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The Kākā by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey and friends explore Aotearoa’s political economy together. thekaka.substack.com

news politics

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5:59

Govt sets 'shockingly unambitious' new climate target

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/30

Long stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, January 30:* Climate Change & Energy Minister Simon Watts announced the Government’s new Paris Agreement target for emissions reductions last night, extending the targeted reduction to 51-55% by 2035 from 50% by 2030, which experts described as “shockingly unambitious” and out of step with our trading partners’ more aggressive plans;* The Climate Commission had recommended the Coalition

11:18

Luxon stumbles into toxic privatisation debate

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/28

Long stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, January 29 are:* PM Christopher Luxon has either allowed himself or has been forced into a politically unpopular debate ahead of next year’s election about privatising state houses, parts of the health sector, power companies and polytechs;* Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis have begun framing the issue as ‘there is no alternative’ (TINA) to asset sales to raise funds for public

16:57

Bernard’s Soliloquy for Monday Jan 27

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/26

Here’s the six things I think mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to January 27 around housing, climate and poverty:* PM Christopher Luxon bought himself another six months of National caucus peace and tried to reassure an increasingly restive business community by massively reshuffling his key personnel in the big-spending ministries after just a year in charge;* Luxon then refocused on ‘going for growth’ this year without a viable new strategy, launching a drive to bring in

14:50

Why the Government's going-for-growth push will fail

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/23

Long stories short, the six things of interest in the political economy in Aotearoa around housing, climate and poverty on Friday January 24 are:* PM Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech in Auckland yesterday, in which he pledged a renewed economic growth focus;* Luxon’s focused on a push to bring in foreign sovereign wealth funds to pay for new motorways through Public Private Partnerships and promoted farming, mining and fast-track-consenting as sources for growth in the longer run;* His

60:30

The Hoon around the week to January 24

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/23

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including:* Cathrine Dyer on Donald Trump’s first executive orders to reverse Joe Biden’s emissions reductions policies and pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement (again). She also highlighted the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries landmark report published last week: ‘Planetary Solvency –

20:19

What Trump’s second inauguration means for us

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/21

Last night I spoke about the second inauguration of Donald Trump with Peter Bale in a ‘pop-up’ Hoon live video chat on the Substack app on phones.Here’s the summary of the lightly edited video above:* Trump's actions signify a shift away from international law.* The imposition of tariffs could lead to increased inflation in the US.* Media trust is at an all-time low, affecting public perception.* The withdrawal from the Paris Agreement has significant global implications.* Economic unpredictability

11:08

NZ now frozen, listless, mean & hopeless

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/20

Long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, January 21: * PM Christopher Luxon presented his new Cabinet this week as refreshed and refocused on hustling for economic growth, but again did so without any new strategies or policies beyond doubling down on extracting and selling resources and assets to prop up a housing market with bits tacked on;* However, nearly half all professionals and managers surveyed for recruiter Robert Walters’ 2025

20:14

A silver lining for cycling?

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/20

Long story short: I chatted last night with Greater Auckland’s Connor Sharp on the substack app about the appointment of Chris Bishop to replace Simeon Brown as Transport Minister. We talked through their different approaches and whether there’s much room for Bishop to reverse many of the anti-cycling measures Brown adopted.Our chat was based on this post yesterday from Connor:Join me for my next live video in the app This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or

15:53

Will swapping Shane Reti for Simeon Brown make any...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/20

Last night I chatted with Northland emergency doctor Dr Gary Payinda on the substack app for subscribers about whether the appointment of Simeon Brown to replace Shane Reti as Health Minister. We discussed whether the new minister can turn around decades of under-funding in real and per-capita terms. Our chat followed his publication of this post:After our chat, he posted this piece on his background and what he’s doing now.We also talked about his post from Saturday on privately provided

9:41

Luxon flicks Reti's hospital pass to Brown

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/01/19

Long stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: * Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees as National’s most politically effective minister, but who will have to manage hospitals and health with the same budget;* Luxon said the reshuffle was all about re-focusing the Government on restarting economic growth, but the main changes were in the big spending areas of Health and

16:55

Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/20

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty in the week to Saturday, December 21 (Gravy Day) are:* Nicola Willis pledged this week to cut public spending even harder to reduce public indebtedness after learning the first year of austerity had already helped cause New Zealand’s worst recession since Ruth Richardson’s Mother of All Budgets in 1991, and was making it even harder to reduce debt/GDP because the strategy to

10:57

Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/19

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:* Statistics NZ reported GDP fell 1.0% in the September quarter from the June quarter, which was more than twice as bad as most economists forecast and meant the economy experienced its worst recession since 1991.* The recession was caused by the Reserve Bank hiking rates higher

65:46

The Hoon around the year to December 20, 2024

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/19

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking about the year’s news with:* Cathrine Dyer on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. Cathrine’s person of the year was David Seymour.* Robert Patman on geopolitics. His book of the year was Terence O’Brien’s Consolations of Insignificance: A New Zealand Diplomatic

17:03

MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/18

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, December 19 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:* MSD is rejecting almost one in every 16 requests for food grants, more than double the rejection rate last year after policies were toughened up under the new Government in an effort to save $12.7 million a year, RNZ’s Amy Williams reported last night. MSD figures show

15:19

Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/17

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:* Finance Minister Nicola Willis has pledged to find even more public spending cuts to achieve an earlier return to Budget surplus than the 2028/29 year forecast yesterday by Treasury, which bank economists have said would require even more aggressive austerity than seen after

16:14

Willis' austerity strategy just isn't working

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/17

Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of trying to reduce the size of Government to reduce public debt is clearly counter-productive, increasing public indebtedness and unemployment at the same time as crunching economic growth

16:57

When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/16

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:* Finance Minister Nicola Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today, with bank economists forecasting Treasury will downgrade its GDP growth and tax forecasts, which will force the Government to increase its

11:05

Coalition forced to back down on tolling Manawatu...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/15

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, December 16 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:* Transport Minister Simeon Brown is ploughing ahead with plans to toll all new Roads of National (and Regional) Significance (RONS) and some motorways already under construction, but on Friday suffered his first big defeat on tolling when he had to announce he had backed down on plans to

10:11

Govt cancels Tauranga housing expansion

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/12

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 12 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:* The National-ACT-NZ First Government, which has a ‘Going for Housing Growth’ policy designed to massively increase housing supply to improve affordability, has just blocked a Kāinga Ora-led ‘Specified Development Project’ to develop 2,600 ha of greenfields land for up to 37,000 houses

56:08

The Hoon around the week to December 13

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/12

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking about the week’s news with:* Cathrine Dyer on the Government’s inadequate final emissions reduction plan and pro-business climate appointments;* Robert Patman on the lightening overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and what might happen next in Ukraine as the world’s diplomats, traders and markets brace for Donald Trump’s re-inauguation on January

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