There are three challenges New Zealand faces in 2015, according to Monocle magazine. Much of the success of Prime Minister John Key, who led the National party to a landslide in the September elections,…

PM John Key Pushes National Rebranding with New Flag

Prime Minister John Key, recently re-elected to a third term, is a cast-iron monarchist, the Economist writes. “Even so, he is bent on coming up with a new flag for New Zealand, one in…

Ross McEwan at the Helm of a UK Bank in Much Better Health

Almost a year to the day since the Hawke’s Bay-born retail banker Ross McEwan replaced Englishman Stephen Hester at the helm of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the bank appears in much greater health. Inessential…

New Zealand Wins Seat on UN Security Council

New Zealand has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The 15-member council has five permanent members – the US, UK, France, Russia and China – and 10 non-permanent seats, filled…

NZ Wins Security Council Seat

New Zealand has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council, in the first round of the secret ballot. The UN’s 193 member states voted at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. New…

New Zealanders Spending More on Cider, Less on Sweatpants

New Zealanders drink more cider than ever, wear sweatpants less often, and use smartphones instead of video cameras to capture family memories. These are just some of the lifestyle changes reflected in the government…

Prime Minister John Key Wins Third Term

Prime Minister John Key will lead New Zealand for a third consecutive term after the National Party won 48 per cent of the vote in this year’s election. Official results show Key’s party will likely…

Leaders Discuss Progress Report on Trans-Pacific Trade

At the White House meeting between Prime Minister John Key and President Barack Obama this week, the two leaders discussed a timeline to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade deal agreement by November when the…

Unorthodox Bubble Deflating

First it was a Forbes columnist poking the borax at the New Zealand economy; now Goldman Sachs is having a go at our property market. The Goldman report is a look at central bank…

China Ties with NZ Get Closer

China has announced that for the first time it will allow direct trade between the renminbi and the New Zealand dollar, only the fourth currency permitted to do so. The move further strengthens the…

Research Flock Saudi Arabia Bound

New Zealand will export a research flock of sheep to Saudi Arabia this year under a breeding project aimed at bolstering the kingdom’s livestock supplies, according to the National. Pregnant ewes and lamb will…

Prince George’s First Royal Trip to Be New Zealand

Prince George will take part in his debut public engagement next month when he accompanies the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to New Zealand, Kensington Palace has announced. The Prince, who will be…

Fledgling Party Giving a Voice to New Zealanders Living Overseas

An estimated one million New Zealanders living overseas will become a serious political force if the newly formed Expatriate Party of New Zealand gets its way, says the Guardian. Based in Perth, the party says…

New Zealand Exports to China Are Soaring

Thanks to an ever-increasing demand for milk powder, New Zealand’s exports to China rose 45 per cent last year superseding Australia as New Zealand’s top export market for the first time on an annual…

The World Could Do with More Helen Clarks

4 February 2014 – Ranked 21st most powerful woman in the world, Helen Clark, 63, New Zealand’s Prime Minister for nine years, and now head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), gives Telegraph…

Clark Tipped for Top UN Job

Introducing UN Secretary General … Helen Clark? The Guardian is tipping the former prime minister is the prime candidate to replace incumbent Ban Ki-Moon when he steps down in two years. Clark was New…

NZ and UK Leading the Public Sector Digital Revolution

At the Open Government Partnership (OGP) summit in London in November 2013, New Zealand became the 61st member of a rapidly expanding global movement. The OGP is all about making governments more transparent, accountable…

Dotcom Has His Own Party, and Dance Moves

New Zealand-based Megaupload.com entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, 40, is launching two ventures this month: a new political party to contest in the country’s next general election and a debut dance album, Good Times, to be…

New Zealand Outpaces Crawling World Economy

In a world still limping its way out of the global financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal has written that New Zealand’s economy is looking remarkably zippy – and even outdoing our much larger…

US President Obama and PM John Key enjoy golf game in Hawaii

In a rare vacation encounter with a foreign official, US President Barack Obama played golf in Hawaii with a new partner, Prime Minister John Key also on vacation, along with Key’s teenage son Max…

New Zealand to Phase in Shark Fin Ban

The New Zealand government has agreed to a full ban on shark finning, though fill implementation of the ban won’t happen for another three years. The Wall Street Journal reports that it is already illegal…

Driving the Kiwi Economy

Many strange things are used to measure economic growth and decline: the lipstick economy, the horse-trading economy, the Playboy economy (curves in recession, skinny in boom times) and even underwear, as Fed chairman Alan Greenspan…

Portrait of a Leader

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples features in a photographic exhibition featuring portraits of Tangata whenua, including Sharples. Sharples was stunningly captured on film by British photographer Jimmy Nelson, who was touring the world recording…

Don’t Beat the Currency War Drums Yet

The drums of war have been beating for two years now. With America, Britain and Japan printing money and the Euro zone considering unprecedented zero interest rates, the other tradable currencies – especially New…

RBS Appoints Kiwi to “Toughest Job in Banking”

Talk about taking the hot seat. New Zealand banker Ross McEwan is taking charge at the troubled Royal Bank of Scotland, following five turbulent years under Stephen Hester, who replaced the disgraced Fred Goodwin…

Bank Chief Faces Long List of Challenges

New Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive New Zealander Ross McEwan must confront a long list of challenges, according to the Financial Times, and at the forefront of issues facing him, “is the…

120 Years Since NZ Women Shook the World

The 120-year anniversary of one of New Zealand’s most momentous moments in global history is being marked with the public exhibition of the Women’s Suffrage Petition of 19 September, 1893. On that day in…

Pacific Nations on Track to Meet Renewable Energy Target

According to a report presented by New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, Pacific Island nations are on track to achieve their goal of increasing their reliance on renewable energy resources within the next…

Chinese Media Praise Fonterra’s Handling of Botulism Scare

After it was revealed last week that Fonterra’s botulism scare was a false alarm, the company and New Zealand are now receiving admiration from Chinese media for its handling of the incident. The botulism…

New Zealand Abolishes Software Patents

The New Zealand Legislative has passed a law prohibiting patenting of software, in a move seen as a boost for innovation and competition in the technology sector. CBC News reports, “The reformed Patents Bill,…

Should Australia Follow Suit in Housing Sector

Is New Zealand’s macro-prudential mortgage tools an option for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), The Guardian’s economics correspondent Greg Jericho writes. The RBA will be watching closely as New Zealand introduces innovative regulations…

New Zealand Parliament Passes Controversial Spy Bill 61-59

The New Zealand parliament has narrowly passed a controversial bill that opponents say represents a fundamental threat to democratic rights and freedoms. The new legislation allows the country’s main intelligence agency, the Government Communications…