Our systems - economic, housing, health, and short-term political thinking - have created poverty, and continue to lock too many in its grip. Should a developed nation continue to tolerate the harm inflicted on people’s lives? How can we redesign the country to eradicate poverty? These questions are posed at this session of Wānaka’s Aspiring Conversations festival, held in the Pacific Crystal Palace. Tickets available here: https://www.festivalofcolour.co.nz/2025-programme.

Rebecca Macfie is a leading investigative journalist, and the author of major books about Pike River Mine and Helen Kelly. During 2024, she was a fellow at the Stout Institute at Victoria University where she researched responses to poverty, and coordinated a seminar series and a major conference on poverty.

Max Rashbrooke is a researcher, writer and speaker on democracy and economic inequality and has written extensively on child poverty. His TED.com talk on upgrading democracy has had 1.5 million views.