Podcast: Worth Defending (Webinar): Freedom, prosperity and the case for a stronger New Zealand Defence Force
Dr Oliver Hartwich
17 September, 2026
In this podcast episode, retired Major General John Howard joins Oliver live in a webinar to discuss his new research note "Worth Defending" and why New Zealand needs a stronger, combat-capable Defence Force.
Howard, who served forty years and retired only last year, describes what decades of declining capability looked like from the inside, explains why he thinks the $9 billion of new defence money is not enough, and sets out what it would take to rebuild across two or three successive governments.