Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Free to Disagree
NewsPoliticsNews Commentary

Free to Disagree

The New Zealand Initiative

Free to Disagree is a weekly conversation about New Zealand politics and economics hosted by 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. Produced by The New Zealand Initiative.

Play
Open in
  • 4 episodes
  • Avg 37 min
  • English

Episodes 4

NewestOldestLongest
All4Unplayed4In progress0Played0
  • #4
    Thursday · 31 min

    The social media ban National couldn't sell to its coalition

    National has introduced a bill banning under 16s from social media, and both coalition partners have refused to back it. Oliver and Damien ask whether such a ban could work, and whether the state should be involved at all. Next, Oliver reports back from a capital gains tax event at a centre-left think tank, where nobody in the room liked Labour's version of the tax. And finally, Iceland votes on Saturday on whether to resume talks about joining the European Union, and they get to the Cod Wars, a banking collapse and what a country of 400,000 people manages to do.

  • #3
    August 20 · 42 min

    Could MMP break?

    Te Pāti Māori have told supporters to give them their electorate vote and send their party vote elsewhere. Oliver and Damien ask what happens if National voters start doing the same, and whether MMP survives it. Next, they discuss coalitions and deficits, and Oliver's argument that every additional party in a coalition makes a balanced budget harder. And finally, Donald Trump scaled back a military exercise with South Korea on Truth Social, and they ask what it means for America's allies in the Pacific.

  • #2
    August 14 · 40 min

    Luxon survives his third coup attempt

    One day after Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote, Oliver and Damien ask whether he has finally shown the country who he really is. Next, they discuss Chris Penk's departure from politics and what it costs National. And finally, overseas, a drone carrying 800 grams of Semtex was found beside a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig Airport, and they ask why no Western government will say who put it there.

  • #1
    August 12 · 35 min

    Are voters just going on vibes?

    Free to Disagree is a new weekly podcast produced by The New Zealand Initaitive. Join Oliver Hartwich and Damien Grant as they talk about New Zealand politics and economics. 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. In this episode they start with the economy, where unemployment is at its highest since 2015 and inflation is running hot, so what should the Reserve Bank do? They turn to TOP, polling at 8 per cent when almost nobody has read its policies, and ask whether voters are just going on vibes. And with 7 November closing in, they debate whether the coalition is really coming back. Recorded on Thursday 6 August 2026.

Showing 1–4 of 4 episodes