Dr Oliver Hartwich: A feel-good law with a global track record of failure

To most New Zealanders in 2026, slavery sounds like a relic of past centuries and faraway places. Unfortunately, it is not.

Forced labour, trafficking and debt bondage still trap millions worldwide, often in countries we trade with, from the cotton fields of Xinjiang to the fishing boats of South-East Asia.

Damien Grant: A feel-good slavery bill that won’t catch the worst offenders

Children being sold into slavery is a terrible thing. And if New Zealand firms are involved in such activity Kiwis would want to minimise this evil.

So it was with delight that I read two outstanding lawmakers, National’s Greg Fleming and Labour’s Camilla Belich, have picked up the mantle of William Wilberforce in taking action to prevent not just slavery, but servitude, sexual exploitation, indentured labour and other similar evil.