Institute of Policy Studies - Completed Conferences
 

The Visible Hand Symposium

This symposium, held on 19 November 2004, was organised by the IPS to mark Sir Frank Holmes' contribution to New Zealand public policy over fifty years. The theme was the role of the state in New Zealand - 'the visible hand'. The topics for the daylong symposium represented some of the principal areas in which Sir Frank has worked. People associated with Sir Frank over the years were asked to reflect on changing perceptions of the role of the state and future directions.

There were three parts to the day. The opening session - Foreign Affairs and Key Economic Relationships - an area which Sir Frank has made a particular contribution during his long association with the IPS. The second session - The Economy and Society: Key Issues - opened with an evaluation of the application of the 'corporatisation' policy of the 1980s complemented by a presentation on the role of social policy with particular emphasis on: welfare or workfare? The breadth of Sir Frank's contribution was underlined by speakers who then explored questions of the ageing population, the health workforce, education (recalling Sir Frank's work with the Education Development Conference in the early '70s) and the funding of the public services. In the concluding session, Colin James in assessing current trends and pressures, put forward a formidable research agenda for Sir Frank's future attention while Mark Prebble and Gary Hawke looked to the future roles of the public sector and the universities respectively.

The only safe conclusion at the end of a lively day attended by 135 people, might be that for the foreseeable future the state will continue to have a role in New Zealand's development, and that in every policy domain it will be vastly different from fifty years ago. The IPS published the papers based on the below presentations with some additional contributions in the book by the same name available here

Sir Frank Holmes

A selection of the papers presented are available below:

Arthur Grimes - New Zealand: A Typical Australasian Economy?

Colin James - Sir Frank's Next 20 Years

Judith Davey - Social Monitoring and the Challenge of an Ageing Population

Rob Cameron - Evolution of the SOE Model

George Salmon - The Health Workforce Conundrum

Gary Hawke - The Role of the Universities

Peggy G. Koopman-Boyden - Welfare or Workfare? The Role of Social Policy