PODCAST

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey

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

news politics

All Episodes

61:41

The Hoon around the week to June 1

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/31

TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers features co-hosts and talking with:* The Kākā’s climate correspondent about extreme heat in India and Mexico and the prospects climate migration to Aotearoa-NZ;* CTU Chief Economist and founder Max Rashbrooke about Budget 2024; and* Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA) Deputy CEO Chris Glaudel about Kāinga Ora and social housing.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via

22:28

Willis borrows an extra $12b to pay for $14.7b of tax...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/30

TL;DR: Finance Minister Nicola Willis has delivered her first Budget, deciding to go ahead with long-promised tax cuts despite a weaker economy that is forcing the new Government to borrow a net extra $68.3 billion by mid-2028. The income tax cuts are costing $14.7 billion over four years. Net debt will rise by 68.3 billion to over $220.7 billion over that period, which is $12 billion more than Treasury forecast in December. Willis argued the tax cuts were ‘fully-funded’ by spending cuts and a bunch

14:19

A 'cost of living relief' Budget for some, but not...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/29

TL;DR: The new Government’s first Budget due today at 2:00 pm is focused on delivering ‘cost of living relief’ in the form of income tax cuts for middle income families, but many of the coalition’s actions have already pumped up costs and lowered incomes, especially for the poor and disabled. This Budget will include tax cuts and an expected $10-15 billion increase in borrowing to up to $167 billion, which the Government will try to blame on a weak economic inheritance from Labour. However, the

17:23

When ‘back on track’ meant going into reverse

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/27

TL;DR: The National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government won last year’s election with a pledge to ‘get things done’ and ‘get New Zealand back on track,’ while also reducing inflation in living costs. But the exact opposite has happened because it:* abruptly cancelled and suspended billions worth of transport and school building projects; * urgently repealed water industry and RMA reforms without replacements; * loudly-proclaimed it would slash Government spending and public service jobs to pay for

26:11

How much climate reality can the global financial...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/23

TL;DR: 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:* Private industry’s failure to set and maintain course toward sufficient emissions reduction goals provide a backdrop to Microsoft’s recent announcement that it exceeded its emissions reduction goals by more than 30% in 2023 and fully intends to do more of the things that caused the massive overshoot.* Both the

54:35

The Hoon around the week to May 24

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/23

TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers features co-hosts and talking about this week’s Kainga Ora and first home loan news, along with regular guest on China’s warning to New Zealand and special guests on the riots in New Caledonia and Giorgi Lomsadze on the escalating protests in Georgia against Russian influence. The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in

20:12

House-builders in limbo for longer while Govt focuses...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/20

TL;DR: The Government released the long-awaited Bill English-led review of Kāinga Ora yesterday, but delayed key decisions on its build plan and how to help community housing providers (CHPs) build or buy homes with capital grants, house transfers rent subsidies until next year.That leaves the building sector, developers and social housing providers in limbo for longer, and further delays the desperately needed increase in housing supply to deal with the extra 220,000 people living in Aotearoa in

61:14

The Hoon around the week to May 17

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/16

TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest and special guest former PM Helen Clark on Aukus II and much more. We also spoke with Ngāti Toa CEO Helmut Modlik about why his iwi opposes the Fast-track Approval bill.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:* Housing & climate - Opposition to the

26:24

A generation is leaving at a rate of one A320-load...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/14

TL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in the March quarter, driven partly by abrupt freezes in Government funding for housing, transport, school and hospital investment. That happened as an average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during those 90 days, which was up 54% from a year ago. They were replaced by almost the same number of people with temporary work and student

23:29

Why we almost blacked out and how to fix it

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/10

TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms that were already consented over the last decade.Official inquiries, the OECD, consumer and worker advocates, and countless frustrated and/or failed independent electricity

61:14

The Hoon around the week to May 10

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/09

TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, and special guest Jesse Richardson from on a big victory for YIMBYs in Wellington this week.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:* Housing: In a big win for YIMBYs over NIMBYs in the nation’s capital, Housing and RMA Reform Minister

13:33

A nod and a wink that will unnecessarily cost...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/07

TL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown that carving Watercare out of Auckland Council can be done easily and cheaply without clear guarantees on the new Watercare bonds from the Government or Auckland Council.Industry sources have told me Watercare would get a BBB+ or A- credit rating at best under the proposed structure, even with a ‘nod and a wink’ from the Crown that it would rescue Auckland’s

60:06

The Hoon around the week to May 3

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/02

TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change. Special guest talks about public sector job cuts this week and the Government’s big investment freeze at the end of the podcast.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:* Housing: A global survey by the Royal

21:49

Agribusiness following oil and gas playbook

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/05/02

TL;DR: Here’s the top five 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* Two experts are demanding the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) retract a seminal food systems transition report recently presented to the world at COP28, saying that it ‘seriously distorts’ their work and misrepresents the scientific consensus on the value of shifting to plant-based diets.* This follows

17:32

Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/04/29

TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 9:06am on Monday, April 29:* The Lead: A 1News-Verian poll published last night showed the collapse in business, consumer and voter confidence about the country’s direction in March and April has translated into the worst polling performance for any first-term Government since the introduction of MMP in 1996. The previous worst was the National Government in 1991 in the lead-up to Ruth

10:41

Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/04/28

TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:06am on Monday, April 29:* The Lead: The Government's constant talk of inheriting a financial mess, its freezes on transport, housing and water project grants and decisions, and a cavalcade of state sector job cuts has unnerved businesses and consumers into snapping shut their own wallets. It’s a reversal from late last year, when spenders and investors had expected better things from

9:46

'Lacks attention to detail and is creating...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/04/25

TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:* Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling NZ First and ACT ministers in place. His coalition partners already see Luxon as weak and not focused enough on the details. This reshuffle after just five months will reinforce Luxon’s

4:09

'This bill is dangerous for the environment and our...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/04/19

TL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:* A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is growing beyond Parliament and including iwi, political columnists, editorial writers, legal scholars and campaigners who fear it gives three ministers more power than Robert Muldoon.* A previously secret list of the projects invited to use the bill shows many have already been rejected in

16:38

The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/04/18

TL;DR: Here’s the top five 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 Government is systematically dismantling environmental and climate policy architecture, while claiming that targets are safe. This is not credible and suggests a plan to ‘fail quietly’.* Submissions for the Fast-Track Approvals bill close at the end of this week. According to national treasure Dame Anne Salmond,

9:17

Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/04/18

TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and in the video above. Cathrine Dyer’s journalism on climate and the environment is available free to all paying and non-paying subscribers to The Kākā and the public. It is made possible by subscribers signing up to the

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