Dr Oliver Hartwich joined Kerry Woodham on Newstalk ZB to discuss Saturday’s election result, which played out much as he predicted in his August research note Unravelling MMP: How the 2026 election could break the voting system from two sides. With overhangs engineered on both the left and the right, Oliver said the result shows MMP is still poorly understood and too easily gamed. Read more

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. Read more

New Zealanders work long hours, yet Australians earn roughly 30% more per head. That's a missing $20,000 for every New Zealander, or around $100 billion a year across the economy. Read more

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. Read more

Our Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich joined Wallace Chapman and the panel on RNZ’s The Panel to make the case for an independent body to cost election promises. He traced the idea back to a 2007 paper he helped write at the London think tank Policy Exchange, which became the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility under George Osborne in 2010. Read more

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. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich joined Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB to assess ACT’s manifesto, which proposes $22 billion in savings over four years. He said it stands apart because ACT is the only party that wants to shrink government back to 2017 levels, while the other parties merely promise to cut debt and return to surplus. Read more

Christopher Luxon is struggling to impress his former business peers, with this year’s Mood of the Boardroom survey giving him poor marks for political management and uniting the country. Oliver and Damien discuss the business community’s dissatisfaction with Luxon and Nicola Willis, along with the survey’s findings on AI adoption and whether businesses are turning their enthusiasm for the technology into real productivity gains. Read more