When the Facts Change

How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how venture capitalists are funding Aotearoa’s fastest growing, least-polluting and highest-wage export growth sector. Learn more about your...

Parts of the nation's capital have turned into a wasteland of red stickers, and 'for lease' signs. WellingtonNZ CEO John Allen has been given the challenge of breathing new life into the city's economy, businesses, and image. He talks to Bernard about housing and hotel shortages, sewerage on the streets, a movie industry on the brink of collapse, and all the other challenges facing Te Whanganui-a-...

Wellington has a new mayor determined to shake things up. At the beginning of the year, Tory Whanau was a mayoral candidate pitching her ambitious vision for the future of Wellington city. Now, she sits in the top spot and is tasked with turning that vision into a reality. She talks with Bernard, exactly one year on from when they last spoke on the podcast, to discuss economics, housing, and who s...

In a three-episode miniseries over summer Bernard breaks down the quotes from 2022 that changed everything... This episode, Elon Musk confidently strides into Twitter HQ to claim his new seat as CEO holding... A sink? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a three-episode miniseries over summer Bernard breaks down the quotes from 2022 that changed everything... This episode, Jacinda Ardern blames a "wicked perfect storm" for the cost of living crisis that swept over the entire country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a three-episode miniseries over summer Bernard breaks down the quotes from 2022 that changed everything... This episode, Adrian Orr tells New Zealanders to "cool their jets", signalling a dark storm cloud set to loom over the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well that took a turn, didn't it? With a war in Ukraine, supply chain mayhem and a deadly disease tearing through the workforce, this year was one for the history books. Bernard is joined by Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr to discuss the previous year, increasing interest rates and what it all means for 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is it that women still earn less than men across many industries in New Zealand? Economist Isabelle Sim is using groundbreaking research to uncover why the stubbornly high pay gap really exists. She talks with Bernard about how other countries achieve pay equity, working mums, and why transparency is the best way forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Treasury has just published a government mandated report on the overall wellbeing of our country. Typically, a country's success would be measured by GDP, employment rates, and net debt, but this report aims to redefine how New Zealand measures growth. Tim Ng from the Treasury talks with Bernard about how this shifting of the goalposts might affect the future of political investment. Learn mor...

We hear a lot about young people struggling with housing affordability, but much less is spoken of how the housing crisis will impact pensioners. A new report shows we're at serious risk of doubling the number of retirees facing rent and mortgage stress by 2048. While the debate around who should get NZ Superannuation and how much they should get has been mostly frozen in time since the late 1990s...

While billionaires build their bunkers in Queenstown, Julie Scott, CEO of the Community Housing Trust is building affordable homes with profits made by new suburb developers. She tells Bernard all about how inclusionary rezoning can be used to make the rapidly expanding region affordable for locals again Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Methane and nitrous oxide produced by cows and sheep remain the biggest barrier to Aotearoa meeting its emissions reduction goal. Science writer Melanie Newfield talks with Bernard to break down The Government's recent policy announcement and discuss why gassy livestock is so crucial to the country's climate solution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Party's Deputy Leader has spoken out against The Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, calling for an independent review if National are elected in 2023. Skyrocketing house prices and record-high inflation are being blamed on The Government's money printing scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. Willis says an external review would answer the question - how can this be avoided in the future...

As central and local government battle for asset control, the lack of investment in infrastructure becomes an ever-growing issue. Bernard talks to former Auckland Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse about the tension between these forms of government and how it can be mended - what has ruptured in these relationships and why does it matter?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aotearoa’s Government spends $2b a year on the environment, but where does that money go? Backed by his recently published report on our tracking of emissions, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton dives into discussion with Bernard Hickey on the importance of collective clarity and knowledge in the measurement of our environmental spending. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Building developers and funders are scrambling to work out how much carbon dioxide is emitted or captured in a building’s construction and operation over its lifetime. Jasmax’s Carbon Research Lead, Paul Jurasovich, joins Bernard to map out the new world of carbon budgeting for buildings (such as the five star green-rated Kiwibank corporate office in Auckland). Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

Professor Anthony Hoete is trying to solve some of the biggest housing problems in Te Ao Māori with new tools and technology. He talks with Bernard Hickey on This weeks When the Facts Change about using NFTs to bring together dispersed iwi land titles and engineered timber to turn iwi forests into homes that are carbon sinks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kiwibank has just produced its first sustainability report as a B Corp, paving the way for big organisations joining the ESG reporting movement. But what does a pass mark look like? How can the marking process be used to do better? CEO Steve Jurkovich joins Bernard in conversation to korero about what Kiwibank did to its climate emissions, how it measured pay equity and what can be done to help fu...

Private rentals owned by ‘Mum and Dad’ landlords are expensive and unstable, making it difficult for tenants and their tamariki to settle into their communities and schools. As renting becomes a long-term reality for more and more of us, is there a better way? In this episode, Bernard is joined by Helen O’Sullivan, CEO of Crockers Property Group, to talk about one possible solution, and what polic...

It's evident to those living in Aotearoa that doing so does not come cheap, but did you know our housing and rental affordability is the worst in the world? Treasury Chief Economist Dominick Stephens went hunting with a team of Government experts for the reasons why. Revealing the three key factors driving our housing market, Stephens deep dives into conversation with Bernard Hickey on how the com...

The great battle for walkable cities that prioritise cyclists and pedestrians over cars has only just begun. In this battle, Waka Kotahi is a key player in deciding how this battle plays out. In this week's episode, Bernard Hickey talks to Waka Kotahi's urban mobile manager Kathryn King to find out how mode shift might be allowed, or made to happen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Bernard Hickey dives deep into the demand and supply factors behind our endemic housing shortages with Kiwibank economist Jeremy Couchman, including what they might mean for house prices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Reserve Bank Governor has just returned from the hottest and most important annual get together of central bankers at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. He found a bunch of Governors hunkered down and under attack because inflation blew past their targets this year. He talks exclusively to Bernard Hickey about what has changed permanently in the workings of the global economy that is slowing growth and...

Revenue Minister David Parker steered the government into a political minefield this week with his extension of GST to all KiwiSaver fees that was gone by lunchtime within a day. Bernard Hickey talks with tax expert and historian Terry Baucher about why this epic fail pales in comparison to another from 33 years ago when Labour’s David Caygill failed to introduce a Capital Gains Tax to match our ‘...

The "official" economists in Wellington went hunting for the true culprit behind Aotearoa’s house prices and rents being the most expensive in the world – but perhaps the biggest culprit is the government itself. With Wellington gaslighting the councils, now the finger of blame may be turning back in its direction. In this week's episode, Bernard Hickey talks to Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate abou...