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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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15:31

Could a doubling of Co2 trigger 8° of warming?

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/26

Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:* A seventh planetary boundary, for ocean acidification will soon be breached, and may have already done so, according to a new report from The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).* A new study published in Science from 485 million years of data suggests a doubling of carbon dioxide (CO2) in

15:23

Treasury warns of unprecedented cuts in real spending...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/26

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September 27:* Treasury’s Chief Economics Adviser Dominick Stephens gave the year’s most important speech yesterday, saying real and per-capita cuts in public spending implied by the Government’s surplus ambitions for 2028 would have to be unprecedented without tax increases, implying a fiscal savagery worse than that unleashed by Ruth Richardson in her ‘Mother

9:11

An attack 'unbecoming of a leader'

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/25

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 26:* Days after realising hundreds of thousands of tax-free gains on the sale of one of his rental properties, PM Christopher Luxon responded yesterday to ANZ CEO Antonia Watson’s comments in favour of a tax on realised capital gains on rental properties by accusing her of “wanting to take more money off New Zealanders” and suggested her bank could

5:04

ANZ CEO says 'it's time' for a Capital Gains Tax

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/24

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 25:* Ad agency climate activist group Comms Declare today launched the New Zealand version of the globally compiled ‘F list,’ which names 14 local agencies “which have ignored the scientific consensus and kept promoting fossil fuel clients,” with Z Energy called out in particular as the biggest fossil fuel advertiser that uses four local ad

6:01

ACCC accuses Woolworths of misleading pricing

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/23

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September 24:* Australia’s competition watchdog has launched legal action against Woolworths and Coles, alleging they both systematically misled customers by promising ‘every day low prices’, but only on products just after price increases. * In scoop of the day, Tova O’Brien reports for Stuff this morning that NZ First’s desire for new rail-enabled ferries

5:11

Fixing child poverty would cost <1% of GDP

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/22

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, September 23:* The Government was advised in the Budget process that sticking to Labour’s child poverty reduction targets would cost $3 billion, which is less than 1% of GDP and about the same as the cost of tax reductions for landlords, but Social Development Minister Louise Upston said the extra spending wasn’t ‘realistic’. NewstalkZB* In scoop of the day,

18:58

Kaka project: What could a revamped Entrust do...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/19

Long story short, I interviewed transport and energy activist Patrick Reynolds this week about the bid to run Entrust by a new campaign group he’s part of called More for you; better for Auckland. There’s a lot more detail in this GreaterAuckland post and on ‘Better’s’ website.They’re campaigning to win the trustee seats of Entrust off the conservative Citizens and Ratepayers’ (C&R) group that have run it for decades. There’s a postal election about to start. Last time the Entrust board was elected

16:35

Deadly floods and streams of non-solutions

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/19

Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:* Central Europe is reeling from the devastating effects of Storm Boris, which has so far caused 21 deaths and left a wide swathe of destruction. Climate scientists say they aren’t surprised by the intensity of the storm, but troubled by the unpreparedness for such flooding events, despite all their

22:35

Too much haste & waste in Simeon Brown's need for speed

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/18

Long story short, the Government’s myopia of only choosing transport policies that reduce travel times means we’re missing out on the health benefits of more cycling and walking, along with the health cost savings from fewer accidents, less pollution and mentally healthier ways of getting around.In our first solutions interview in The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), University of Canterbury Professor Simon Kingham analyses the limited analysis used by Transport Minister Simeon Brown in

3:04

Tolling revolt brewing in National heartland

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/18

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 18:* Locals gathered in Woodville last night to protest at the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s decision to toll the new road linking the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay, saying it will hurt vulnerable workers and dump repair costs for the free alternative route back onto the council, which is campagining against the toll.* In scoop of the day, Health NZ

5:21

Driving blind at higher speeds

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/17

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September 15:* The Government’s faster speed limits will: kill more people; put even more drivers, pedestrians and cyclists in already-full hospitals; and increase emissions and other health costs, dozens of experts have told the Government.* In scoop of the day, nurses working in chronically short-staffed hospitals say staff who go on leave, get sick or quit

6:08

Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/16

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, September 14:* The National/ACT/NZ First Government is considering shunting elderly patients out of hospitals and lifting thresholds for entry to try to ‘free up’ 200,000 bed-nights in a drive to save $1.4 billion.* In scoop of the day, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is considering removing the public sector’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2025.* In

19:46

48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/13

Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:* A Trump victory in the November US elections would doom global progress on climate change and reverberate through the geological record for a million years, according to Bill McKibben.* Up to 68% of Australia’s tourism assets sit in a major climate risk category, according to insurance industry experts,

4:52

Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/13

This week we learned:* The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to reduce net public debt to an arbitrary range of 20%-40% of GDP and could instead borrow up to $80 billion in coming years to create an investment pipeline to grow productivity;* instead, the new Government created a series of blunt and arbitrary instruments to cut spending in health, education, health, transport and social services in ways that are causing dangerous and

13:11

Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/13

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September 13:* Treasury told the new Government it considered a 50% net core crown debt limit fiscally prudent under the Public Finance Act (PFA), but the National/ACT/NZ First coalition decided in Budget 2024 to go ahead with a 20%-40% target range.* Treasury warned the new lower 20%-40% range might undermine the coalition’s aim of building a stable public

33:13

How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/12

I spoke with Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying than in other social media, where the ad-driven need to maximise outrage, tribalism and performative pile-ons has contributed to a polarisation and toxicity in politics

17:57

Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/10

Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of weeks ago I asked the first of TKP 26/50’s six fundamental questions:What population growth rate do we want on average over the next 25 years? Here’s the article, which has an amazing comment stream beneath it. The

11:12

Hipkins challenges long-held Labour view Government...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/08

Mōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, September 9:* Chris Hipkins widens Labour’s tax debate to include the 30% limit on the size of Government.* Chris Bishop wants plenty of bipartisan infrastructure investment, but remains a small Government and pro-markets guy, which makes that hard.* In solutions, National’s $1.8 billion investment of borrowed Government money to kick-start the Ultra Fast

23:41

Dead even tie for hottest August ever

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/06

Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:* The month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according to the EU’s Copernicus climate dataset. This is despite the absence of El Niño’s heat amplifying effects that were present last year.* The Government’s National Land Transport

57:42

The Hoon around the week to Sept 7

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/09/06

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking about the week’s news with:* The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the debate about how to responde to climate disinformation;* Robert Patman and special guest Helen Clark on the latest from Gaza and AUKUS, plus Helen Clark on the moves to restrict iwi claims on the Foreshore and Seabed; and,*

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