New Zealand has faced many crises. Few have inspired such quiet resolve as the campaign to save our most productive soils from houses. Read more
This year's NZSIS Security Threat Environment report lists many threats facing New Zealand. But one of the biggest is not on its list: the Government has more useful intelligence than ever before, yet it is not digesting that intelligence fast enough to matter. Read more
It matters in its own right, as part of the basic bundle of civic, economic, and personal freedoms that we all should be able to enjoy. The State has no place in the bedrooms of the nation, and it shouldn’t have much place in its boardrooms either. Read more
In this episode, Dr Eric Crampton talks to Nick Clark and new senior fellow Paul Melville about the two new acts replacing the Resource Management Act and what the new system gets right, including standardised zoning and a new Urban Land Market Officer. They also weigh up how much has been left for ministers to decide later, and where the acts could still end up in court. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 8 October 2026) - New Zealand has more information about emerging security threats than ever before, but Cabinet is still too slow to turn warnings into action, a research note released today by The New Zealand Initiative finds. In Too slow to notice: Four fixes for a fast Cabinet, Major General (Ret) John Howard MNZM and Dr Reuben Steff say the problem is speed, not information. Read more
New Zealand has more information about emerging security threats than ever before, but Cabinet is still too slow to turn warnings into action, a research note released today by The New Zealand Initiative finds. Major General (Ret) John Howard MNZM and Dr Reuben Steff say the problem is speed, not information. Read more
Appointments to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court come down to a list of no more than three names. Who decides which names make the list is not straightforward, even if you have read the relevant statute. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Major General John Howard about Russia's escalating pressure on NATO, the diesel squeeze working its way through global supply chains and why New Zealand's just-in-time fuel system leaves it exposed. They also discuss John's new paper with Dr Reuben Steff on how Cabinet gets its information, before turning to the NZDF personnel whose use of Strava exposed their locations while deployed overseas. Read more
Donald Trump’s second term has given Europe one fight after another. Tariffs, Greenland, Ukraine and Iran have all had their turn. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich joined Mark Smith on The Intelligence Age podcast to talk about where AI stands in New Zealand. He called 2026 “peak AI” so far, driven by agentic tools that can work through whole projects rather than answer single prompts. Read more
Ten years ago, Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler asked me to speak at the Auckland launch of A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand, their first draft. They knew I would not endorse their proposal, which speaks well of them. Read more
Five weeks out from an election, bottom lines are everywhere. Almost every minor party has one. Read more
Imagining 19th-century schooling might bring to mind characters like Thomas Gradgrind from Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times. Gradgrind was a disciplinarian, obsessed with drilling facts into pupils' resistant brains. Read more
New Zealand has new planning laws. They passed in September and replace the Resource Management Act. Read more
Our dollar has fallen a lot since 24 August. On 30 September it was down 6% against the US dollar, 3.2% against the Australian dollar and 4.8% against the Reserve Bank's basket of currencies. Read more
