Weekly Features

Play of the Week
A selected talking point from the week in politics. Read here.

Capital Talk
Weekly updated inside account of what's happening in Wellington, and what the key players are up to. Read here

The Economy at a Glance
Trans Tasman Financial Markets - Updated Weekly.  Read here.

ARCHIVES:    Past Plays of the Week     Past Capital Talks

Other features

Roll Call - How Our MPs Performed In 2004
1 December 2004
Trans Tasman's editors have run their rule over NZ MPs and rated their performance in 2004. Roll Call looks at how well they've performed in Caucus, Cabinet, Committee, the House and Electorate, and the influence they bring to bear in various forums ... Read the full report as a PDF

Budget 2004
27th May 2004
After four years of frugality, Finance Minister Cullen has gone to town with a spending extravaganza in his 5th Budget... Read

Australia, New Zealand and the Neighbourhood
29th April 2004
Even after the Australian lead intervention, prospects for the Solomon Islands and many Pacific countries remain daunting. Remoteness from major markets and weak governments remain: Melanesia's bitter ethnic and land disputes will take years to resolve... Read

Foreshore/Seabed Policy Aims to Please
6th April 2004
After months of hui, back-tracks, poll ups and downs and delays, the Govt has finally released its Foreshore/Seabed legislation... Read

Towards a Single Market
25th March 2004
An address by Allan Hawke, High Commissioner for Australia, to The Business New Zealand Council. Read

New Zealand's Biggest Companies
15th December 2003
View table

Trans-Tasman Investment About To Get Easier
5th June 2003
Luis Batalha, a Senior Associate at Phillips Fox, Sydney, looks at how the proposed reform of 'triangular taxation' might be about to more closely integrate New Zealand's and Australia's capital markets.
Read on

The CER : Twenty Years After
30th January 2003
The Hon. Hugh Templeton gives an insider's account of the history, formation and role of the New Zealand and Australian Closer Economic Relations agreement, and, as he looks to the future, urges further regional integration. . .
Read on

Outlook 2003 : The Big Issues and the Key Players
30th January 2003
NZ had a good year in 2002. As we head into 2003, international crises, a sky-rocketing dollar, our relationship with US, Australia's slow down, and immigration loom large. This report looks at where we're heading in the next twelve months. The full, eight page report is only available to subscribers, but the summary is available to all.
Summary of Outlook 2003

Aust/NZ Tax Regimes
5th December 2002
Although similar in many ways, the Aust and NZ corporate tax regimes have diverged over the past 5 to 20 years. It is important for NZ corporates to understand the differences when operating in or with Australia. In a series of three online articles, first published in The Chartered Accountants Journal, the magazine of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the two tax regimes are outlined.
First article and overview || Second article || Third article

A US-Australia Free Trade Agreement:
21st November 2002
A qualitative assessment of the business impacts on New Zealand, prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Treasury. Survey and analysis of impact by industry. 29 pages.
Download as PDF (385k)

Gerald Mcghie, Director of the New Zealand Institute Of International Affairs, on diplomacy
3rd October 2002
"What is only rarely discussed is the nature of the work of the diplomat. George Shultz, President Reagan’s Secretary of State, recently made a speech, which was reproduced 11 June 2002 on the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s website (www.fpri.org) Shultz’s comments essentially come down to the following . ."
Read on

Being Honest About The Differences
Sense From Across The Tasman by Simon Upton 7th November 2002
"White's lecture provided an opportunity for him to expand on a speech given at last year's Otago foreign policy school in which he set out the view that Australia and New Zealand have deep-seated differences in their strategic perceptions that, following the collapse of ANZUS, could not be papered over . . ."
Read on

Other Content

ASB Bank/Main Report Regional Economic Scoreboard 1st Quarter 2005
Download whole report as a PDF  click here.

ASB Bank/Main Report Regional Economic Scoreboard 4th Quarter 2004
Download whole report as a PDF (32k), click here.

ASB Bank/Main Report Regional Economic Scoreboard 3rd Quarter 2004
Download whole report as a PDF (32k), click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 2nd Quarter 2004 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 2nd Quarter 2004 - chart, click here.
Download whole report as a PDF (32k), click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 1st Quarter 2004 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 1st Quarter 2004 - chart, click here.
Download whole report as a PDF (32k), click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 3rd Quarter 2003 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 3rd Quarter 2003 - chart, click here.
Download whole report as a PDF (117k), click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 1st Quarter 2003 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 1st Quarter 2003 - chart, click here.
Download whole report as a PDF (189k), click here.

Closer Economic Relations agreement, including the full text, click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 4th Quarter 2002 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 4th Quarter 2002 - chart, click here.
Download whole report as a PDF, click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 3rd Quarter 2002 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 3rd Quarter 2002 - chart, click here.

NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 2nd Quarter 2002 - analysis, click here.
NZ Regional Economic Scoreboard 2nd Quarter 2002 - chart, click here.

Useful economic, political and government links, click here.