New Zealand Business Roundtable

The New Zealand Initiative is a market-oriented public policy thinktank based in Wellington, New Zealand. The membership-based organisation is supported by executives of major New Zealand businesses, and was formed from the 2012 merger of the New Zealand Business Roundtable and the New Zealand Institute.

The Initiative is not affiliated to any political party, and produces research publications about housing, education, foreign direct investment, local government, economic and social policy, as well as resources management.. The New Zealand Initiative holds events throughout the year, including lectures with visiting and domestic guest speakers, and The Next Generation Debates, a debating tournament.

The New Zealand Initiative was established in April 2012, as the result of a merger between the New Zealand Business Roundtable and The New Zealand Institute.

The New Zealand Business Roundtable was headed by the late Roger Kerr, and the New Zealand Institute, initially established under David Skilling, by Rick Boven. The decision was made in December 2011 to merge, to form an effective think tank in a market that was too small for two independent organisations. The Initiative was launched on 3 April 2012.

The Initiative is chaired by Roger Partridge, a partner at law firm Bell Gully, and led by Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich, its inaugural Executive Director.

The New Zealand Initiative’s states its goals and values as follows:

• A good education system

• Affordable housing

• An open economy

• A free and democratic society

• The protection of New Zealand’s natural resources and heritage

• Sound public finances

• A stable currency

According to its website, the Initiative is committed to empirical evidence, non-partisanship, independence, and commitment to New Zealand. The think-tank's values tend to reflect libertarian, neo-conservative political outlook.

The New Zealand Initiative has conducted research in the following areas:

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