Universal Basic Income - A Discussion

The Labour Party has produced a discussion paper on Universal Basic Income for New Zealand as part of its Future of Work programme. The paper was co-authored by Sebastiaan Bierema, along with Max Harris, currently a research fellow at Oxford University. While the UBI is not yet policy for the Labour Party, the idea is definitely on the table. Susan Guthrie of the Morgan Foundation will provide a perspective on the possibilities for a Universal Basic Income for New Zealand. Sebastiaan Bierema is a postgraduate student at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in Political Theory. His research interests include the history of political thought, democracy, and authority. Sebastiaan is currently working on his thesis manuscript, which involves a reassessment of the value of vertu in modern liberal democracies,with a specific focus on democracy in New Zealand. Susan Guthrie is an economist who, prior to joining the Morgan Foundation in 2010, held various private and public sector roles. She has worked for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the NZ Treasury, as an international economist in the financial sector in New Zealand and Hong Kong, and as an advocate for consumer rights. In 2011 she co-authored with Gareth Morgan ‘The Big Kahuna’, a book advocating tax and welfare reform for New Zealand and in 2014 she co-authored with Gareth ‘Are we there yet? the future of the Treaty of Waitangi’.