Taxpayer Talk

In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by ACT Leader and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour for a wide-ranging pre-election interview on coalition tensions, regulatory overreach, free speech, KiwiSaver, Treaty politics, and ACT’s record in Government. From “political neutrality” rules for regulators and the Ministry of Regulation’s war on red tape, to compulsory savings, bond...

Jordan is fresh out of the Budget 2026 lockup and joined by economist Cam Bagrie to unpack whether the Government’s numbers really stack up. They warn the Budget is heavy on promises, light on proof, and may rely too much on inflation, backloaded savings, and heroic assumptions to get back to surplus. From rising borrowing costs and “promise-enomics” to the demographic time bomb of superannuation...

In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by Nick Clark from the New Zealand Initiative and Jordan Williams (Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director) to break down the Government’s plan to slash New Zealand’s 78 local authorities down to as few as 15. They explain why bigger councils do not necessarily mean lower rates, better services, or fewer bureaucrats — and why amalgamation coul...

In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by former Finance Minister and Taxpayers’ Union Chair Ruth Richardson for a no-holds-barred warning about New Zealand’s worsening fiscal mess. From exploding debt and runaway interest costs to bloated bureaucracy, superannuation reform, and a Government that still hasn’t found its “brave pills”, Ruth lays out why the country may be sleepwa...

Why did New Zealand’s education system "turn to custard" in 1971? In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, host Peter Williams sits down with Professor Elizabeth Rata to explore how the nation moved from a world-class, knowledge-rich curriculum to one dominated by "social constructivism" and "learnification”. Elizabeth also lifts the lid on how the rejection of liberalism and nat...

In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams sits down with Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative, to discuss why he believes the country’s public service is "fundamentally broken" and incompatible with implementing good policy. Oliver explains how the 1988 reforms inadvertently created a  state where department heads are more beholden to the Public Servic...

What if the world is actually getting better — and we just can't see it? In this episode, host Jordan Williams sits down with Marian Tupy, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and founder of HumanProgress.org, to challenge the doom and gloom dominating today's headlines. Drawing on his books Super Abundance and 10 Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know , Tupy makes a data-driven cas...

Our latest Taxpayers’ Union–Curia poll sent Wellington into a frenzy at the beginning of March. But in this week’s Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams sits down with Curia founder - and Taxpayers’ Union co-founder - David Farrar to separate the signal from the spin. Are polls actually driving political decisions, or just measuring them? And why do politicians pay attention, even when they ignore the res...

The New Zealand Initiative Chair Roger Partridge joins Taxpayer Talk with Peter Williams to discuss a new report arguing New Zealand could unlock more than $24 billion for essential infrastructure by recycling mature Crown-owned commercial assets. Roger explains how redirecting capital tied up in government-owned companies such as Air New Zealand, Kiwibank and the mixed ownership electricity gener...

Federated Farmers National Board member Mark Hooper joins Taxpayer Talk with Peter Williams to critique the government’s "deeply flawed" replacement of the Resource Management Act with the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill. Mark walks Peter through why the new framework fails to deliver a faster, cheaper, better system, arguing that a predicted 46% reduction in consents is i...

In November 2025, Garrick Tremain joined Peter Williams to discuss his colourful life as one of New Zealand’s finest and most influential political cartoonists of the contemporary era Support the show

Author David Cohen joins Jordan Williams for a no-holds-barred chat about his new book, Jacinda: The Untold Story . Billed as a refreshingly un-mushy take on Jacinda Ardern’s premiership, David drew on hundreds of interviews to cut through the PR gloss and media fawning. His verdict? Ardern was a talented brand manager, powered by what he calls a “missionary zeal” — but that communications-first s...

Entrepreneur and Crimson Education founder Jamie Beaton joins Taxpayer Talk to discuss his extensive academic career, including his 11 degrees, and to offer a strong policy critique advocating for replacing the NCEA high school qualification with a more rigorous, globally standardized system. Support the show

This week on Taxpayer Talk , Jordan is joined by international consultant Rowan Pike , a former Australian Federal Police officer and Customs and Border Force expert, to unpack the explosive rise of illicit tobacco in Australia . With around half of all cigarettes now sourced from the black market , Rowan reveals how sky-high excise taxes have fuelled organised crime, gang violence, and a thriving...

This week on Taxpayer Talk , Peter Williams is joined by ACT MP Cameron Luxton for a wide-ranging discussion on the Government’s new Gene Technology Bill and what it means for innovation and regulation in New Zealand. Cameron shares his perspective on the Bill’s Māori advisory committee and how ACT approached its position. Peter and Cameron also discuss the Bill he has drafted to improve transpare...

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by Roger Partridge from the New Zealand Initiative to unpack his new report: Unscrambling Government: Less Confusion, More Efficiency. Right now, New Zealand has 81 ministerial portfolios, 28 ministers, and 43 departments. That’s three times as many portfolios and nearly twice as many departments as comparable countries. No wonder things feel me...

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams sits down with financial advisor and Stewart Group founder Nick Stewart to tackle a question too many councils would rather avoid: are skyrocketing rates making inflation worse? Nick explains how council spending flows through to households and businesses, pushing up the cost of living just as families are already struggling. Rates might look like a local...

This week on Taxpayer Talk, James sits down with John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the UK TaxPayers' Alliance. John and James dig into some big issues, to see what New Zealand can learn from the UK's (many) mistakes. Rates caps, death tax, and John's role in exposing the infamous MPs' expenses scandal , which forced every British MP to open their expense reports to public...

Building anything in New Zealand has no shortage of challenges. Whether it be soaring costs, reels of red tape, or problems with supplying labour, our choked infrastructure pipeline deeply affects this country's economy and quality of life.  CEO for Infrastructure New Zealand, Nick Leggett, joins Peter Williams for a deep dive into how can overcome these challenges so we can build faster, mor...

Rates across the country have soared, many into the double-digits. But while most councils point fingers and find excuses, Mayor for Whanganui Andrew Tripe has kept his average rates increase as low 2.2 percent – the lowest in the country this year. Mayor Tripe joins Peter Williams for a discussion on how this was achieved, and the work behind getting his Council focused on the basics, while keepi...

It’s seven years since Sir Bill English left politics but the former Prime Minister and long serving Finance Minister is still a keen follower of the political landscape and how the economic outlook for the country can be improved. In conversation with Peter Williams for the latest Taxpayer Talk podcast, Sir Bill maintains that the political battle over National Superannuation has been won and gov...

This week on Taxpayer Talk , Jordan sat down with former Chair of the Taxpayers' Union and now Minister Casey Costello, to talk through the highs and lows of her first 18 months in Parliament. In the podcast, we unpack her ministerial briefs, including cracking down on organised crime, the Government’s approach to anti-smoking measures, and her priorities in health – plus why she thinks New Z...

“The rainy day has come. We believe it is crucial that the Government cut debt now.”  Those words from Taxpayer’s Union researcher Levi Gibbs talking about his new paper “A Path to Surplus” released just a few days before Budget 2025. Levi Gibbs joined host Peter Williams on a special edition of the Taxpayer Talk podcast to discuss the in-depth paper which analyses both the debt and the annual bud...

This week Peter Williams is joined by social media sensation, David Baker, from Rapid QS. David is a quantity surveyor by trade, specialising in pricing residential buildings—and has spent the last year blowing the whistle on why so many public housing and infrastructure projects cost so much. But price is just the start—David also raising growing concern with agencies being unable to explain why...

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Peter sat down with Ruth Richardson, Minister of Finance during the National-Bolger Government, and catalyst of major economic reforms during the 90s. One of New Zealand's most respected Ministers of Finance, Ruth remains a deep thinker on the country’s dangerous fiscal position and how we can extract ourselves from it. With this year’s Budget only a few weeks away...