Small square Fabian logo    The NZ Fabian Society is an independent membership based policy forum providing open, pluralist space for education and debate on progressive policies. We aim to apply progressive values to contemporary issues.  

  • Privatisation & Plunder

    Privatisation & Plunder explores the rise, impact and future of neoliberalism in Aotearoa New Zealand.

    Over the past four decades, neoliberal policies — privatisation, deregulation, austerity and market fundamentalism — have radically reshaped the country more thoroughly than in any other OECD nation.

    This collection brings together leading scholars, researchers and activists to unpack the social, economic and political costs of the ‘New Zealand Experiment’. All of the chapters are versions of major Fabian sessions.

    We chart how neoliberalism hollowed out public institutions, sharpened inequality, and reduced our ability to respond to crises. We reveal how today’s challenges — from the cost of living and housing crises to the rise of precarious work — are rooted in this legacy.

    Yet we also offer hope: transformative policy alternatives, ranging from universal basic income to new forms of democratic governance, public ownership and economic justice.

    A map of the terrain and a call to collective action.

    There will be be book launch events in Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin and Christchurch (details to be confirmed).

    You can register here.

    		 Fabian cover image updated

     

 

Peter Harris' lecture providing a context for the 2010 Budget was well received in both Auckland on Tuesday and Wellington on Wednesday. He offered the perpective that, despite the traditional rhetoric and posturing, any Budget has little to offer as an instrument of change for any Government, so don't expect big things from this one.

However, Peter did identify critical pressures on the economy and tax system that were fundamentally misrepresented by the Tax Working Group and are to be ignored at our peril. The TWG's flawed analysis and selective recommendations are to form the basis of a 'ruse to cut working for families by stealth', while 'the rich don't pay taxes anyway'.

The paper that forms the basis of Peter's lecture is available for download here.

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