Public Interest

Bird flu has reached New Zealand. Ollie Neas talks to epidemiologist Professor Nigel French about the threat H5N1 poses to New Zealand, how prepared we are for an outbreak, and why climate change, intensive agriculture and other human activity are creating a “perfect storm” for the emergence of new diseases.Public Interest is independent and entirely supported by our audience. If you value conversations like this, please consider supporting our work at publicinterest.nz

Around the world the centre-right is collapsing and the far-right is insurgent. Is the same about to happen here in New Zealand?Ollie Neas is joined by political commentator Bryce Edwards and Massey University associate professor Sean Phelan to discuss the state of the New Zealand right in 2026. How has right-wing politics in New Zealand changed over the past decade? And beneath the blustery rhetoric, what does the right really want?Public Interest is independent and entirely supported by our audience. If you value conversations like this, please consider supporting our work at publicinterest.nz.

Labour says New Zealand’s economy is no longer working for ordinary people. But do its new fiscal rules leave it enough room to actually change things?Ollie Neas talks to journalist and commentator Bernard Hickey about Labour’s new fiscal strategy, the legacy of the Public Finance Act, and whether Labour’s lack of ambition is holding the left back.Bernard Hickey is a journalist, commentator, and editor of The Kākā.

The Opportunity Party could decide the next government. But what does it actually stand for?Ollie Neas sits down with party leader Qiulae Wong to discuss whether Opportunity is really left-wing or right-wing, why she thinks New Zealand is “stuck between two economies”, and the party’s approach to inequality, tax, unions, business and the role of the state.They also discuss Opportunity’s proposed land tax and citizens’ income, citizens’ assemblies, the power of lobbyists and other vested interests, and what the party would do if it found itself holding the balance of power after the election.

As rents fall in parts of New Zealand, some have claimed we’re finally in a “renter’s market”. But the bigger picture tells a different story: rents increased 25% between 2020 and 2025, low-income New Zealanders pay some of the highest rents in the world, and homelessness is at an all-time high.Renters United president Luke Somervell joins Ollie Neas to discuss the reality of life for renters in New Zealand, the role renters play in sustaining New Zealand’s system of housing speculation, and what it would take to make renting a genuine long-term alternative to home ownership.