Join us this week on the New Zealand Initiative podcast! Our host, Dr Eric Crampton chats with Professor Rhema Vaithianathan from Auckland University of Technology. Rhema gives us a peek into her pioneering work on data-tools, designed with a human touch to better serve communities.

In this fascinating chat, they delve into Rhema's trailblazing project, the Allegheny Family Screening Tool. This unique decision-aid tool is a global first, introduced in 2016 to support child welfare hotline screening. The duo also touch on the equally impressive Allegheny Housing Assessment tool, another innovative machine-learning tool used since 2020 for prioritising housing within the homelessness system.

Rhema reveals the power of predictive risk modelling in the US child protection system, where her team used administrative data to help improve outcomes for children. Listen to how this model uses past case data to guide operators in their decisions regarding potential abuse cases.

In the US, this approach worked to substantially reduce child hospitalisation. It could be done in New Zealand as well. In fact, the work started here. But New Zealand’s politics and public service has a very difficult time with new approaches. American localism means that one innovative county can try it out, and demonstrate the benefits to others.

All this and more in our enlightening podcast. Stay tuned for Part Two, where the conversation on AI and predictive models in child protection systems, and on encouraging public sector innovation more broadly, continues!

Podcast: Data analytics for social impact (part one)

In this episode, Oliver talks to Professor Barbara Oakley about her six-month stint as a visiting senior fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, marking her farewell to her time here in New Zealand. 

Reflecting on her work here, Barbara shares insights into education, discussing the challenges of student-centred learning, her work with the Initiative, and the video project she's created with Michael Johnston to help transform teaching approaches.

A fresh perspective on learning: Barbara Oakley's NZ odyssey

In this episode, Oliver Hartwich talks to Michael Johnston about the government’s proposal to replace New Zealand’s National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) after more than two decades. 

They discuss how the current system, with its fragmented assessments and focus on collecting credits, has weakened learning. Michael explains how the proposed changes aim to create a clear, curriculum‑aligned qualification framework and open better pathways for both academic and vocational students.

Calling time on NCEA

In this episode, Oliver talks to Adelle Keely, Chief Executive of Acumen, about the Initiative's delegation to the Netherlands. 

They explore the country's remarkable approach to challenges, uncovering how Dutch culture of collaboration, technological innovation, and pragmatic problem-solving offers profound insights for New Zealand's future development and national thinking.

Going Dutch: Lessons from the Netherlands

In this episode, Eric talks to Ben Hamlin, Barrister at Clifton Chambers, about new Commerce Commission guidelines on occupational regulation and how professional licencing systems can restrict competition and increase prices for consumers. They discuss how government-created licencing boards often operate like cartels by limiting who can enter professions, and how the Commission's new guidance aims to prevent these anti-competitive practices.

Related links:

• Cabinet Office Circular  CO (99) 6: Policy framework for occupational regulation. - https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/co-99-6-policy-framework-occupational-regulation
• Commerce Commission. 2025. Occupational regulation guidelines. - https://comcom.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0032/367556/Occupational-Regulations-Guidelines-July-2025.pdf

How professional licencing restricts competition


In this episode, Benno Blaschke talks to Oliver Hartwich about the recent Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, where Trump appeared to abandon the Western position of seeking a ceasefire first in favour of Putin's demand for an immediate "peace deal" that would cement Russian territorial gains. 

They discuss the troubling implications of Trump applauding Putin on arrival, the bizarre shared ride in the presidential limousine, and how this summit signals a dangerous shift from rules-based international order to great power politics that could embolden other territorial aggressors, particularly China.

How Trump lost ground to Putin in Anchorage

In this episode, Oliver talks to James Keirstead about his latest research report "Amazing Grades" which provides the first systematic analysis of grade inflation across all New Zealand universities. 

They discuss how A-grades have increased by 13 percentage points over two decades, reaching 35% of all grades awarded, and explore potential solutions including statistical moderation systems and national examinations to restore meaningful academic standards.

You can read Dr Kierstead's report "Amazing Grades: Grade Inflation at New Zealand Universities" here: https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/amazing-grades-grade-inflation-at-new-zealand-universities/

Why getting an A at university is so easy now

In this episode, Oliver talks to Eric Crampton and Benno Blaschke about the New Zealand government’s supermarket competition reforms, which closely reflect The New Zealand Initiative’s policy framework—a major policy win that saw their research inform the Minister of Finance’s approach. 

They explain how their practical policy document shifted government thinking away from heavy-handed breakups and toward tackling the real structural barriers in planning and regulation.

Breaking down barriers not breaking up supermarkets

In this episode, Oliver talks to Roger Partridge about his new report "Unscrambling Government," which proposes consolidating New Zealand's extraordinarily complex government structure from 81 ministerial portfolios, 28 ministers, and 43 departments down to a more manageable 15-20 portfolios with corresponding departmental consolidation. 

They discuss how New Zealand's fragmented ministerial system creates accountability problems, increases fiscal costs, and hampers effective decision-making on critical issues like housing affordability, comparing unfavourably to other small advanced economies that operate with far simpler structures.

Read the report here: https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/unscrambling-government-less-confusion-more-efficiency/

Unscrambling Government: Less confusion, more efficiency

In this episode, Oliver talks to Stephen Crosswell, a partner at Baker and McKenzie in Hong Kong, the world’s strongest law firm brand. He is chair of the firm’s Asia-Pacific Antitrust & Competition Group and one of Hong Kong’s leading trial lawyers, admitted to practise in five countries. Stephen has seen first-hand how law shapes innovation, and he joins Oliver to explore what history, from Roman law to Adam Smith and the Industrial Revolution, can reveal about the forces driving change today.

Their conversation centres on Stephen’s paper "The Common Law and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations", which asks whether the legal system we have makes a difference to whether our societies can innovate, prosper, and deliver material improvements to our quality of life. They consider why common law’s flexibility may provide a stronger foundation than sweeping regulation for addressing the challenges of artificial intelligence and digital platforms.

What Adam Smith can teach us about regulating technology

In this episode, Eric and Nick talk to Michael Keen, a former Deputy Director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department and co-author of "Rebellion, Rascals and Revenue", about the many ways taxation can go wrong throughout history. 

They explore bizarre historical taxes like Britain's window tax and ship taxation, discuss New Zealand's exemplary GST system, and examine how poor tax design can lead to smuggling, rebellions, and unintended economic distortions.