title: Organised Crime: Combating an Elusive Transnational Threat

authors: Senior, Angus John Henry

subjects: organised crime

abstract: Since the end of the Cold War; wide spread political, economic, social and technological changes have enabled organised criminal groups to develop transnational activities. Encouraged by the United States, the world has conceived transnational organised crime as a 'new' and serious security threat. The international community has acknowledged the inherent incapability of national strategies, alone, to combat transnational organised crime. Therefore, concerted efforts have been taken to develop a global and uniformed response. 

Efforts to combat transnational organised crime have been underpinned by a perceived necessity to protect national borders. This reaction is based on traditional, inaccurate, conceptions of organised crime, which focuses on structured, ethnically defined 'outsider' groups as a serious threat to security and the very fabric of society. This concept of organised crime is overly simplistic and fails to grasp the complexity of modern organised crime and its interaction with legal and illegal markets. Organise crime is a multifaceted phenomenon, characterised by loose networks of criminals, who are primarily motivated by profit and operate based on particular 'opportunities'.

Strategies to combat organised crime have been preoccupied with traditional, repressive, criminal justice measures; at the expense of developing a comprehensive understanding of the root problems that allow illicit markets and organised crime to flourish, in communities and society in general. It is essential that the international community, through the United Nations, realistically assess the effectiveness of its current approach, to aid the development of comprehensive strategies for the future.

New Zealand has taken promising steps to combat transnational organised crime. Although in its infancy, NZ has developed a comprehensive strategy which not only utilises traditional criminal justice tools, but also seeks to engage with communities to develop effective prevention measures.

text: Organised Crime: Combating an Elusive Transnational Threat Since the end of the Cold War; wide spread political, economic, social and technological changes have enabled organised criminal groups to develop transnational activities. Encouraged by the United States, the world has conceived transnational organised crime as a 'new' and serious security threat. The international community has acknowledged the inherent incapability of national strategies, alone, to combat transnational organised crime. Therefore, concerted efforts have been taken to develop a global and uniformed response. 

Efforts to combat transnational organised crime have been underpinned by a perceived necessity to protect national borders. This reaction is based on traditional, inaccurate, conceptions of organised crime, which focuses on structured, ethnically defined 'outsider' groups as a serious threat to security and the very fabric of society. This concept of organised crime is overly simplistic and fails to grasp the complexity of modern organised crime and its interaction with legal and illegal markets. Organise crime is a multifaceted phenomenon, characterised by loose networks of criminals, who are primarily motivated by profit and operate based on particular 'opportunities'.

Strategies to combat organised crime have been preoccupied with traditional, repressive, criminal justice measures; at the expense of developing a comprehensive understanding of the root problems that allow illicit markets and organised crime to flourish, in communities and society in general. It is essential that the international community, through the United Nations, realistically assess the effectiveness of its current approach, to aid the development of comprehensive strategies for the future.

New Zealand has taken promising steps to combat transnational organised crime. Although in its infancy, NZ has developed a comprehensive strategy which not only utilises traditional criminal justice tools, but also seeks to engage with communities to develop effective prevention measures.

year: 2010

title: Emerging economies, productivity growth and trade with resource-rich economies by 2030

authors: Anderson, Kym

subjects: Asian economic growth and structural change

abstract: Rapid economic growth in some emerging economies in recent decades has significantly increased their global economic importance. If this rapid growth continues and is strongest in resource-poor Asian economies, the growth in global demand for imports of primary products also will continue, to the ongoing benefit of natural resource-rich countries. This paper explores how global production, consumption and trade patterns might change over the next two decades in the course of economic development and structural changes under various scenarios. We employ the GTAP model and version 8.1 of the GTAP database with a base year of 2007, along with supplementary data from a range of sources, to support projections of the global economy to 2030. We first project a baseline assuming that trade-related policies do not change in each region but that factor endowments and real GDP grow at exogenously estimated rates. That baseline is compared with two alternative scenarios: one in which the growth rates of China and India are lower by one-quarter and the other in which this slowdown in emerging economies leads to slower productivity growth in the primary sectors of all countries. Throughout the results, implications are drawn out for natural resource-abundant economies, including Australia and New Zealand.

text: Emerging economies, productivity growth and trade with resource-rich economies by 2030 Rapid economic growth in some emerging economies in recent decades has significantly increased their global economic importance. If this rapid growth continues and is strongest in resource-poor Asian economies, the growth in global demand for imports of primary products also will continue, to the ongoing benefit of natural resource-rich countries. This paper explores how global production, consumption and trade patterns might change over the next two decades in the course of economic development and structural changes under various scenarios. We employ the GTAP model and version 8.1 of the GTAP database with a base year of 2007, along with supplementary data from a range of sources, to support projections of the global economy to 2030. We first project a baseline assuming that trade-related policies do not change in each region but that factor endowments and real GDP grow at exogenously estimated rates. That baseline is compared with two alternative scenarios: one in which the growth rates of China and India are lower by one-quarter and the other in which this slowdown in emerging economies leads to slower productivity growth in the primary sectors of all countries. Throughout the results, implications are drawn out for natural resource-abundant economies, including Australia and New Zealand.

year: 2014

title: Boat electrofishing survey of fish abundance in the Ohau Channel, Rotorua, in 2016

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

abstract: The aim of the survey was to provide on-going monitoring of the fish communities and abundance by boat electrofishing in the Ohau Channel, especially fish species that are taonga to Maori (tuna, or eels, morihana, or goldfish, and kōura, or freshwater crayfish). In the current study, we present the findings from the tenth year of sampling (2016) and a summary of previous surveys.

text: Boat electrofishing survey of fish abundance in the Ohau Channel, Rotorua, in 2016 The aim of the survey was to provide on-going monitoring of the fish communities and abundance by boat electrofishing in the Ohau Channel, especially fish species that are taonga to Maori (tuna, or eels, morihana, or goldfish, and kōura, or freshwater crayfish). In the current study, we present the findings from the tenth year of sampling (2016) and a summary of previous surveys.

year: 2017