A high-speed railway milestone can look like a simple passenger number. In China, it is often more revealing than that. The Hangzhou-Taizhou railway, descr
Category: English
New Zealand Review’s English channel publishes reporting, explainers, reviews and practical guides about New Zealand society, culture, health and everyday life.
New Zealand’s baby question is becoming a cost-of-living question
When a couple says they cannot afford children, they are not only making a private family decision. They are giving the country a quiet economic signal. 1N
Emergency housing numbers can fall while homelessness becomes harder to see
Public policy can fail quietly when the wrong number starts looking like success. That is the risk in New Zealand’s emergency housing debate: the headline
The Waitangi Tribunal Cost Debate Is Really A Test Of Constitutional Patience
Opinion: The latest reporting on government spending linked to urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiries will understandably provoke a sharp reaction. Millions of
Sudan’s War Is Becoming A Test Of Humanitarian Access, Not Only Aid Money
Sudan’s humanitarian crisis is difficult to absorb because the scale has become almost too large for ordinary language. Millions of people have been displa
Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Is Becoming A Global Enforcement Test
Australia’s under-16 social media ban has always been bigger than one country. Governments around the world are under pressure from parents, schools, clini
China’s Clean-Power Boom Is Turning Into A Grid Governance Test
China’s power system has crossed a symbolic threshold. Xinhua reported that total installed power generation capacity reached 4.01 billion kilowatts by the
Pharmac Is Being Asked To Move Faster. The Hard Part Is Doing It Transparently
New Zealanders usually notice Pharmac when a medicine is not funded, when a family starts a public campaign, or when a new treatment overseas appears out o
Stuffy Nights: What New Zealand’s Bedroom CO2 Problem Really Says About Housing
A New Zealand bedroom can look perfectly ordinary and still be doing a poor job of protecting sleep. A study reported by 1News and published in the New Zea
Wellington should stop treating the Golden Mile as a nice-to-have
Opinion: Wellington’s Golden Mile argument is often described as a transport fight: bus priority, private cars, footpaths, construction pain, retailers, co