Public Interest

National said urgent changes to local democracy were needed to lower costs and fix the basics. Then, just two months out from an election, it abruptly halted its council amalgamation plans, deferring decisions until after the election.
So what's going on here? What's really driving the reforms, and who stands to benefit?
Christchurch City Councillor Nathaniel Herz Jardine and Wellington City Councillor Sam O’Brien take us on a crash course through rates capping, the urban-rural divide and the politics of local government. Are National's reforms straight from the Federated Farmers wishlist? Are city-dwellers about to lose control over the water they drink? And why do rural interests wield so much power in local politics?
This is the first episode of Who Broke My City, a new series from Public Interest in which we explore how local government really works, who's calling the shots, and what it would take to fix our cities.

How do you manufacture a political movement?
Ollie Neas talks to investigative journalist Nicky Hager about his new book Dirty Work, which investigates the Taxpayers’ Union and a network of lobby and campaign groups that Hager argues have helped reshape New Zealand politics.
We discuss astroturfing, political donations, the manufacture of outrage, the Three Waters campaign – and how the methods Hager first documented in The Hollow Men and Dirty Politics have evolved.
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Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick wants the Greens to become the largest party of the left. But what would it take to get there?
Ollie Neas talks to Swarbrick about the Greens’ changing politics, economic inequality, corporate power, public ownership, Labour, and building a mass political movement.
Public Interest is independent and entirely supported by our audience. If you value what we do, consider supporting us at publicinterest.nz.

Nearly a decade after Jacinda Ardern swept into office promising transformation, what can we learn from where her government fell short?
Ollie Neas talks to economist Dr Geoff Bertram about the weakening of the New Zealand state, the limits of Labour’s economic approach, and what a future progressive government would need to do differently.
Public Interest is independent and entirely supported by our audience. If you value what we do, consider supporting us at publicinterest.nz

Bird flu has reached New Zealand. Ollie Neas talks to epidemiologist Professor Nigel French about the threat H5N1 poses to New Zealand, how prepared we are for an outbreak, and why climate change, intensive agriculture and other human activity are creating a “perfect storm” for the emergence of new diseases.
Public Interest is independent and entirely supported by our audience. If you value conversations like this, please consider supporting our work at publicinterest.nz