The New Zealand Initiative

In this episode, Eric talks with Jillaine Heather, Chief Executive of the Free Speech Union, about the Government's plans for an under-16 social media ban and the universal age verification that may come with it. They examine why the Department of Internal Affairs appears to be building delivery machinery ahead of any legislation, what Australia and the UK reveal about compliance and scope creep, and why policy aimed at online harms could create serious risks for privacy and free speech.

In this episode, Eric talks with Prof Chris Berg from RMIT University about the Australian regulatory ideas New Zealand has considered importing, from the news media bargaining regime to the under-16 social media ban and prescription-only vaping. They discuss how policies sold as protecting journalism, children or public health can instead create rent-seeking, surveillance, black markets and unworkable rules.

In this episode, Oliver talks with Eric about Budget 2026, which brings the forecast surplus forward a year but rests on a series of lucky breaks, from oil prices falling to fiscal discipline surviving the election and coalition negotiations.

They weigh what is driving spending well above 2019 levels, the case for superannuation reform, council incentives to go for growth, the shrinking public service, and why Treasury's tobacco and alcohol excise forecasts keep going wrong.

In this episode, Eric talks with Dr Benno Blaschke and Chris Parker about why our current approach to housing supply, which is focused on housing targets and delivered through “predict and provide”, has consistently failed.

The explore what a better system could look like by discussing Benno's proposed alternative, where an independent panel would use price-based indicators to evaluate council plans against the conditions of competitive urban land markets. These assessments would inform plans as they are designed to help communities and planners get the economics of their plans right. Ongoing annual monitoring further enables them to keep thriving.

After all, the reason why cities exist is the economic opportunity they offer people through their deep labour markets. This means that cities need to keep growing and offer people more value than it costs them to live in that city to remain productive and attractive places to live.

In this episode, Oliver talks with senior fellow John Howard about mounting geopolitical instability, from Iran and the Strait of Hormuz to Trump's visit to Beijing and the growing pressure on Taiwan. They discuss what these crises mean for New Zealand's energy security, political leadership, European security, business risk, and the need for more serious strategic thinking.