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Luke Malpass

luke-malpass Luke's current research interests include NZ public policy, the welfare state, and political philosophy. He worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Canterbury, where he will soon complete a Master of Arts in political philosophy. Originally from North Canterbury, Luke holds a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours from the University of Otago.

Publications by Author

  1. FEATURE: Two-Party Democracies: The Gold Standard for Electoral Systems

    Luke Malpass | 20 Aug 2011 | POLICY Magazine

    New Zealand should abandon its electoral system at the November referendum.

Opinion & Commentary by Author

  1. Land of the long white cloud faces bad weather

    Luke Malpass | 24 Nov 2011 | The Age

    SINCE 2008, New Zealand has been led by former investment banker John Key's National Party. The party campaigned on growing... Read More

  2. Spending Spree wasted decade of prosperity

    Luke Malpass | 18 Nov 2011 | The National Business Review

    NZ’s decade long spending binge was prosperity wasted.

  3. When Prophecy Fails: The Spirit Level and the Illusion of Scientific Socialism

    Luke Malpass, Peter Saunders | 14 Sep 2011 | KiwiBlog

    When Prophecy Fails: Arguments about redistribution are moral, not scientific ones, and this book does nothing to change... Read More

  4. The Don reignites the war of ideas

    Luke Malpass | 13 May 2011 | Spectator

    Dr Don Brash’s return to politics will breathe new life into New Zealand’s political debate, start a healthy battle of... Read More

  5. Brash’s ‘extremist’ policies seen as sensible in Australia

    Luke Malpass | 03 May 2011 | The Dominion Post

    Don Brash’s economic policies are closer to Julia Gillard’s in Australia, a country whose standard of living is significantly... Read More

  6. Australians hung-over post election

    Luke Malpass | 29 Aug 2010 | Sunday Star Times

    New Zealander politicians can draw a couple of lessons from the Australian election, says Luke Malpass in the Sunday Star... Read More

  7. Aussie election offers Key a warning

    Luke Malpass | 27 Aug 2010 | The National Business Review

    There is a grave warning for John Key's National Party in the result of the Australia federal election, says Luke Malpass... Read More

  8. Failing to deliver on policy promises came back to bite

    Luke Malpass | 06 Jul 2010 | The Dominion Post

    What are the lessons New Zealand politicians can learn from Kevin Rudd’s sudden fall from grace, asks Luke Malpass in the... Read More

  9. The spectacular descent of Kevin Rudd

    Luke Malpass | 25 Jun 2010 | The National Business Review

    The central lesson in Rudd’s demise is that at some point, the polls have to take back seat to the policy.

  10. Little John shows Kevin how it's done

    Luke Malpass | 04 Jun 2010 | The Australian

    Soon after John Key was elected Prime Minister of New Zealand in late 2008, he visited Kevin Rudd. The Australian Prime Minister... Read More

  11. Policy debate isn’t helped when the Left descends into hatred

    Luke Malpass | 14 May 2010 | The Dominion Post

    The abuse of Peter Saunders conceals more serious welfare questions in New Zealand.

  12. Beer and a fag? Forget it: matron is watching you

    Luke Malpass | 07 May 2010 | Spectator Australia

    There is a new type of paternalism behind the latest taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, says Luke Malpass in Spectator Australia,... Read More

  13. MMP struggles in Germany, now it struggles here

    Luke Malpass | 26 Mar 2010 | The National Business Review

    MMP in Germany suffers the same problems as MMP in New Zealand and New Zealand should learn from this.

  14. The high price of subsidies

    Luke Malpass | 14 Feb 2010 | Sunday Star-Times

    Like virtually all industry assistance schemes, the feel-good factor of the New Zealand government’s subsidy to the makers... Read More

  15. The recession will be a good time to reform welfare

    Luke Malpass | 01 Apr 2009

    If there was any doubt that welfare in New Zealand needed reforming, a recent picture told a thousand words. It was of a... Read More

Ideas@TheCentre by Author

  1. Election 2011 – who will wag what

    Luke Malpass | 25 Nov 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    Special NZ election preview, or, on the inherent superiority of two party democracies.

  2. A scrappy state of affairs

    Luke Malpass | 28 Oct 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    Think New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup win was scrappy; you should take a look at the country’s financial situation.

  3. Unions vs Representation

    Luke Malpass | 30 Sep 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    Reforming Australian industrial relations needs to begin with scrapping award wages.

  4. Why bother?

    Luke Malpass | 26 Aug 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    Governments should always be looking to privatise assets if in the public interest, and the sentiment behind these partial... Read More

  5. Minimum prices for alcohol

    Luke Malpass | 10 Jun 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    The term ‘nanny state’ gets a bad rap. Those who believe the state should protect people from themselves fulminate about... Read More

  6. The long sleepy drift into federation

    Luke Malpass | 20 May 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    NZ budget does little to reduce gap with Australia.

  7. Comparative costs of councillors

    Luke Malpass | 21 Apr 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    The changing role of elected councillors may explain the proliferation in local government regulations and extra rates.

  8. Policies in an election year

    Luke Malpass | 11 Feb 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    The New Zealand government will go to the election on a platform of, among other things, partially-privatising some public... Read More

  9. How long for the Maori Party?

    Luke Malpass | 28 Jan 2011 | Ideas@The Centre

    Predicting what will happen to the Maori Party in the next decade is uncertain, what is certain is this: a Maori race based... Read More

  10. Who does understand MMP?

    Luke Malpass | 03 Dec 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    If anyone had any doubts about how widely MMP is misunderstood they need look no further than last Friday's NZ Herald article... Read More

  11. The Polish Shipyard of the South Pacific redux?

    Luke Malpass | 22 Oct 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    New Zealand’s Labour Opposition is using a lacklustre economy to shape the debate towards government intervention and restricting... Read More

  12. GST and the Ratchet Effect

    Luke Malpass | 15 Oct 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    The GST is such an effective income raiser, and the least economically harmful, that it is always tempting to raise it in... Read More

  13. MMP – The doubts keep coming

    Luke Malpass | 01 Oct 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    If New Zealanders are frustrated that their government can’t ‘get things done’ under MMP, it is precisely because it... Read More

  14. A city’s disaster and a country’s wealth

    Luke Malpass | 10 Sep 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    Two wise provisions that New Zealand has made for earthquakes stood in good stead: strident quake-safe building regulations... Read More

  15. Going bananas over apples

    Luke Malpass | 27 Aug 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    New Zealanders have taken a keen interest in the Australian election, particularly in one character it has thrown up: Bob... Read More

  16. Freedom and religion

    Luke Malpass | 06 Aug 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    Every year the CIS holds The Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom, named after the Lord Acton, the great liberal and contrarian... Read More

  17. Speaking freely about the unspeakable

    Luke Malpass | 09 Apr 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    The performance of a play discussing the British Nationalist Party (BNP) has been banned by the town council of Dudley in... Read More

  18. Australian bicameralism helps bed down reform

    Luke Malpass | 26 Mar 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    How much has New Zealand’s electoral system contributed to the country’s economic malaise? It is a question often asked... Read More

  19. Stimulus begets stimulus

    Luke Malpass | 26 Feb 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    Suspending the insulation program has landed the Rudd government with an unpleasant political problem: business closures... Read More

  20. Fat kids, junk food and emotion

    Luke Malpass | 05 Feb 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    Every time you open a newspaper or watch the news, you find yourself being bombarded with the news that junk food creates... Read More

  21. One year on: the Obamessiah is flawed

    Luke Malpass | 22 Jan 2010 | Ideas@The Centre

    Mayor of London Boris Johnson is widely reported to have once exclaimed: ‘voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger... Read More

  22. Girlfriends or natural socialists?

    Luke Malpass | 11 Dec 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    Ever heard the tired old cliché about women always wanting a man they can change, and men always wanting a woman who will... Read More

  23. Upsetting greenies is fine, but you can’t dig up living standards

    Luke Malpass | 09 Oct 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    How many governments around the western world are suggesting turning national parks into mines? New Zealand’s Minister... Read More

  24. From high taxing nanny state to... high taxing pragmatist

    Luke Malpass | 14 Aug 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    The National-led government was elected in New Zealand on a platform of less tax, less government, and less nanny statism.... Read More

  25. Shovel ready what?

    Luke Malpass | 22 May 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    Recessions seem to be an opportunity for people to spout kooky ideas. That’s fine unless it’s your country’s senior... Read More

  26. Aussies are stupid and can only dig stuff up

    Luke Malpass | 17 Apr 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    Ever since Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations, economists have been trying to understand what makes nations prosperous

  27. Reforming Welfare in a Recession

    Luke Malpass | 03 Apr 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    New Zealand’s recently-elected government made election promises to reform welfare

  28. Antitrust Vs FuelWatch

    Luke Malpass | 27 Feb 2009 | Ideas@The Centre

    In December last year, the federal government’s FuelWatch legislation was defeated in the Senate.