MEDIA

Retired Major General John Howard joined Susana Lei'ataua on RNZ to discuss the current Geopolitical climate. Tensions in the Middle East have escalated again, with the US military announcing it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for an attempted Iranian attack on a US Navy warship. Read more

Dr Eric Crampton talks with Wallace Chapman, alongside panellists Zoe George and Tim Wilson on The Panel about the Government's announcement that it will delay increases to fuel taxes by a year. Eric shares his opinions on the decision and offers up some alternative answers. Read more

Mike Hosking recommended Dr Oliver Hartwich's New Zealand Herald column on Labour's capital gains tax on Newstalk ZB, calling it "absolutely brilliant". He worked through Dr Hartwich's account of a debate hosted by the Institute for Democratic and Economic Analysis, where no one in the room backed the policy, along with the design flaws Dr Hartwich set out, including no adjustment for inflation, exemptions that leave little beyond rental housing, and revenue earmarked for free GP visits in a country already short of doctors. Read more

Wellington (Thursday, 20 August 2026) – At its campaign launch in Gisborne on Sunday, Te Pāti Māori told its supporters to split their votes: candidate votes for the party, party votes for its allies on the left. A new research note by The New Zealand Initiative warns this call could set off a chain of tactical voting that kills MMP. Read more

Major General John Howard is a retired military leader who was Chief of Defence Intelligence for the NZDF and was also Deputy Director for Commonwealth Integration at the US Defense Intelligence Agency. He talks to Guyon Espiner about Defence Minister Paul Goldsmith cancelling an appearance at a meeting in Canberra with his Australian and Japanese counterparts. Read more

Wellington (Wednesday, 19 August 2026) – The New Zealand Initiative welcomes today’s announcement that the coming urban planning system will include a competition watchdog. Hon Chris Bishop, Minister for RMA Reform, and Simon Court, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for RMA Reform, announced today that the coming Planning Bill will include an independent Urban Land Market Officer. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB about Act's promise to reset government agencies Parliament's already written merits into the Public Service Act, yet departments are still pursuing the diversity agenda. He says they can explain how much an individual ethnic group is paid, yet Treasury can't say how many economists it employs - so there's still work to do. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Leah Panapa on The Platform about New Zealand's falling fertility rate and NZ First's proposal to pay families $15,000 for each child. Dr Hartwich argued that baby bonuses overseas have mostly been windfall payments for parents who wanted children anyway, and that making housing more affordable would do far more to help Kiwis start bigger families. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Wallace Chapman on RNZ's The Panel about NZ First's plan to pay parents $5,000 a year for a child's first three years, and why the money is unlikely to shift a fertility rate that has slipped to just under 1.6 children per woman. Schemes like it overseas have typically failed, including Australia's baby bonus, which rewarded parents who were having children anyway, and Dr Hartwich suggested that anyone serious about lifting fertility should look instead at the cost of housing, which pushes couples to start families later. Read more

Major General John Howard talked to Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB about the Defence Minister's announcement that New Zealand will get long range, one-way strike drones, with the Minister wanting a New Zealand company to make them. Howard pointed to the size of New Zealand's exclusive economic zone and to cost in explaining why the drones are one way, and called it a great decision to invest in lower cost capabilities that deliver strategic effect and deterrence. Read more

Dr Eric Crampton talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about growing concern over data centres, arguing that much of the worry is founded on not understanding the scale of industrial water use and on misunderstanding the effects on electricity networks. Dr Crampton said a data centre proposed for Southland could take water comparable to almost two golf courses, or about a quarter of the average Canterbury irrigation consent, and he argued that fast consenting of new generation, particularly geothermal, would let data centres fund a build out of electricity that reduces overall cost rather than increasing it. Read more