Oliver is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. Before joining the Initiative, he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, the Chief Economist at Policy Exchange in London, and an advisor in the UK House of Lords. Oliver holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business administration and a PhD in Law from Bochum University in Germany.
Oliver is available to comment on all of the Initiative’s research areas.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has promised everything his government does this year will focus on creating growth. That is great. Read more
I. Introduction We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Australian Government’s (“Government”) consultation on the implementation of a new digital competition regime.1 As we outline in our comments, the Government’s proposal rests on the assumption that there exists a broad global consensus on the need for ex-ante rules for digital platforms. This purported consensus is, however, largely overstated. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 13 February 2025) - The New Zealand Initiative welcomes Minister Willis’s commitment to enabling new grocery entrants into the New Zealand market but warns against politicising KiwiSaver. Initiative Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich said, “We have long argued that New Zealand’s restrictive planning and consenting frameworks have made it unnecessarily difficult for new entrants to establish a viable presence in the supermarket sector. Read more
Perhaps geography is still destiny after all. The closer a Pacific nation sits to American shores, the more Washington seems to care about Chinese influence. Read more
If you believe last week’s hysterical headlines from Germany, you might think the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is about to take power in Europe’s largest economy. The reality is more complicated. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich spoke on The Platform's 'Free Speech Fridays' with Sean Plunket and Mark Champion on political controversy, HRC leadership and institutional changes. The discussion covered ministerial remarks, Steven Rainbow's Holocaust memorial speech, changes to public appointments including the Waitangi Tribunal, and media coverage of Treaty principles bill submissions. Read more
“There’s always a reason to say no, but if we keep saying no, we’ll keep going nowhere.” With these words in his ‘State of the Nation’ speech last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon diagnosed a critical barrier to New Zealand’s economic growth: a culture of negativity and excessive caution. Only a few days later, his government provided the perfect test case for Luxon’s diagnosis. Read more
In this episode, James, Eric and Oliver critique Dame Anne Salmond's Newsroom article that characterises the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill as part of a broader neoliberal agenda to undermine democracy in New Zealand. They challenge both Salmond's immediate criticisms of the bill (which they argue misrepresents its regulatory quality focus) and her broader historical argument linking classical liberal organisations like the Mont Pelerin Society to anti-democratic movements, arguing instead that classical liberalism has historically stood against totalitarianism and for democratic values. Read more
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech yesterday presents a clear shift towards economic growth. While familiar aspirational rhetoric featured prominently, his initiatives deserve support. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich was interviewed on Newstalk ZB about Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's announcement of Invest New Zealand, a new foreign investment agency modeled after Ireland's successful IDA Ireland model. He emphasised that while legislative changes could happen quickly, New Zealand needs to shift its mindset from being overly cautious about foreign investment to actively welcoming it, noting how Ireland transformed itself by embracing such investments for economic growth. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Bryce about the Regulatory Standards Bill, which aims to prevent laws and regulations that would make New Zealanders worse off. Bryce explains that while there's currently a discussion document out for public feedback from the Ministry of Regulation, some recent criticisms misunderstand what's being suggested. Read more
Democracy rarely dies suddenly. It often erodes slowly as previously unthinkable developments become normalised, one bit at a time. Read more
We can only hope that New Zealand’s politicians had a good break over the summer because 2025 promises to be a hell of a ride. If the government thought last year was tough, this year will be even more demanding. Read more
When Newsroom’s editor Jonathan Milne invited me to write one of two special pieces for the summer break, I faced quite the conundrum. My options were to review a work of non-fiction or write a column about hope and optimism for 2025. Read more
When a councillor in New Zealand’s Carterton District was elected on a platform of fiscal responsibility, she could not have expected to be barred from participating in budget deliberations. Yet that is exactly what happened when council bureaucrats deemed her campaign promises a “conflict of interest” that disqualified her from key financial decisions. Read more