Author: Colin James

Some new year resolutions for a resolute bunch

How do you get the white wine cool in a Wellington summer? Put it outside for half an hour. So much for global warming.

And what is Pete Hodgson doing about this? Sure, he lost energy and science in the reshuffle. But Helen Clark left him in charge of the climate.

And, frankly, he hasn’t delivered. He and Helen solemnly promised us global warming in 1999 and again in 2002 and you can bet they will promise it again in next year’s election. Just a week back, Pete was in Argentina at a conference of nations dedicated to global warming. read more

Why 2004 was not Brash's year and what he could do for 2005

This could have been Don Brash’s year. Ten months ago the potential was there. But the real Don Brash took time out.

The Don Brash I knew for two decades exuded integrity and depth, principle and authority. He was a classical liberal — valuing personal liberty on moral and social matters (voting for prostitution reform and the Civil Union Bill’s first reading) and backing the free-market economy. read more

A law to mesh social and economic policy?

Can socialandeconomic be one word? The government thinks so. Not literally, of course, but in its policy approach.

It is, for example, considering mandatory independent reporting of social indicators, which would pick up adverse social impacts of economic policies and potentially constrain future governments. read more

Ten Prime Ministers

Colin James’s chapter for Political Science edition on leadership, December 2004

Prime Ministers make a difference. Much of the success or failure of a prime ministership is determined by factors outside the Prime Minster’s control: movements in the economy, social change, external shocks, the condition of the party or government they inherited, the makeup of Parliament. But the personality, psyche and preferences each brings to the role determines whether he or she makes the best or not of those factors. read more

Balancing work-life balance

What on earth is this “work-life balance” the bureaucrats are working on? Doesn’t it presume work to be the antithesis of life? Sounds like more Labour social engineering.

And how does such social engineering enhance productivity growth, now the government’s No 1 economic management priority? Telling people work is not life is hardly likely to spur effort and innovation to make the workplace more productive. read more

Reforming "reform" to make smarter, richer workplaces

Michael Cullen has come over very self-congratulatory about the economy. “Our achievements in government so far are indisputable,” he told a public meeting last week.

He sketched a saga of “rough waters” through which, by having “worked hard”, “my government” had guided this country to “one of the most successful economies in the western world” and “the top half of the developed world on so many indices it is hard to keep up”. read more

Civil unions: another high-water mark for rights campaigners?

The Foreshore and Seabed Bill is done. Next week comes the Civil Union Bill. Another test for this government and this society.

The foreshore bill’s final stage was no monument to democracy, ridden through without giving outsiders a chance to get to grips its myriad last-minute changes.

It will need amending. But the deed is done. New Zealand First, showing tactical skill and even a modicum of statesmanship, got its day in the sun and the cabinet disposed of its most difficult and threatening conundrum so far. read more

Sir Frank's next 20 years

Colin James’s comments to The Visible Hand symposium to mark Sir Frank Holmes’ policy contributions, Institute of Policy Studies, 19 November 2004

My brief is the future. Which is entirely appropriate in honour of a man who has always in my experience thought about the future. Sir Frank has one of the most inquiring and omnivorous minds I have met. Few 40-year-olds have his restlessness and his enthusiasm let alone his wisdom. In consequence, I have learnt a great deal from him. read more

Appropriating middle ground political language

“Balance” is a useful political word. It says a policy is evenhanded, moderate and reaches across a fair swathe of the electorate.

The National party used to have a mortgage on “balance”. Not any more.

National also used to have a mortgage on its claim to be “national” in reach, appeal and membership — acting on behalf of the whole nation. Labour, dominated by unions’ card votes, was sectional, the tool of the unions, National said. read more