The Hoon

I spoke to Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) Economist Andrea Black this week about a report she’s produced on the economic, social & financial costs of the worsening health of our workforce. The 52-page report, titled Managed decline: The Health of New Zealand 2011 to 2024, details a worsening in the health of the working-age population, in particular around mental health and obesity.Andrea used Treasury cost-benefit models to work out the potential costs to society and the economy of up to $10.6 billion per year through lost hours worked, falling productivity, presenteeism and lost taxes because of the sickening health of the workforce. She estimated that a continued worsening at the same rate would increase that loss by an extra $3.3 billion by 2035/36.We talked about:* How the self-rated health of New Zealanders has declined significantly.* 80% of health determinants were outside the health system.* How 22,000 more people are out of work due to health issues.* Presenteeism contributes significantly to lost productivity.* Mental health issues had a substantial economic impact.* Social determinants like housing and income were crucial for health.* Health impacts not only individuals but also families and communities.These tables charts in the report tell the story:Chapters00:00 Introduction to Health Trends in New Zealand03:07 Self-Rated Health: A Decline in Perception06:05 Economic Implications of Health Deterioration09:05 Social Determinants of Health and Community ImpactSubscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Early Bird and Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.Ka kite anoBernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change.This week’s special guest was Israel Cooper from The Home Foundation.We talked about:* The economy, the Reserve Bank’s rate cut and global financial bubbles.* This week’s annual report on the marine environment by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, including how the seas around Aotearoa are warming 34% faster than the rest of the world and that $180 billion of residential property is exposed to floods and slips. We also talked about this Op-Ed by James Renwick et al for The Public Health Communications Centre on the health dangers of climate change.* The Gaza peace plan and the controversies here about New Zealand’s Gaza stance;* The housing crisis and how to solve it (no biggie).The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

Last night I spoke with Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr last night after the RBNZ’s 50 basis point cut in the OCR. He says the cash rate may need to go under 2% to get the economy going again. Here’s his full note on the decision.We talked about:* How interest rates need to be below neutral to encourage growth.* The housing market’s stagnation was concerning for overall economic health.* Whether communication from the Reserve Bank has led to confusion among businesses. Jarrod says it has.* A new governor at the Reserve Bank may bring better leadership.* The housing market is expected to recover slowly over the next few years.* Investors are waiting for mortgage rates to align with rental yields.* Whether Debt to income controls are currently a major constraint on the housing market. Jarrod says not.* Wholesale rates have fallen, indicating a positive market reaction.* The depreciation of the Kiwi dollar may boost tourism and exports.Chapters00:00Reserve Bank’s Decision on Cash Rate02:57Impact of Interest Rate Cuts on the Economy06:07Housing Market Dynamics and Economic Growth08:52Market Reactions and Future ProjectionsSubscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.Ka kite anoBernard 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

Last night I spoke with The Urban Advisory’s Managing Director Dr Natalie Allen, who has released the first results of a new longitudinal survey on the experiences and aspirations around housing of renters and owners.The New Zealand Housing Survey is a nationwide study designed by The Urban Advisory and analysed by the University of Auckland. It was conducted with 2,587 adults aged 16 and over between August 2024 and February 2025 and found:* Nearly 75% of renters expressed dissatisfaction with the housing options available to them;* 53% of non-homeowners said they didn’t own a home because they ‘can’t afford to buy anywhere’;* While 75% of homeowners “strongly agree” that their home is stable and secure, only 30% of renters feel the same; and,* Most renters expect their next move will be by choice and 47% plan to move in the next year, however, nearly 20% anticipate being forced to move.Allen says the survey showed the unmet demand for affordable homes in apartments, townhouses and other ‘co-housing’ situations in locations close to work, schools and other amenities.“These statistics highlight the stark disparities in housing experiences across Aotearoa. For some, a lack of housing mobility means they’re stuck in place, even when they want or need to move. “For many others, constant relocation is the norm, driven by the absence of affordable, suitable options. This instability has far-reaching consequences, directly affecting educational attendance, academic outcomes, and economic productivity.“There’s a big gap between what people want and what sort of housing is being delivered. The gap is between the public housing sector and the private market, and to bridge it will require flexible support and more housing options. “Until the gap is understood, which is the purpose of this ongoing research, and addressed, New Zealanders won’t have the range of housing options they need to thrive.” The Urban Advisory’s Managing Director Dr Natalie AllenChapters00:00 Introduction to the New Zealand Housing Survey02:50 Understanding Renters’ Perspectives05:53 Housing Preferences and Trends09:02 Densification and Community NeedsHere is the summary of the first year’s results and the full results in PDF form. Subscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.Ka kite anoBernard 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

Last night I spoke with economist Ganesh R Ahirao, who has written another letter with 19 other economists to PM Christopher Luxon and Minister of Finance Nicola Willis, calling on them to abandon their fiscally stringent approach to the economy.Here’s the letter:We discussed:* the Government’s sole focus on cutting interest rates as the way to boost the economy;* the need for investment in infrastructure and public services rather than solely focusing on reducing debt; and,* the disconnect between financial management and economic growth.We talked about how:* Austerity measures have historically failed to solve economic problems;* Government debt is not the primary issue; external debt is more critical;* The private sector has not stepped in to fill gaps in the economy;* Economic resilience requires investment in infrastructure and services;* Reducing government spending may exacerbate economic downturns;* The current fiscal policy lacks a clear rationale for its approach;* Saving for a rainy day should include economic preparedness, not just financial savings;Chapters:00:00 Economic Concerns and Government Response09:50Rethinking Fiscal Policy and Economic ResilienceSubscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.Ka kite anoBernard 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

In the final week of council elections, I spoke with The Integrity Institute Director Bryce Edwards about the need for more transparency & vigilance around lobbyists & candidates in local democracies.It followed this detailed comment piece from Bryce.We talked about:* the lack of scrutiny in local government;* the influence of lobbying;* the need for greater transparency and integrity in political processes;* the connections between local politicians and corporate lobbyists; and,* the risks of foreign influence.We also talked about the need to:* introduce a lobbyist register, including at local Government level;* probably to be managed by an Electoral Commission, which should also manage local elections; and,* especially as councils start using Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) more intensively.Chapters00:00 - The State of Local Democracy in New Zealand07:02 - The Role of Lobbyists in Local Politics10:47 - Foreign Influence and Local Governance12:57 - Calls for Integrity and Transparency OverhaulSubscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.Ka kite anoBernard 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

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features Bernard Hickey talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. Peter Bale was off for a week travelling.This week’s special guests were .Electric Kiwi CEO Huia Burt, Listener Columnist Danyl McLauchlan and Rewiring Aotearoa’s Mike Casey.We talked about:* This week’s not-transformative-at-all electricity reforms* New Zealand not recognising Palestine* Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza* Donald Trump’s ramble to his generals* The economy and the political situation.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. This week’s special guests were primary school teacher Lucas Campbell and BusinessDesk Founding Editor Pattrick Smellie.This week’s Hoon featured discussions about:* Speeches by US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly in New York and China’s President Xi Jinping at the UN Climate Summit with Robert.* Cathrine talked about President Xi’s pledge that China would cut climate emissions 7-10% by 2035 (Reuters) and this comment piece via Newsroom from Kevin Trenberth about the latest climate science, and the latest misinformation.* Lucas talked about cirruculum reforms, teachers’ strikes and a 1% pay offer to teachers.* Pattrick talked about this week’s Mood of the Boardroom survey on the cabinet’s performance and the appointment of a new Reserve Bank Governor.* The ‘Skateboarding Dog’ item at the end was about this video via BlueSky showing a sperm whale eating a giant squid.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. This week’s special guests were CTU Economist Craig Renney and Monopoly Watch’s Tex Edwards.This week’s Hoon featured:* The fall of US democracy;* Israel’s invasion (again) of Gaza and whether New Zealand will recognise Palestine as a state;* Australia’s new climate impacts forecast that 1.5 million will be affected by sea level rise by 2050 and its more ambitious climate target announced yesterday;* NZ GDP falling an unexpectedly large 0.9% in the June quarter;* The Government announcing the first reforms to competition law in 20 years.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. This week’s special guest Simplicity Chief Economist Shamubeel Eaqub .This week’s Hoon featured:* An initial discussion between Peter and Bernard about the death of Charlie Kirk and Rupert Murdoch’s ‘Succession’ deal with his children.* A chat with Cathrine about the Climate Change and Business Conference this week, including a now-infamous panel session of MPs squabbling over who should pay for climate change. * We referred to these articles from Marc Daalder on Newsroom and Anne Salmond on Newsroom. We also referred to Marks & Spencer’s ‘Plan A’ strategy to shift to 100% of its food coming from farms using regenerative practices by 2030.* We spoke with Robert about Israel’s re-invasion of Gaza and Russia’s drone flights over Poland.* We spoke with Shamubeel Eaqub about his State of a Thriving Nation 2025 report this week for the Business Leaders’ Health & Safety forum, along with his report with fellow Simplicity Economist Rosie Collins on the building and construction sector for the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association last month and his report with Rosie for the Helen Clark Foundation in April on social cohesion.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. This week’s special guests were tech activist Julian Oliver and The NZ Herald’s Wellington Business Editor Jenee Tibshraeny.This week’s Hoon featured:* An initial discussion between Peter and Bernard about burrowing through to the other side of the world, as depicted in Vincent Ward’s 1988 movie The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey.* Peter, Bernard, Cathrine and Julian discuss this week’s re-announcement of Amazon’s plans for data centres, supposedly in New Zealand, including the implications for climate change, water usage, data sovereignty and the erosion of Aotearoa’s tax base. Julian recently featured on Q+A. Bernard referred in the discussion to this report, Big Tech, Little Tax, published yesterday by Tax Justice Aotearoa and Better Taxes for a Better Future. * A discussion with Cathrine about ACT Leader David Seymour’s call this week for Aotearoa to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.* A discussion with Robert about former PMs Helen Clark and John Key attending commemorate Xi Jinping’s military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. We discussed Anne-Marie Brady’s criticism of their attendance in this Newsroom Op-Ed.* A discussion with Jenée about the resignation last week of Neil Quigley as Chair of the Reserve Bank and her commentary in the NZ Herald that Finance Minister Nicola Willis shouldn’t have waited until the public discovered they had been misled before really cracking down on the Reserve Bank board.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics, climate change and the future of trade. This week’s special guest is Ganesh R Ahirao.This week’s Hoon featured:* A discussion between Peter and Bernard about homelessness and helicopters, along with RNZ’s pivot to focusing on older listeners and the SIS’s annual security report. We referred to an analysis by Sanjana Hattotuwa via BlueSky and his own wordpress post about how 10,000 public sector job cuts threaten New Zealand’s national and human security.* A discussion with Cathrine about new evidence of ice loss in the Arctic and Antarctic, gas shortages in Aotearoa and the Government’s decision announced yesterday to further loosen emissions standards for vehicle imports.* A discussion with Robert about Donald Trump’s ‘Alaska Catastrophe’ summit with Vladimir Putin, New Zealand’s purchase of helicopters and jets announced yesterday, and Israel’s imminent invasion of Gaza.* A discussion with Ganesh about the Reserve Bank’s decision this week to cut rates and promise more, the Government’s economic (non) strategy of relying on rate cuts and Treasury’s ‘Back to the Future’ Long Term Fiscal strategy document published last week that focused utterly on debt reduction. We referred to Ganesh R Ahirao’s substack post on the Government’s dismemberment of the public sector.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 about the global economy, local and international politics, climate change and the future of trade.This week’s Hoon featured:* A discussion between Peter and Bernard about how ACT continues to dominate the agenda of the Government, and that ACT voters are the happiest with the Government’s performance on the economy and cost of living.* A discussion with Cathrine about whether Road User Charges and an Auckland Congestion Charging scheme will actually reduce climate emissions (spoiler: they won’t).* A discussion with Robert about the upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and a look at New Zealand’s position on the recognition of Palestine.* A discussion with trade expert and former MFAT diplomat Steph Honey about the future of trade agreements in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff policies.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with special guests Felicity Roxburgh, the executive director of the New Zealand International Business Forum, and Patrick Reynolds, the transport activist and Auckland Council candidate.This week’s Hoon featured:* A discussion between Peter and Bernard about the dismantling of Kāinga Ora and the history of socal housing, given Peter’s feature about Kāinga Ora is due to be published in The Listener this weekend.* A discussion with Felicity about Donald Trump putting a 15% tariff rate on New Zealand exports and the future of globalisation.* A discussion with Patrick about Chris Bishop’s announcement this week about the replacement of fuel taxes with Road User Charges, and another blowout in the cost of the Ōtaki to north of Levin Road of National Significance to $2.1 billion.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

I spoke with Victoria University of Wellington political scientist Natalia Albert this week about her excellent substack post titled: The Politics of Trust: What the Wellbeing Era Got Right (and Wrong). I highly recommend it, along with Natalia’s many previous posts on the quirks and features of Aotearoa’s deeply frustrating political economy. She wrote this week about trust in Government, in particular after the previous Labour Government’s detour into talking about ‘Wellbeing’ as some sort of governing framework. We got to talking about how the nature of politics has become increasingly performative, especially in our social-media-soaked worlds, which are now full of tribes shouting at each other to get attention in a time of dwindling attention spans. But why exactly has this led to an obvious erosion in trust in the arms of Government and other institutions of authority? We talked about these and other things in the video above, which is available to all, as part of my public interest mandate to cover issues in our political economy, such as housing, poverty and climate. I have always been surprised when I’ve asked Finance Ministers and Prime Ministers why the policies they won elections on just never seem to be implemented in full, or in a way that makes peoples lives better.They have often told me there was a wall of objections, frustrations and an enervating status quo bias inside ministries working in tandem with well-connected industry groups that made things much more difficult than they expected. The common reason they’re given when told to ‘talk to the hand’ is the policy would not allow the Government to return to a Budget surplus fast enough to keep debt down around a ‘fiscally prudent’ level of 20-30% of GDP, and that Government should aim to be no bigger than 30% of GDP. This rigorously enforced (by Treasury) set of financial guidelines has actually been the bi-partisan consensus for the last 30 years. It led to sinking lids being put on Education, Health, Welfare, Infrastructure and Housing investment and spending whenever possible, and has bred a culture of avoiding ongoing spending commitments that would lift the size of Government beyond 30% of GDP. Even the Greens agreed to this ‘fiscal responsibility framework’ before the 2017 election.Yet it’s never really been explained to either voters or to MPs and ministers themselves. They eventually learn it through a process of countless cabinet committee meetings, Treasury-advice-laden cabinet papers and the remorseless financial logic of everything, everything always having to serve the ‘Fiscal North Star’ of returning to surplus. Meanwhile, politicians and voters still believe all of the things they want can be achieved with the Government keeping public debt low, limiting itself to less than 30% of GDP and not taxing capital gains on residential land. In the end, politicians make the promises and don’t deliver.There’s a discussion of these conundrums and more in the discussion above.Many thanks to Natalia.Ngā Mihi Nui.Bernard 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

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, plus special guest Auckland City Councillor Angela Dalton.This week’s Hoon featured:* a discussion about the events in Gaza and New Zealand’s position on recognising the Palestinian Authority as a state;* the Trump administration’s rescinding of the long-standing finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, removing the legal foundation for U.S. greenhouse gas regulations (Reuters); and* evidence of a doubling of homelessness in Auckland presented to the Council’s Community Committee chaired by Angela Dalton on Tuesday (meeting Agenda pages 9-11)The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

There are thousands of hectares worth of hot steel roofs on warehouses and factories in our biggest cities, but few have solar panels on them that could act as virtual power plants for those factories and the homes, schools, hospitals, offices and shops that are often nearby. Anyone flying into Auckland and Christchurch airports can look down and see the biggest missed opportunity for renewable energy and resilience just sitting there, radiating heat back up at the plane on a sunny day. It was particularly frustrating to think about during last winter’s energy crisis when many large industrial and manufacturing facilities had to suspend or close their operations permanently because the spot power price deals they were on made them uneconomic. So why hasn’t it happened yet? I spoke with FortHill Property Fund General Manager Nick Maier this morning about the fund’s latest $50 million capital raising exercise, which it plans to use to buy more new warehouses and factory buildings in Auckland and Christchurch. The fund already has $432 million worth of these buildings, which are in hot demand, are 100% tenanted with an average lease length of 8.2 years. That’s not too unusual in the wake of the logistics boom of the last decade, driven partly by the switch towards online delivery. The unique and interesting thing is Forthill’s property builder, Calder Stewart, is building them so they are capable of hosting solar panels on their roofs from the start, which avoids the extra cost of retro-fitting in later years.Forthill has already started putting solar panels on its new warehouses. It plans to put 8,000 panels on 20 such buildings, giving them a generating capacity of more than 4 million kilowatt hours. The full conversation with Nick is in the video above. The key takeaways I took from the chat were:* It’s still more expensive and difficult to ‘retrofit’ existing warehouses with solar panels, given some don’t have the structural strength in their roofs or the wiring systems to connect easily to;* the cost of panels and the cost of spot electricity makes the economics of building new warehouses with stronger structures and panels installed from the start much more attractive;* Foothill doesn’t own the panels, as it simply rents the space to Calder Stewart Energy, which installs and own the panels and offers long-term contracts to building tenants that match their lease terms;* Calder Stewart is not installing panels across all of the available roof space because the market and regulatory arrangements are not there for the electricity to be sold back into the grid;* Other countries such as France allow tenants to have multiple electricity retailers they can access through a single point, which makes the economics of virtual grids and solar power exporting and buy-backs more viable; and,* Nick suggests regulatory reform is needed to make that more viable.Calder Stewart built the warehouse below in Christchurch in 2022 for its initial tenant, Komatsu, with 133 solar panels to supply up to 50 kilowatt or 50% of Komatsu’s daily power needs.Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Renewable Energy in Industrial Properties02:23 The Economics of Solar Panel Installation05:25 Tenant Relationships and Power Management07:59 Innovative Partnerships in Energy Solutions10:30 Energy Monitoring and Sustainability Initiatives15:47 Challenges and Future of Renewable Energy in New ZealandKa kite anoBernard 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

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, plus special guests Jessica Palairat from Lawyers for Climate Action and Alan Pollard from Civil Contractors New Zealand about the news of the week.This week’s Hoon featured:* a discussion about the ICJ’s climate ruling with Jessica and Cathrine.* a discussion about Gaza with Robert.* a discussion about Civil Contractors’ annual Teletrac Navman survey of the industry.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 against a Chinese attack.* Bernard mentioned this deep-dive article about urban planning.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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

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 with climate scientist and Antarctic ice specialist Wolfgang Rack. Cathrine mentioned this Katharine Hayhoe post on LinkedIn about conspiracy theories that cloud-seeding caused this week’s Texas floods.* a discussion about an independent experts’ report this week on climate adaptation with Jonathan Boston, who has also written a comment piece on it over at Newsroom.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards. (This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)Ngā mihi nui.Bernard 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