The New Zealand Initiative

In this episode, Michael and Stephanie are joined by former Chief Justice of Australia Robert French to examine academic freedom and freedom of expression in universities. French reflects on the model code he developed in 2019 for Australian universities and explains why the real threat to free speech often lies in vague codes of conduct rather than controversial speakers.

They discuss the difference between free speech and academic freedom, the limits universities can legitimately place on expression, and the case for institutional neutrality.

This concluding episode examines what it takes for housing reform to endure. Minister Chris Bishop reflects on his journey to Competitive Urban Land Markets (CLM) and why housing affordability is best understood as a problem of land supply.

The conversation situates Bishop within a decade-long reform arc spanning governments and parties. Building on earlier work under Bill English and Phil Twyford, he discusses how CLM has been socialised within National and translated into the Going for Housing Growth agenda. A central theme is the generational nature of the housing challenge. Bishop observes that the divide on housing is less partisan than generational, and frames the current term as a narrow window in which to act: if progress slows, gravity reasserts itself.

Part 3 also explores durability, examining why both local and central government struggle to stay the course when reform becomes politically uncomfortable. The discussion turns to the risk of relying on unusually capable ministers to champion reform, and the need for rule-based systems that hold course regardless of whoever office. Bishop frames his new ministry as an attempt to pull the reform arc into a single institutional locus, a partial answer to the challenge of maintaining coherence across political cycles.

The series closes with CLM no longer being a question of whether it offers the right diagnosis, but whether New Zealand is willing to embed that diagnosis deeply enough, as an explicit goal of the planning system, in law, and supported by institutions and incentives, for it to survive its own champions. Bishop's answer is the roadrunner: keep running and leave the road on fire behind, long enough to make it irreversible.

Related links:

Read 'The housing theory of everything' here: https://lawliberty.org/the-many-deaths-of-liberalism/?mc_cid=c7e3361d2d&mc_eid=f6d1114f29

Listen to part 1 of this series, 'Clarity Emerging from the Mists', here:https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/podcasts/podcast-housing-affordability-nz-at-the-global-policy-frontier-part-1-clarity-emerging-from-the-mists/

Listen to part 2 of this series, ‘From Heresy to Reform’ (with Phil Twyford), here: https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/podcasts/podcast-housing-affordability-nz-at-the-global-policy-frontier-part-2-from-heresy-to-reform/

In this episode, Oliver and Michael reflect on a packed 2025 that brought major policy wins in education, housing, and regulation, while looking ahead to the bigger picture challenges shaping 2026.

They cover everything from the Initiative’s Dutch delegation and Prof Barbara Oakley’s visit, to the dramatic early gains in literacy and numeracy under Minister Erica Stanford, the new Resource Management Act, and the work ahead on AI, demographic change, and political polarisation.

In this episode, Oliver, Nick and Bryce talk about the Fast Track Approvals Amendment Bill, focusing on the use of Henry VIII clauses that allow ministers to amend legislation without full parliamentary scrutiny.

The discussion examines why these powers have typically been used only in genuine emergencies, how their application in planning reform raises constitutional questions, and why the Initiative recommends clearer limits and stronger sunset provisions to protect democratic processes.

In this episode, Eric, Nick and Benno talk about the Government's proposal to abolish regional councillors while retaining regional councils, shifting governance to new Combined Territories Boards made up of local mayors.

They explore how this reform creates space for mayors to rethink regional governance through a function-by-function approach, potentially establishing purpose-built agencies for issues like water catchments and transport that cross council boundaries.