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

17:48

What Christopher Luxon is doing to ensure 'modest,...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/08/26

Briefly in my Daily Chorus on Tuesday August 26, the top news, scoops and deep-dives in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate are:* The Lead: PM Christopher Luxon let slip yesterday he met with Reserve Bank Governor Christian Hawkesby last week just before the bank’s surprisingly dovish rate cut. Luxon told Hawkesby the central bank had been too slow to cut rates. He also welcomed the Reserve Bank’s proposals announced yesterday to loosen the capital requirements for bank

19:49

Memo to PM: Your 'strategy' is not working

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/08/18

Briefly in my Daily Chorus for all subscribers on Monday August 18, the top news, scoops and deep-dives in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate are:* The Lead: Senior figures in the business community are openly questioning the Government’s 1991-style strategy of restraining Government spending to create space for lower interest rates to stimulate household spending and business investment. Via Amelia Wade for The Sunday Star Times-$* The Sidebar: That post-recession

15:14

Auckland Inc losing faith in Govt's economic strategy

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/08/07

Briefly in my Picks ‘n Mixes and Dawn Chorus for full subscribers on Friday August 8, the top news, scoops and deep-dives in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate are:* The Lead: Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Simon Bridges has electrified the political and economic landscape by calling for Government stimulus to help Aucklanders struggling with 6.1% unemployment.* Bridges was effectively calling time on Auckland Inc’s patience over the Government’s

9:49

Luxon doubles down on failing strategy

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/28

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 29 are:* Speaking on the first anniversary of tax cuts mostly received by owners of multiple homes, PM Christopher Luxon spent half an hour defending his Government’s record on cost of living, economic growth and homelessness at his post-cabinet news conference last night. He was asked if he was being defensive after fresh figures yesterday showed 27,850 jobs

4:55

Scale of regional health chasms revealed

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/27

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, July 28 are:* Jessica Roden had the scoop last night on 1News about the scale of the postcode lottery now evident in Aotearoa-New Zealand’s health system after decades of under-funding and rampant population growth. See more below in The Lead and the podcast and video above, Charts of the day and Docs of the Day below.* Jessica’s report includes charts detailing the

18:27

'Double investment in back-to-work 'trampoline''

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/24

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thekaka.substack.comBriefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Friday, July 25 are:* I.D.EA. has proposed a jobs guarantee and ‘Jobs launchpads’ to connect 400,000 people looking for work with employers in a major new report. See more below in The Lead, the podcast and video above, Chart of the day and Docs of the Day below.* Similar programmes in Europe

34:18

It turns out kicking homeless people out of motels...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/23

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, July 24 are:* Housing Ministers Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka have finally released an official Homelessness Insights report sent to Ministers in June. It shows rough sleeping has risen between around 25% and 225% in our biggest cities in the last year since the Government started shutting down emergency housing in motels and tripled its rejection rate for housing

9:23

Luxon & Willis stranded with failing economic strategy

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/21

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 22 are:* Inflation figures have confirmed the Government’s economic strategy is failing, with the economy sinking into stagflation just over a year out from the next election. See more below in The Lead and in the podcast above. * Unlike after previous big rate-cutting cycles, the housing market is not firing up and business investment is stalled. That’s

7:51

Performative politics in high viz. Again.

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/20

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, July 21 are:* The Government tried to paint a $6 billion announcement on infrastructure yesterday as new news that would boost the economy and jobs. It isn’t. See more below in The Lead and in the podcast above. * PM Christopher Luxon visited the Tasman region over the weekend, having earlier said the Government couldn’t afford climate relocation bailouts, which

37:46

Interview: The Co-operative Bank CEO Mark Wilkshire...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/18

Earlier this week I interviewed Mark Wilkshire, the CEO of the Co-operative Bank, from his Wellington office. We talked about:* the current situation in the economy and housing market;* how changes to capital requirements for banks is affecting the bigger and smaller banks, and the need for a level playing field;* the effects of the renewed Loan to Value Ratio restrictions and the new Debt to Income multiple controls;* how the new Deposit Compensation Scheme is progressing, including how there’s

49:42

Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Cathrine Dyer, Robert...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/17

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman and special guest Helen Clark about the news of the week.This week’s Hoon featured:* a discussion about research showing East Asia’s cleanup of its atmosphere has accelerated climate warming.* a discussion about how New Zealand might respond to an American suggestion we commit to helping to defend Taiwan

14:28

The hunt for inflation scapegoats amps up

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/17

Briefly for all subscribers on Friday, July 18, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Politicians are scrambling for excuses and scapegoats over a fresh surge in living costs in recent months, ranging from a 46.5% rise in butter prices from a year ago, a 10.4% rise in household electricity prices, and a 12.2% rise in council rates. See more below in The Lead and hear more

7:49

Potaka delaying homelessness data release

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/16

Briefly for all subscribers on Thursday, July 17, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka is delaying the release of a regular Housing and Urban Development Ministry (HUD) report on homelessness, saying he wants more advice. Labour is calling for its release, Stuff reports this morning. See more below in The Lead and and hear more in

9:26

Bishop wants a growth economy that isn't just a...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/15

Briefly for all subscribers on Wednesday, July 16, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Chris Bishop said yesterday he wanted to break the nation’s psyche and belief that the economy could only grow if rising house prices were increasing household wealth. He said that’s why he wanted to free up land and change zoning and building rules to increase housing supply, so that

3:22

Manufacturing, services & retail mired in recession

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/14

Briefly for all subscribers for at 7 am on Tuesday, July 15, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* The services sector joined the manufacturing sector in contracting in June, a new BusinessNZ-BNZ survey found yesterday. BNZ downgraded its Q2 GDP forecast to a contraction after the surveys. Stats NZ also reported yesterday another 0.2% fall in total spending with

3:38

Slash blamed in climate change-free flash-flood coverage

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/13

Briefly for all subscribers for at 6am on Monday, July 14, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Another slash catastrophe unfolded over the weekend in the Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman region as the second ‘one-in-one-hundred-year’ flash flood in two weeks unleashed a torrent of pine forest waste, forming dams and wiping out homes and a campground. See more below in my Top

48:59

Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Cathrine Dyer, Jonathan...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/10

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about the week’s news in geopolitics and climate, along with special guests Professor Jonathan Boston from Victoria University of Wellington and Professor Wolfgang Rack from University of Canterbury.This week’s Hoon featured:* a discussion about research showing rising Southern Oceans surface salinity and declining sea ice

12:09

The RBNZ just held the OCR at 3.25%. Is that it? Does...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/09

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thekaka.substack.com/subscribe

12:29

NZ economy sliding back into recession

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/07

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 8:* On the eve of an expected pause in rate cuts, the Reserve Bank’s new ‘NowCast’ real-time measure of economic activity shows GDP has fallen back into recessionary territory in the last three months. See more in The Lead and Chart of the Day below the paywall fold, and hear more in the podcast above.* PM Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis said through the first six months of

8:46

Willis eyes more tax from banks

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/07

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, July 7:* Finance Minister Nicola Willis is considering changing the tax settings for banks in Budget 2026, possibly including an Australian-style ‘Major Bank Levy,’ the NZ Herald-$ reports this morning. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold and hear more in the podcast above.* Women in the lower North Island will have to travel to Christchurch for ovarian and cervical cancer surgeries for the

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