Inaugural Treasury University Challenge Winner Announced

Inaugural Treasury University Challenge Winner Announced

The winner of the New Zealand Treasury’s inaugural University Challenge is Sarah Shier, a Master of International Business student at the University of Auckland.

Her essay on Health and the possibility of co-payments was judged the best among entries submitted by students from all of New Zealand’s universities and from a range of disciplines. Entrants were asked to write a 2000-word essay to answer one of three questions on Crown assets, health, and overseas investment.

“The calibre of Sara Shier’s essay and those of the other finalists was very impressive,” says Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Change & Performance Bill Moran.

“In assessing pros and cons of extending part-payments in our health system, Sarah showed both sides of arguments and brought together evidence from several sources to make her case. She also looked at how different socioeconomic groups might be affected, anticipated issues, and put forward measures to address concerns. It was high-quality work and I congratulate Sarah on her success.

“This competition has been a success for the Treasury too. We wanted to give university students a feel for the range of work the Treasury does and let them test their analytical skills on real life policy issues. We also wanted to reward excellence in public policy analysis and the University Challenge was a great chance to do this.

“After this year’s success the Treasury is looking forward to running the University Challenge again in 2014.”

Winner Sarah Shier will receive $2,500 towards her university fees for 2014.

ENDS

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