KiwiSaver represents a fundamental change to New Zealand’s retirement system, which now combines one of the most generous pensions in the world with a heavily subsidised saving scheme. It represents a major shift in how people allocate money over their lives. It is a pointless and expensive straitjacket on the New Zealand economy. The incentives...

Control orders have been part of Australian anti-terrorism legislation since December 2005. A control order is issued by a court (at the request of the Australian Federal Police) to allow obligations, prohibitions and restrictions to be imposed on a person, for the purpose of protecting the public from a terrorist act. The types of obligations...

Executive summary Australians are a third richer than New Zealanders. Per capita GDP (adjusted for purchasing power parity) is NZ$48,000 in Australia compared to just NZ$36,400 in New Zealand. This difference is remarkable given that the two countries enjoyed the same level of income for most of the twentieth century. From the 1970s onwards, both...

The Australian Crime Commission (the ACC) (formerly the National Crime Authority but with enhanced intelligence functions) commenced operations on 1 January 2003. According to the latest Annual Report, the aim of the ACC is to 'reduce the incidence and impact of serious and organised criminal activity on the Australian community'