Te Pāti Māori’s call for supporters to split their votes has put one of MMP’s strangest quirks back in the spotlight: overhang seats, strategic voting, and whether parties can game the system to change who forms the next government.

Jordan Williams is joined by Oliver Hartwich from the New Zealand Initiative to unpack what it all means, why the strategy could backfire, and whether New Zealand’s electoral system is heading for a serious credibility problem. From Māori seats and tactical voting to German-style fixes and the case for scrapping MMP altogether, Oliver explains how the rules of the game could shape the election result.

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In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by broadcaster-turned-ACT candidate Paul Henry for a lively, wide-ranging conversation on the campaign, the state of the centre-right, and why he thinks this election is too important to sit out.

From ACT’s push for smaller government and lower taxes to superannuation reform, Treaty politics, immigration, and the future of taxpayer-funded media, Henry makes the case for a sharper, braver government - and explains why he wants to be part of it.

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In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by ACT’s infrastructure and resource management spokesman Simon Court to take aim at the planning rules he says are stopping New Zealand from building the homes, roads, ports, quarries, power lines, and infrastructure we desperately need.

From eye-watering consent costs and “cultural shakedowns” to lizard surveys, gold-plated planning rules, and councils blocking growth while infrastructure falls apart, Simon explains why the RMA replacement could be one of the biggest reforms of this parliamentary term — and why taxpayers, ratepayers, and anyone who wants New Zealand to actually build things should be paying attention. 

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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 markets, the Treaty Principles Bill, and whether ACT can grow its vote, Seymour makes the case that his party has delivered — and argues it is the only vote to both lock Labour out and unlock New Zealand’s potential.

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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 and healthcare, this is a blunt post-Budget reality check on whether taxpayers are being served broccoli — or just another sugar hit with the bill pushed past the election.

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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 could actually make local government less accountable, less local, and even more expensive. From the Auckland Super City experiment to bloated town hall empires, unelected decision-makers, and the fight to bring councils back to core business, this is a must-listen for ratepayers wondering who really wins when Wellington decides bigger is better. 

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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 sleepwalking towards a fiscal crisis — and what needs to change before taxpayers are left carrying the can.

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In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Jordan Williams is joined by Stephen Franks and Aly Miller from Franks Ogilvie to lift the lid on a worrying trend in local government: elected councillors being shut out, stonewalled, and treated like troublemakers for asking basic questions.

From “need to know” rules to slippery definitions of “documents”, they unpack how council bureaucracies can hide information from the very people voters elected to keep them accountable. It’s a punchy look at secrecy, the local government blob, and why ratepayers should be worried when town halls decide transparency is optional.

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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 nation-building has failed several generations of Kiwi children, and the challenge of turning around the "oil tanker" of modern education to restore academic excellence.

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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 Service Commissioner than their own ministers, and how the bureaucracy can subvert political will.

Drawing on the German model of ministerial accountability, Oliver argues for a system that prioritises deep subject matter expertise over generic management skills to ensure that voters finally get a government with the power to perform its job.

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