Maxim Institute Podcast

In this episode of The Select Committee, National wants to break up New Zealand’s supermarket duopoly. Could the shake-up really deliver cheaper groceries, or are there trade-offs lurking beneath the headline?
Next: ACT wants to freeze the minimum wage for three years—with workers under 20 potentially earning just $14.37 an hour. What is the economic case for holding wages steady, and what could it mean for workers struggling to keep up with the cost of living?
Finally, we turn to AI and political campaigning in New Zealand. Where does satire end and deception begin? 
Wrapping the show is our favourite segment: Fantasy Beehive. MP performance is ranked using our highly advanced, completely proprietary technology.

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In this episode of The Select Committee, we examine the Greens’ plan for KiwiMart, a government-owned supermarket chain designed to increase competition and bring down grocery prices. Could it really deliver cheaper food, or would the costs end up outweighing the benefits?
Next: a shock poll result for Labour. With ACT and the Greens gaining ground, is Chris Hipkins for the chop, or is Labour’s problem bigger than its leader?
Finally, ACT wants to repeal the Zero Carbon Act. Is climate change losing its place as a political priority, and how should New Zealand balance emissions targets with our agricultural economy?
Wrapping the show is our favourite segment: Fantasy Beehive. MP performance is ranked using our highly advanced, completely proprietary technology.

Receive our latest columns and podcasts straight to your inbox:
⁠https://maximinstitute.substack.com⁠
Subscribe to Maxim’s monthly newsletter:
⁠https://www.maxim.org.nz/sign-up/⁠

In this episode of The Select Committee, we discuss Sir Brian Roche’s preference to consolidate the public service. Would fewer agencies improve accountability, or will this turn out to be another costly restructure?

Paolo Garcia’s valedictory speech highlights the darker side of politics. He described the abuse he has faced and said safety concerns forced him to move house. What does his experience say about the need for political civility?

Te Pāti Māori has released a sweeping tax plan, including a $30,000 tax-free threshold and a wealth tax on net assets above $2 million. What behavioural effects could follow, and how much it could a minor party realistically take into coalition talks?

Wrapping the show is our favourite segment: Fantasy Beehive. MP performance is ranked using our highly advanced, completely proprietary technology.

Receive our latest columns and podcasts straight to your inbox:
https://maximinstitute.substack.com

Subscribe to Maxim’s monthly newsletter:
https://www.maxim.org.nz/sign-up/

In this episode of The Select Committee, we examine Labour’s fiscal promises for the election. Their policy includes returning to surplus by 2029/30 and keeping government spending at 33% of GDP. But do Labour’s numbers add up when further tax revenue has yet to be identified?
Next: allegations of ballot theft and fraudulent voting in the 2025 local elections. A secret whistleblower and gang threats are also claimed. What does it mean for our general election?
Finally, ACT’s “one law for all” policy would strengthen property rights and reinforce parliamentary sovereignty over the courts. Is this a different version of the Treaty Principles Bill?
Wrapping the show is our favourite segment: Fantasy Beehive. MP performance is ranked using our highly advanced, completely proprietary technology.

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Subscribe to Maxim’s monthly newsletter:
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Something in our cultural moment has shifted. Across the globe, people feel disconnected. They’re unsure of where they belong, yet paradoxically more tribal. Education is shaped by ideology. Politics infuses every sphere. We struggle to disagree well.
These are symptoms of what Dr Sarah Irving-Stonebraker calls our “Ahistoric Age.”
She argues that we are forgetting how to remember. The past is often treated as irrelevant, discarded in favour of narratives of self-fulfilment and self-creation. As our historical understanding dims, so too does our ability to comprehend the present. We become foreigners in our own time.
So how might history ground us when it so often divides? Dr Irving-Stonebraker explores what it means to steward history, and explains how recovering lost and overlooked stories can restore a sense of belonging and inheritance.
When we can’t remember the past, not only are we condemned to repeat it; we actually lose what holds us together.