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Max Rashbrooke
Journalist
Max Rashbrooke is a journalist and author working in Wellington, New Zealand, where he writes about politics, finance and social issues.
Max Rashbrooke - Latest News [Page 5]
A failure of measurement: inside the Budget lock-up
Monday, 30 May 2016, 1:01 pm | Max Rashbrooke
The funniest moment in last week’s lock-up – a closed-off room where journalists get early access to Budget documents under embargo – came when one of the government’s press secretaries explained to the assembled hacks that there had been a minor security ... More >>
Max Rashbrooke on the 2016 Budget
Thursday, 26 May 2016, 2:08 pm | Max Rashbrooke
The best label for this year’s announcement by Bill English might be the ‘Bare Minimum Budget’. It does the bare minimum to defuse potential political damage in a range of areas – homelessness and health are prime among them – but almost ... More >>
Review: Stephen Hough is perfection-plus
Wednesday, 18 May 2016, 4:30 pm | Max Rashbrooke
In his interview with Scoop [ Rachmaninov’s hairy chest, and other entertainments ], pianist Stephen Hough made the point that playing Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto requires the artist, more than with most pieces, to keep the entire work in their ... More >>
Rachmaninov’s hairy chest, and other entertainments
Friday, 13 May 2016, 12:18 pm | Max Rashbrooke
Stephen Hough has just finished a novel. Which would be unremarkable, were he a novelist, but he’s not: he’s a concert pianist. Or rather, he’s a concert pianist, composer, columnist, and painter. (And novelist.) He’s one of that rare breed, the modern ... More >>
Review: Superstar couple deliver promised warmth
Monday, 18 April 2016, 4:47 pm | Max Rashbrooke
In their interview with Scoop [ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1604/S00033/love-duets.htm ], Nicola Benedetti and Leonard Elschenbroich promised "warmth and love" in their playing of Brahms's Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. And, coming on ... More >>
Love Duets
Monday, 11 April 2016, 9:12 am | Max Rashbrooke
One of the super-couples of the classical world, Nicola Benedetti and Leonard Elschenbroich, are in New Zealand for a series of concerts with the NZSO – and performing the first piece they ever played together. More >>
Mahler under new baton at the Michael Fowler Centre
Tuesday, 5 April 2016, 8:38 am | Max Rashbrooke
The King is dead; long live the King. This was the message that the NZSO’s Wellington audience seemed to be giving on Saturday night, as they kept up the applause for call after call following the huge climax of Mahler’s Third Symphony. More >>
Labour: Lions or Pussycats?
Thursday, 24 March 2016, 3:53 pm | Max Rashbrooke
As Guy Standing wound up his speech to the Labour Party’s Future of Work conference yesterday, he drew on Shelley’s poem The Masque of Anarchy and its call to people to “rise like Lions after slumber / In unvanquishable number”. Behind me, whispering ... More >>
What does Bill English’s manic grin tell us?
Friday, 19 February 2016, 2:29 pm | Max Rashbrooke
What does Bill English’s manic grin tell us about the state of public services? More >>
Fringe Review: Rossum’s Universal Robots
Friday, 12 February 2016, 10:56 am | Max Rashbrooke
Rossum’s Universal Robots Hannah Playhouse, February 10-13 Written by Karel Capek Performed by Hamilton Performing Arts Company More >>
We Need Both Tougher And Gentler Ways To Get At The Truth
Sunday, 25 October 2015, 9:23 am | Max Rashbrooke
When I look at New Zealand's media landscape, I see great work being done, but also massive gaps. A big gap is in the place where civilised debate should be. More >>
A talk on wealth, a rant on inequality, & NZ's latest stats
Monday, 21 July 2014, 3:21 pm | Max Rashbrooke
I'm giving a talk in Wellington tomorrow night on wealth in New Zealand: how much of it there is, how it's distributed, and why we should be talking more about it. It's at 5.30 at Connolly Hall in Thorndon, and organised by the Fabians . All welcome. More >>
Why education may be over-rated
Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 5:41 pm | Max Rashbrooke
A recent paper from Britain’s Fiscal Studies journal has some sobering reading for people who think that education alone can solve the problem of how to create more opportunities and greater social mobility for all. More >>
How a living wage increases opportunity – not just fairness
Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 5:36 pm | Max Rashbrooke
The Living Wage campaign launch in Wellington a few weeks ago was a powerful lesson in the way that equal opportunities and equal incomes are inextricably linked. The highlight of the launch was a speech from Sosefina Masoe, a cleaner. Sosofina, who ... More >>
