About Us
The New Zealand Institute is a privately funded think-tank that is committed to generating debate, ideas, and solutions that contribute to building a better and more prosperous New Zealand for all New Zealanders. The Institute produces creative, provocative and independent thinking, focusing on key issues that have a major impact on New Zealand’s economic and social future, and engages with New Zealanders in order to develop solutions to address these issues.
We believe that New Zealand is a country with vast potential and opportunity ahead of it. But we have to overcome a number of challenges if New Zealand is to achieve its full potential. Those challenges won’t be met by recycling the same old solutions. We need new solutions and new ideas. We need a new generation of thinking.
Our work includes undertaking independent research on important issues, engaging with groups throughout the community on these issues, and working with the private and public sectors to identify and implement practical solutions. By developing new, creative, non-partisan, and world-class ideas and solutions, we believe we can contribute to improved prosperity and social outcomes for all New Zealanders.
To that end, we draw on the best ideas and practice from around the world and feed these into the New Zealand debate. And we are committed to political neutrality and evidence-based analysis. We recognise that great ideas can come from anywhere on the political spectrum - left, right or centre. We are interested in ideas that work in the real world, not just ideas that have a certain political pedigree. And so we expect to surprise rather than run a predictable party line.
The New Zealand Institute is a private, not for profit organisation, funded by our business members largely through an annual membership fee.