Good Faith Yarns Auckland
Description
The Free Speech Union New Zealand is proud to present the Good Faith Yarns Tour!
This winter, the Free Speech Union New Zealand is hitting the road. The Good Faith Yarns Tour brings honest, good-faith conversation to ten communities across the country, including the regional centres that so often get left out of the national conversation. With a general election on the horizon, public debate is getting louder and more polarised. We want to do something different.
Can a public servant have a political opinion? Should they? And what happens when the line between speaking your conscience and breaching your role gets drawn by the people with the power to fire you. New Zealand's public sector operates on a principle of strict political neutrality but with an election coming, it's worth asking whether that principle protects democracy, or quietly silences some of the most informed voices in the country
Joining Ani O'Brien in Auckland is Rob Campbell, economist, former Crown entity chair, and the man at the centre of New Zealand's most high-profile public neutrality controversy in years. This is a conversation about free expression, institutional power, and who gets to speak and who gets told to stay quiet.
📍 Ellen Melville Centre, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1000
📅 Wednesday 29th July 2026
🕐 7:00pm–8:30pm
🎙️ Guest Speaker: Rob Campbell,
Speakers
Ani O’Brien
Ani O'Brien is one of New Zealand's most fearless political voices. A writer, commentator, and Free Speech Union Board Member, she's known for holding views that cut across conventional political lines and saying what others won't. Expect honesty, not headlines.
Rob Campbell
Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology and former chair of both Te Whatu Ora and the Environmental Protection Authority, Rob Campbell has spent decades at the top of New Zealand's public and corporate life. He knows how institutions work — and what happens when you push back against them. Sacked from two Crown roles in a single day after a LinkedIn post, he didn't apologise. He called it the difference between being politically impartial and being politically neutered. Come and hear what he actually thinks.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
