Wellington (Wednesday, 8 July 2026) – Is New Zealand a country in decline or a quiet success story? A new report from The New Zealand Initiative argues it is neither. Read more

In this episode, Oliver talks with Michelle Palmer, Executive Director of the Retirement Villages Association, about the retirement village business model and the debate over how quickly operators should repay residents and their estates once a unit is vacated. They discuss the Consumer New Zealand petition, the Government's proposed 12-month repayment rule, and why applying changes retrospectively to existing contracts could raise costs for residents and put pressure on smaller operators. Read more

In this episode, Oliver talks with Nick Clark about the Government's Head Start process, which asks councils to put forward their own reorganisation proposals or have changes imposed on them. Nick draws on his report Head Start Done Right to question whether the amalgamation the process points towards would deliver the efficiencies the Government expects, and argues instead for subsidiarity, keeping decisions at the most local level rather than consolidating them upwards. Read more

Wellington (Wednesday, 24 June 2026) – The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), which funds injured New Zealanders’ care and recovery, has halted a decade of decline. But a New Zealand Initiative report warns its recovery rests on tighter decisions and exits, not proven rehabilitation. Read more

In this episode, Jamuel talks with Oliver Hartwich about his report Half a Turnaround, which examines how ACC's outstanding claims liability more than doubled over a decade as more injured New Zealanders became stuck on long-term support. Oliver argues that ACC has halted the financial deterioration through tighter claim decisions, not yet through proven gains in rehabilitation, and sets out reforms including a 28-day rehabilitation guarantee to restore the scheme's original promise of getting injured people back to work. Read more

In this episode, Oliver talks with retired Major General John Howard about his recent trip to Washington and what the conflict centred on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz reveals about American power and the international order. They then turn to New Zealand, where Howard argues the crisis exposed serious gaps in fuel resilience and intelligence, and a public service that struggled to match ministers' urgency. Read more

New Zealand spends more on infrastructure than almost any developed country, yet still cannot build the pipes and roads new housing needs. Why? Read more