The New Zealand Initiative

Here is a full episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant which was originally recorded on 5 November 2026.

Christopher Luxon goes into Saturday’s election as a prime minister few voters ever took to. Oliver and Damien look at why, and whether he would stay leader even if National is returned.

They go on to Damien’s Tāmaki candidates’ debate and why party loyalty runs so deep, then to Berlin, where comments accidentally sent to journalists suggest the likely next mayor is too afraid to name figures linked to organised crime, and what it says about politics across the West. And with this the last episode before the election, they make their predictions for Saturday.

Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election.

Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there.

Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free…ee/id6800933200
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip

Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

In this episode, Oliver talks with Denise Cosgrove, chief executive of the Selwyn Foundation, about why New Zealand should see its ageing population as an opportunity rather than a burden. They discuss how longer, healthier working lives could boost productivity and ease pressure on healthcare, why 65 to 74 year olds are particularly worried about ageing well and why healthy ageing is largely missing from the election debate.

Here is a full episode of Free to Disagree, our new weekly show with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant.

With National polling below 25 per cent just days before the election, is the Luxon government being unfairly punished despite delivering meaningful reforms, or has it failed to tackle the problems that matter most? Oliver and Damien assess the government’s record, from falling crime and the new Planning Act to its failure to address New Zealand’s fiscal challenges, and ask whether Christopher Luxon can overcome his unpopularity to win re-election.

They then debate National’s proposal to limit the right to silence in child homicide cases and what it means for fundamental legal protections. They also examine The New Zealand Initiative’s findings on public servants resisting elected ministers, and what Chris Bishop’s experience with RMA reform reveals about the power of the bureaucracy.

Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics with Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant. Two friends on broadly the same side of politics who find plenty to disagree about anyway. Each week they discuss three big issues, leading up to the election.

Free to Disagree lives on its own feed where you will find every episode. So if you are enjoying it, follow the show directly. Search Free to Disagree in your podcast app and follow it there.

Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free…ee/id6800933200
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/03465zUGiOtfO38Yg0wVip

Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

In this episode, Michael talks with Andrew Doyle, comedian, author and creator of Titania McGrath, about his book The End of Woke and why he thinks liberalism is in trouble. Joined by James Kierstead, they trace the history of liberalism, debate how a free society should respond to people who reject its values and ask whether schools and universities are teaching young people to think for themselves.

In this episode, Eric talks to Nick Clark and Paul Melville about the illustrative national policy direction, the draft document that will put the detail into the two acts replacing the Resource Management Act. They go through what the draft gets right, including a presumption that people can use their land without unnecessary constraints, and where it falls short, from the exceptions that could undercut that presumption to the detail pushed down again into standards yet to be written.

This episode was recorded on 8 October 2026. The Initiative’s submission has since been made and is available here: https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/submission-new-zealands-new-planning-system-testing-the-approach-to-national-policy-direction