Disclaimer

These are my evolving thoughts, rhetorical positions and creative provocations. They are not settled conclusions. Content should not be taken as professional advice, official statements or final positions. I reserve the right to learn, unlearn, rethink and grow. If you’re here to sort me neatly into left vs right, keep moving. I’m not the partisan you’re looking for. These in...

Submission on the Regulatory Standa …

I wrote a submission respectfully opposing the Regulatory Standards Bill in its current form. I made the case that the Bill fundamentally contradicts concurrent public service reforms, which are very good and much needed. I argue that the Bill, despite the considerable effort invested in its development by dedicated officials, does not serve Aotearoa's long-term interests in effective, accountabl...

What Is Democracy? Modern Transform …

Part 2 of 2: From liberal evolution to decolonial possibility In the first part of this exploration, we traced democracy's ancient foundations, from Athenian assemblies to Pacific governance systems, from Confucian virtue politics to the collision between Indigenous sovereignty and European colonial states. We observed how different societies addressed the fundamental question of political aut...

What Is Democracy? Ancient Foundati …

Part 1 of 2: A constitutional argument across time, empires, and oceans Today I got into an argument. Not a loud one, just the quiet kind where you feel the ground shift and think, hang on, is this really where we are now? A well-meaning person was presenting their idea of democracy. It was a lightly dressed version of representative government, with some deliberative garnishes: citizens' p...