Various Articles

Over the years and in addition to the speeches he gave in various roles, Don wrote various articles and letters to the editor, some of which are recorded below.

New Zealand failed Peter Ellis

Newsroom. 30 July 2019

There can be few cases in New Zealand history where a person has been so egregiously failed by the police, the court system, and by successive Governments, both National and Labour, as Peter Ellis has been.

Does “flooding the market with development opportunities” make sense?

5 July 2019

In last Thursday’s Herald, Dr Douglas Fairgrave seemed to argue that, when it comes to determining the price of houses, supply doesn’t matter.

Yes, let's remember our history

19 June 2019

In the Autumn edition of the RSA Review, there was an article by Defyd Williams arguing that when we remember our fallen on ANZAC Day we should remember not just those who died at Gallipoli and in subsequent battles throughout the 20th century, but also those who died in the...

“We are now one people” no myth

Whanganui Chronicle. 6 January 2019

A few days ago, Danny Keenan (Whanganui Chronicle, 4 Jan 2019) argued that the statement attributed to Governor Hobson when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 – “he iwi tahi tatou”, or in English “we are now one people” – may not have been said by Governor Hobson...

Stuff editorial distorted my views

The Press. 23 August 2018

Last Saturday, Stuff newspapers carried an editorial headed “Behind a cloak of acceptability” which attacked me very personally.

“Free speech” must always have limits

Dominion Post. 9 August 2018

“Free speech” must always have limits. The issue in a liberal and democratic society is where those limits should be.

Lizzie Marvelly is simply wrong

The New Zealand Herald. 26 May 2018

Last week, under the headline “Hobson’s choice to silence Maori voice”, Lizzie Marvelly began her article with a question: What is it that’s so threatening about a Maori voice?

Submission to the Tax Working Group

25 March 2018

I appreciate the invitation which the Tax Working Group has extended to all New Zealanders to “share their own views about what is working – and what is not – in the current tax system”. I wish to comment on several issues, some of them related to each other, some...

What Waitangi Day means to me

Bay Waka. 11 January 2018

In the last issue of Bay Waka, I welcomed the fact that voters had ejected the Maori Party from Parliament because, despite having only a tiny number of Members of Parliament, that party drove the National Party far from the position it held for many years, and indeed the “equal...

Labour's proposals for the Reserve Bank

CentralBanking.com. 3 November 2017

In 1989, the Fourth (New Zealand) Labour Government passed legislation which revolutionized the country’s central bank, and in some respects central banking around the globe.

The defeat of the Maori Party: good or bad?

25 September 2017

A few days after the election, I was on the A.M. Show for a regular stint on their “panel” discussion. Just before I came into the studio, Duncan Garner, the host of the show, said that for him the saddest thing about the election result was the complete defeat of...

Affirmative action entrenches race divide

27 August 2017

A few weeks ago, The Economist – almost certainly the finest English-language weekly newspaper in the world – carried an editorial and accompanying article describing the consequences of policies designed to improve the lot of Malays in Malaysia, first adopted in 1971 and intended to last for just 20 years.

Why attack the National Party?

Bay Waka. 30 June 2017

A few weeks ago, I met a man who had several children. Three of them were his own, and two of them he had adopted when their mother, his sister, died in an accident. The adopted children had a Maori parent, and so under New Zealand law they are entitled...

Inflation targeting three decades on

CentralBanking.com. 3 June 2017

It is almost three decades since the Reserve Bank of New Zealand became the first central bank to formally structure its monetary policy around a specific and publicly announced target for inflation. Since that time, the great majority of central banks have also adopted an explicit inflation target.

Notwithstanding the Bank of England, Bryan Gould still wrong

The New Zealand Herald. 5 May 2017

In Friday’s Herald, under the headline “Brash blind to facts with money creation denials”, Bryan Gould returns to his assertion that banks shouldn’t be getting paid for the service of bringing savers and borrowers together because that’s not really what they are doing.

Central Bank Independence

5 May 2017

The Editor at The Economist

GST: A huge step forward, or an opportunity missed?

25 April 2017

If all goes according to plan, India will introduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 July this year. This is a hugely “big deal”, and could have enormous benefits for India, simplifying a wide range of other taxes and greatly assisting in the integration of the still somewhat...

No, Sonny Bill and Bryan Gould are both wrong about banks

The New Zealand Herald. 19 April 2017

A few days ago, Bryan Gould wrote an article for the Herald headlined “Sonny Bill has a point about banks amid crisis”. Almost everything he contended was wrong.

The RMA is about to get much worse

28 December 2016

All those involved in the New Zealand building industry, whether property developers, investors, or builders, know about the long delays often caused by the way local governments interpret the Resource Management Act.

The truth about partnership schools

9 August 2016

A week or so ago, I visited South Auckland Middle School, one of two partnership schools with a total enrolment of some 280 operated by the not-for-profit Villa Education Trust. Because I had read of President Obama’s recognition of the benefit which partnership schools have for disadvantaged Afro-American kids, I...

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