An operational pause is not peace
From The New Zealand Initiative by The New Zealand Initiative
April 24, 2026 · 31 min
About this episode
Oliver Hartwich and John Howard discuss the implications of the US-Iran conflict's operational pause and New Zealand's energy strategy shortcomings.
The guns have paused in the US-Iran conflict but Oliver Hartwich and John Howard argue New Zealand should take little comfort from that. All parties are struggling to find an off-ramp, damage to Qatar's refineries alone means a two-to-three-year rebuild, and New Zealand still lacks the energy strategy promised in 2024. Singapore, a city-state the size of Lake Taupō, has built the fuel resilience we have not.
People in this episode
Guests: Oliver Hartwich, John Howard
Topics covered
- US-Iran conflict
- energy strategy
- fuel resilience
- New Zealand
- Qatar refineries
- Singapore
Keywords
- US-Iran conflict
- energy strategy
- New Zealand
- Qatar
- Singapore
- fuel resilience
- refineries
- rebuild
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New Zealand, Qatar
Places: Singapore, Lake Taupō
More episodes of The New Zealand Initiative
- The Australian ideas New Zealand should watch rather than copy · June 4, 2026 · 36 min
- Budget 2026: The fingers crossed budget · May 28, 2026 · 33 min
- Beyond Targets: Helping communities get the economics of their plans right · May 25, 2026 · 46 min
- Splendid isolation meets geopolitical reality · May 19, 2026 · 31 min
- Who keeps the courts in their lane? · May 14, 2026 · 30 min
- The Martian Audit: Or, how New Zealand repelled an Invasion through procedural complexity · May 7, 2026 · 30 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The New Zealand Initiative podcast page.