Submission to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on the discussion document ‘work with engineered stone and materials containing crystalline silica'

This submission has been written by NZISM and CHASNZ with input from senior health and safety practitioners and occupational physicians.  It outlines the background, discusses the problems with the status quo, and sets out our recommendations for change

Christine Ladd-Franklin and the progress of formal logic

I want to highlight Christine Ladd-Franklin's contribution to logic, by placing her technical contribution to the algebra of logic in the broader context of her philosophical contribution to logic in general, concerning her view of the nature of logic and its role in philosophy. First, I will present the sense in which her algebra of logic means a progress within formal logic towards a higher level of formality. Second, I will focus on the contrast between the new symbolic form of logic and the traditional non-symbolic form of logic. Third, I will focus on the contrast between the symbolic form of logic and the "mathematical" form of symbolic logic that Russell and his ilk were trying to impose

Building a Working Relationship Policy Advice Quality – the fundamental capability for public management

High-calibre written advice is the basis of government decision making. It produces good decisions and fosters trust in advisors which benefits the process. Data series of average scores based on two batches of assessments of policy advice quality over the last 16 years show little sign of sustained quality improvements. There remains a challenge

"Corporate Purpose" as a False Friend: A Bibliometric Analysis

The term "corporate purpose" is frequently used, both in academic and non-academic writings today. However, it is also quite ambiguous, particularly in relation to the precise obligations that companies may be expected to fulfil. By presenting a bibliometric analysis of this term over recent decades, this article assesses its popularity and usage. It finds that the term "corporate purpose" was already quite popular in the 1960s and 1980s, yet with different meanings than today; that recent publications discuss this term in more detail than in the past; that it is today often associated with social and environmental topics; and that it has recently become a term frequently used in the management and business literature. Overall, the empirical findings of this article confirm that while the term has many ambiguities, and thus may not be a useful legal term, it may well be suitable as a conceptual framing device for the importance of social and environmental interests related to companies

Federal Workforce Reforms in Trump’s Second Term: two scenarios

Five early proposals from the second Trump administration add up to a potentially dramatic shift of power within the executive branch of the federal government and between the executive and legislative branches. With help from conservative think tanks and the Republican-led Congress, the 2024 election has opened the door to an increasingly powerful US presidency and an ever-weaker constitutional order

The Right to Stay: The Scope of the Right to Enter One's Own Country as a Legal Protection for Long-Term Permanent Residents Deported under Australia's "501" Policy

Article 12(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country." Australia's continued practice of using the controversial "501" policy to deport individuals, who for all purposes but citizenship can be considered Australians, is a violation of this right. This article analyses the relationship between international law and domestic law on the availability of art 12(4) as a method of protection for individuals who face deportation under Australia's 501 policy. It discusses the meaning of one's "own country" and how its interpretation has developed in international law, from the travaux préparatoires of the article to the decisions of the Human Rights Committee. It then assesses how Australia's domestic legal framework has responded to the standards established in international law in relation to cases concerning 501 deportees. It demonstrates how Australia has been reluctant to exclude individuals from the scope of s 501 on the basis of their absorption into the Australian community, such that it renders Australia their "own country". Overall, it demonstrates how Australia is failing to recognise the right enshrined in s 12(4) by continuing to employ the 501 policy to deport individuals with sufficient connections to Australia such that it can be considered their "own country"

Understanding Christine Ladd-Franklin's Logic

In the late 19th century Christine Ladd-Franklin proposed a new logical system in the algebraic tradition championed by Boole, Jevons, Schröder, and her teacher Charles Sanders Peirce. This new logic was at the time celebrated as providing a novel and complete characterization of the valid syllogisms, although Ladd-Franklin’s work was largely forgotten until recently. Here we present a careful reconstruction of Ladd-Franklin’s work, concentrating on her characterization of the valid syllogisms, and we clear up some earlier confusions regarding how this novel logical system works

Prosocial Corporate Purpose in Practice

The debate over corporate purpose – whether corporations ought to exist solely to maximise shareholder value, serve broader societal interests or pursue both – has persisted throughout the history of corporate law. Despite its significance, the United States legal framework offers little clarity. The United States Constitution is silent on corporations, corporate law is primarily state-based and case law on corporate purpose remains limited. Despite this debate and the lack of clarity on what corporations ought to do, as a practical matter, the business judgement rule grants corporate directors and officers broad discretion to adopt a prosocial or stakeholder-oriented corporate purpose. Still, the mechanisms for implementing such an approach remain unclear. This article shifts focus from the normative to the practical and asks: what corporate governance tools and strategies can companies use to operationalise a prosocial corporate purpose? It examines a range of strategies, including voluntary statements; private ordering mechanisms such as shareholder proposals; governance reforms like public interest board members and stakeholder-driven executive compensation; and legal structures such as public benefit corporations (PBCs). These tools vary in both enforceability and impact. Voluntary commitments often lack accountability but can catalyse more substantive reforms. The Delaware PBC provides a legally enforceable mandate to balance stakeholder interests, though only shareholders may enforce it. Board composition and incentive structures remain underutilised and debated. While no single reform is a panacea or appropriate for all corporations, they represent a flexible and evolving toolkit for embedding prosocial goals into corporate governance

A reflection and the future of health and safety in New Zealand

As we publish volume 2, edition 1 of the New Zealand Journal of Health and Safety Practice, it is an opportune moment to reflect on our journey and consider the future of our profession. The field of health and safety in New Zealand has seen significant advancements, driven by the most part through initiatives from the professions and the enthusiasm and passion of the health and safety community. It is important then that we celebrate our achievements, acknowledge the challenges, and envision the path ahead

On a Suggested Logic for Paraconsistent Mathematics

The logic subDL and its quantified extension subDLQ were proposed by Badia and Weber (Dialethism and its Applications, 2019: 155-176) as a basis for developing a version of mathematics in which paradoxes are harmless. In the present paper, subDL as defined in the literature is shown to be too strong to support the theories which motivate it. The crucial point is that contraction is derivable in subDL. It follows that the semantic structure used by Badia and Weber to invalidate contraction is not, in fact, a model of subDL. Here we identify the axioms responsible for contraction in subDL and prove that the logic, weakened by removal of these axioms, is contraction-free and paraconsistent