The Kākā by Bernard Hickey

Kia ora . Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, November 26 : * The News: Non-profit lender Community Finance has launched a Community Housing Funding Agency to connect pension fund investors with Community Housing Providers (CHiPs) and accelerate non-state social home building. Launched last night with a pr...

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: * Robert Patman on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North Korea and whether NZ now joins AUKUS; * Special guest Helen Clark on the issues above, plus dramas in the UN, the hikoi th...

Kia ora . Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, November 22 : * The news overnight: Russia fires a very long range non-nuclear ballistic missile into Ukraine for the first time overnight. Matt Gaetz drops his bid to be US Attorney General. The US DoJ tells Google to sell Chrome and look at selling Android to...

I spoke to former Productivity Chair Ganesh R Ahirao Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable workers, many of whom are giving up and emigrating. Heres the article I sent to all subscr...

Kia ora . Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 21 : * The news at 7.30 am: Ukraine fired British-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time overnight ( Guardian ). COP29 is nearly finished without a deal on climate finance ( Reuters ). LGFA raised its borrowing limit for councils to...

Kia ora . Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20 : * The lead : The official annual Health Survey found sharp rises in food poverty, GP waiting times, mental health issues and obesity in deprived areas since 2022/23. * In my view : Worsening and debilitating food, housing & energy poverty are th...

Kia ora . Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, November 18 : * The News : PM Christopher Luxon met President Xi Jinping for the first time over the weekend on the fringes of the APEC summit in Peru and said Xi had warned him against joining AUKUS, but Luxon said Xi’s view on any trade impacts ‘wasn’t a consi...

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 : * Are our institutions capable of bending, not breaking, in the face of accelerating climate risk? Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios that are used by central banks, inc...

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: * The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer on the latest climate news, including from COP29 this week; * Robert Patman on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North Korea and whe...

As we absorb the news of Trump's victory in the US Presidential election, here’s a wrap compiled just before the result of what it might mean for climate action: * The UN Secretary General says the prospective departure of the United States would cripple the Paris Agreement , likening it to the loss of a limb or organ. * This analysis suggests that Trump (AND Harris if she had won) will focus on n...

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, November 12 : * The Government will apologise today for decades of abuse in state care, but has put off any decisions on how much compensation it will pay until next year’s Budget as it focuses on its main aim: reducing public debt and the size of Governmen...

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: * The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer on the latest climate news, including how Donald Trump’s re-election and sweep of the Congress changes the equations; * Robert Patman on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaz...

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, November 5 : * Strangely for a party that prides itself on being a mainstream bastion of ‘small c’ conservatism, National under PM Christopher Luxon is increasingly at risk of becoming consumed from the inside-out by the extremist policies of some National...

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, November 4 : * Budget cuts are storing up costs for future taxpayers and Governments. * Scoop of the day: The Government is set to deliver another budget-cutting blow for the South Island. * Deep-dive of the day: Chris Bishop’s RMA reforms have an element of...

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: * The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer on the latest climate news, including research showing the lethality of gas hobs and research on the health effects of climate change; * Robert Patman on the US Presidential electio...

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 study looking at psychological distress associated with climate change has stimulated discussion about the insistent demands for ‘hope’ and ‘positivity’ in climate communications. The study found tha...

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, October 31 : * US and European GDP growth figures overnight show the world’s largest economies, along with that of our nearest neighbour Australia, are still growing solidly because of ongoing Government investment. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s economy is slum...

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, October 30 : * The Government’s move to allow qualified builders, plumbers and drainlayers to self-consent their work faces potential hurdles from reluctant insurers and bankers wanting protection against another leaky buildings crisis. * Scoop of the day...

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, October 29 : * A new bout of hand-wringing about the ongoing exodus of almost 200 New Zealanders a day to live in Australia has yet to take the final step to challenging opponents of wealth taxes and housing densification to surrender to lower house values...

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 : * Gas is worse for the climate than coal , over any timeframe that is relevant for a ‘bridging strategy’. The headlines are calling this a landmark study that changes everything, but the core findings we...

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: * The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer on the latest climate news, including another extreme climate event in the United States; * Robert Patman on the escalating conflict between Israel, Iran and Hezbollah in Southern L...

Many thanks to everyone for all your kind comments via email and in comments and elsewhere about loss of my mum. I haven’t been able to respond individually, but please know Lynn and I appreciate every one of them. 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, October 22 . * Australia’s jobs market is...

Many thanks to subscribers for your patience and support while I’ve been off work. My mum died in Melbourne last Sunday, and her funeral was held there on Friday. I appreciated being able to spend time with my mum before she died, and with my family and Lynn over the last couple of weeks. Kia ora . Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing,...

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, October 9: * The Government has cut $6 million from subsidies for an Auckland social housing provider with three days notice, which will force it to leave houses empty that needed refurbishing, Auckland Councillor Richard Hills said last night. * In thek...

Long story short: Treasury has warned again public debt will rise exponentially in the decades to come because of the rising costs of our ageing population, unless we change one or more of our New Zealand Superannuation promises, publicly-funded healthcare or tax settings. The current Government isn’t planning any changes, other than to try to squeeze more services out of existing spending. Treasu...