What's behind Sir Peter Jackson's growing property empire?
About this episode
Famed filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh have been quietly expanding their land empire, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on properties across Wellington and Queenstown.
Their recent purchase of land in Wellington’s Shelly Bay has seen a long-mooted new housing development scrapped, with the couple planning to return much of the land to nature.
As much of the country grapples with a housing crisis, some critics have questioned why Jackson and Walsh have built up $350 million in property.
So why are he and Walsh buying up all this land? And should we be concerned about wealthy people flexing their financial muscle to grab as much land as they can?
NZ Herald investigative reporter Matt Nippert joins Damien to discuss the details around more and more of Aotearoa becoming Jackson’s personal Middle Earth.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Damien Ventuto
Producer: Shaun D Wilson
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Get every episode summarized
Each time The Front Page publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from The Front Page
Are we buying the wrong cars in the fuel crisis EV boom?
The Front Page
How illicit tobacco quietly grew to a quarter of all cigarettes sold here
The Front Page
Why Trump’s Iran blockade could backfire at sea
The Front Page
Inside the push to fix Luxon’s media image
The Front Page