The following is a revised version of the second Woodhouse Memorial Lecture given at both the Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland in September 2018. It traces the history and policy iterations of New Zealand's accident compensation scheme that flowed from the 1967...

This article discusses the debates in New Zealand concerning extensive amendments to the Resource Management Act 1991 and other inquiries into natural resources and environmental law in New Zealand. It criticises the Government's proposed reforms but suggests directions that change could take....

The article describes the world-wide efforts or the lack thereof to combat climate change in the last 25 years. The article asks whether the world has to wait until the adversity actually sets in before effective action is taken; whether the failure to act is caused because people have not yet...

This article, by the person who was the Minister responsible for the introduction and passage of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, reviews 25 years of experience New Zealand has had with the legislation. The NZ Bill of Rights Act does not constitute higher law or occupy any preferred...

This chapter is taken from the book ‘Reform: A Memoir' by Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Much of the book is concerned with his involvement with New Zealand's political and governmental institutions and how they function, along with suggestions of how they may function better. This chapter examines the...

This paper explains the state of New Zealand's overseas trading arrangements as at the end of the 1960s. It discusses key exports, multilateral and bilateral trade agreements, and the relationship with the GATT regime. It also covers arrangements for marketing, customs and tariffs law, and New...

This report has been prepared at the request of the New Zealand Fish and Game Council in response to the Government’s announced proposals to amend the Resource Management Act 1991 and reform freshwater management. It analyses the nature, extent and implications of those proposals for the...

This paper comprises two articles in which the author surveys the experience in New Zealand with the Resource Management Act 1991. It covers the origins of the Act, the failure of central government over a long period to use the policy instruments available under the Act, and the lack of...

The World Commission on Environment and Development in its 1987 report provided a new analysis of the world’s resource and environmental problems that linked two key ideas: economic growth and sustainability. The report did not predict increasing decay, poverty, and environmental degradation....