When the Facts Change: Recent Episodes
The Spinoff
Hosted by journalist Bernard Hickey, When the Facts Change is your essential weekly guide to the intersection of economics, business and politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. Presented by The Spinoff together with Kiwibank.
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Why is Aotearoa's solar panel industry lagging so far behind the rest of the world? SolarZero CEO Matt Ward joins Bernard Hickey to talk about how using batteries to complement rooftop solar is changing the game and how he believes that the number of solar panels in Aotearoa are about to go through the roof.
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Bernard Hickey talks with CoGo founder Ben Gleisner about the potential to use bank data on spending to help businesses and consumers monitor and tweak their climate emissions. Gleisner talks about Aotearoa’s rocky and long pathway to open banking and the options for a type of ‘nudge’ economy towards decarbonisation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are we building our hoses as smart as we possibly can? GEOBIND co-founder Alice Hosted says that Aotearoa could help solve its housing cost and carbon problems by using hempcrete walls. They discuss the pros to using hemp in building construction, and the current logistical frameworks that restrict its use in New Zealand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bernard Hickey drills down into the future of geothermal electricity production in this week’s interview with Isabelle Chambefort from GNS Science. She’s excited about the potential for deep drilling to uncover ‘supercritical’ heat that supercharges geothermal power output, helping solve the dry year problem bedevilling or hydro dominated power system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kiri Nathan isn’t just a leading figure in the Aotearoa fashion industry, she’s a true inspiration – a remarkable artist and guiding mentor to young indigenous designers. Kiri stands apart from her peers in the world of fashion, with her commitment to incorporating her whakapapa in her creations by using Māori patterns, textiles and weaving techniques. In this kōrero we discover what motivates Kiri and the obstacles she’s conquered to achieve respect and success in this notoriously tough industry. We also learn about the impact she’s had at a community level that goes far beyond her personal achievements. The epitome of integrity and resilience, Kiri’s story and tenacity provide plenty for us to learn from about how we can bring more of ourselves to our own fields of passion, but also use our knowledge and experience to encourage and empower others. Brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As the world globalises, open banking is becoming an increasingly attractive prospect to customers, so why aren't our banks onboard yet? Bernard Hickey talks with Josh Daniell at FinTech firm Akahu about what’s being done in Aotearoa to accelerate the move to open banking, something already well advanced in Europe, the UK, and Australia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meet Robbie van Dam, a visionary entrepreneur and finalist for the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Spark Innovator Award for 2023. Through his company GoodNature, Robbie’s passion and commitment has helped revolutionise the pest control industry thanks to a groundbreaking trap that humanely kills pests with remarkable efficiency. With over 22 million pests killed worldwide and huge monetary savings in conservation efforts, Robbie’s inspiring story of challenging the status quo, making meaningful change and turning innovation into a global success is not to be missed. Brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Māori economy is one of the fastest growing in the country, yet many tangata whenua still face major barriers when borrowing from banks to kickstart businesses. Kiwibank's head of Māori advisory Teaho Pihama sits down with Bernard Hickey to discuss the issues facing Māori when it comes to accessing capital and what practical solutions his team at Kiwibank are doing to give Māori greater access to lending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dr Ellen Nelson is a military veteran, esteemed academic, and Kiwibank local hero of the year for 2023. For this special kōrero we delve into Ellen’s passion for improving working conditions for parents and her campaigns advocating for flexible and inclusive workplaces.
We find out what drives Ellen, covering her bold approach to leadership, mammoth volunteer effort leading the evacuation of Afghan refugees to Aotearoa and academic achievements focusing on women’s empowerment. Ellen’s relatability and openness offer valuable insights as we learn from her wisdom and experiences in creating a more inclusive and balanced society.
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University of Auckland academic Troy Baisden and Catherine Leining from Motu Research talk to Benard Hickey about their new guide that gives a unique insight into how we can adapt fairly to a myriad of problems facing Aotearoa in the coming decades. They discuss what this research means, what the next steps are and what keeps them optimistic that we can achieve a just transition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Esteemed Matariki expert Dr Rangi Mātāmua brings a wealth of wisdom and expertise that extends beyond the stars, encompassing topics such as living by the Maramataka and food sovereignty.
With Matariki, the Māori new year, on the horizon, there's no better time to delve into the significance of this celestial celebration with someone who played a pivotal role in its recognition on the public holiday calendar. As a renowned expert in indigenous knowledge and the Professor of Mātauranga Māori at Massey University, Dr Rangi Mātāmua is Kiwibank's New Zealander of the Year for 2023.
In this very special episode, Dr Rangi joins host Jane Yee with a wealth of wisdom and expertise that extends beyond the stars, encompassing topics such as living by the Maramataka and food sovereignty. Gain applicable tips on how you can acknowledge Matariki and improve your relationship with the earth, all while being captivated by Dr Rangi's calming presence, delightful cheekiness, and profound wisdom.
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In 2021, the Reserve Bank told us that house prices were unsustainably high and would likely fall by around 15%. That has proven to be the case and the market is now considered sustainable. Yet, house price-to-income ratios are still two to three times higher than they were 20 years ago, and most people with regular incomes still struggle to buy homes. In this episode, Bernard Hickey talks to Reserve Bank researcher Dr Andrew Coleman about his research measuring house price sustainability and why house prices remain unaffordable, despite hitting sustainable levels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As founder of Girls That Invest, Simran Kaur wears multiple hats: financial columnist, best-selling author, TEDx speaker, and financial literacy advocate. Her highly acclaimed podcast has garnered over four million downloads and topped the business podcast charts worldwide. At just 26 years old, Simran’s remarkable achievements, including speaking at the UK House of Parliament, defy her age.
In this conversation Jane Yee gets to know the woman behind the success story, revealing Simran’s humility, generosity and determination to empower others. Get a glimpse into the motivation, mindset and resilience of this remarkable wahine and learn from her wisdom and experience to help improve your own financial health.
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A groundbreaking transformation is underway in the United States, as they embark on an industrial revolution that aims to replace a staggering one billion fossil-fueled machines with clean, electric alternatives fueled by the forces of nature—wind, sun, and water. This remarkable shift, ignited by a masterful manoeuvre within the world's largest and most complex political economy, has set the stage for an inspiring journey. Bernard Hickey sits down with climate tech entrepreneur and activist Saul Griffith to unravel the story of how Saul and his fellow activists collaborated with Joe Biden's White House to successfully take control of the climate debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
While you wait for the next episode of When the Facts Change, we thought you might enjoy This is Kiwi – a new series about inspiring New Zealanders brought to you by our friends at Kiwibank. Beyond his triumphs in professional sport, Dave Letele has always maintained an unwavering commitment to his community. Through the establishment of the BBM Motivation foundation, Dave has emerged as a beacon of hope, establishing free fitness classes, nutritional guidance, and smarter food banks to help those eager to reclaim their health. The Spinoff Podcast Network's Jane Yee sits down with the 2022 Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year for a deeply moving conversation that transcends accolades and achievements, as she uncovers the heart and soul of Dave Letele's work. They discuss becoming a true advocate for change, empowering rangatahi to break free from their disadvantages and embracing a future overflowing with limitless possibilities.
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For decades, the wealthiest New Zealanders have been reaping enormous private gains from public infrastructure investments. While those who benefit consider the game fair, the less fortunate bear the overwhelming burden of infrastructure costs. Bernard Hickey talks with Geoff Cooper, the head of strategy at the Infrastructure Commission, as they delve into groundbreaking policy ideas aimed at transforming the existing landscape. Together, they explore strategies to achieve better distribution of infrastructure costs and envision a society where all individuals contribute their fair share towards a brighter future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Both farmers and environmentalists fear Aotearoa becoming a sea-to-sea swathe of permanent Pinus radiata plantations that collect billions of dollars of carbon sequestration credits for investors, but few create long-term jobs and become deserts for native flora and fauna to thrive. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of redwood, eucalypt, and other fast-growing carbon sinks that foster native regrowth and birds, and which would keep billions of emissions credits in Aotearoa, rather than going overseas. Forestry consultant and carbon-farming veteran Mark Belton explains why a lot of farms just aren't economic and how plantations don't have to be just pine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
AI is gearing to be as much of a cultural revolution as the birth of the iPhone. However, it is still yet to be seen how the implementation of AI into all of our workplaces will impact everything from efficiency to how we employ. Bernard Hickey talks to Taggun founder CK Lee about how his opinions on AI and how he uses it as a tool to improve his thinking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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, the current landscape means the debate has now changed.
Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson joins Bernard Hickey to discuss how we can keep elderly renters and those still with mortgages out of poverty, what this could mean for NZ Superannuation eligibility and what will happen if nothing changes.
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.
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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 fund Māori housing.
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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 policy tweaks the government needs to make to help it grow.
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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 combination of lower interest rates, land use restrictions and our tax system has caused such an explosion.
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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.
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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.
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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 increasing inflation, and why we should care here in Aotearoa.
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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 ‘perfect’ GST and income tax systems.
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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 about the funding infrastructure and challenges, as well as why not enough land was opened up, to then be sold.
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Electricity is something we can't live without at this stage in global growth – but with expensive renewable supply, how do users and the industry match the demand? In this week's episode, Bernard Hickey speaks with Octopus Energy's Margaret Cooney about possible solutions to shift away from expensive peaks, and how an obscure law change might unleash a surge of retail competition, all in the hopes of calming our collective low battery anxiety.
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If climate change projections make their way to Land Information Memorandums, owners of coastal properties may find themselves struggling to stay afloat long before waves start lapping at their door. Vulnerable properties will become uninsurable causing banks to withhold lending – suddenly passing on that slice of hot potato paradise will be near impossible. This week James Shaw joins Bernard Hickey to talk about the real meaning of climate change adaptation and who's responsible for funding infrastructure that will mitigate the effects of climate change.
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With unemployment now having climbed to 3.3% within the industry, builders are now crying out for workers. With this ascent and historically driven as a mostly male-dominated field, they’re getting serious about hiring the other half of the population. Bernard Hickey talks with Kiwibank economist Mary Jo Vergara about a surprise rise in employment growth for women in construction.
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Imagine living in a society where details about everyone’s earnings and taxes are publicly available. With a gender pay gap of just 4%, Norway has operated under this system of pay transparency since the 1800s and some argue it’s time for a similar approach in Aotearoa. Join Bernard Hickey as he talks to AUT Professor Gail Pacheco, who heads the NZ Work Research Institute, about whether pay transparency is the answer to help address our pay equity gaps for women, Māori and Pasifika.
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Half-price bus and train fares are good, but wouldn’t completely free fares be even better? Bernard Hickey talks to transport and urban planning academic Jen McArthur about the economics and the politics of free public transport. He even discovers some positives that make the idea more attractive to the usual opponents.
Businesses, hospitals and the opposition are pleading for a loosening of migrant worker restrictions to ease the intense labour shortages that are forcing cancellations and jury-rigged services up and down the motu. Bernard Hickey sits down to interview Productivity Commission chair Ganesh Nana to find out if a migration surge would solve our productivity problem, and why any decision to pull the migration lever must also look to pull the infrastructure investment lever.
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For decades we've been warned of major slumps that never happened, but the Reserve Bank's new chief economist says this time, it's different. With a history of central bank governors and finance ministers making similar predictions that never came to pass, listen as Bernard Hickey challenges Paul Conway's view that the housing market’s ever-upward tide may be turning.
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Why do so few of our small businesses make the leap to become bigger, faster-growing engine rooms for economic growth and higher wages? Curiously, Aotearoa also has a long tail of older business owners that are comfortable bumbling along with sub-scale firms that would do better with bigger and more ambitious owners. This week Bernard Hickey talks to ABC Business Sales MD Chris Small about why so many business owners won’t jump up, or out, and why it’s holding back the nation as a whole.
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The employment landscape currently favours workers, yet we’re still reluctant to ask for a pay rise and fear being sacked. Bernard Hickey is joined by AUT professor Jarrod Harr to examine how work culture, pay, conditions and the power relationships between employers and employees have been transformed by the pandemic and try to figure out why workers still feel insecure and what employers can do to combat the great resignation.
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It’s hitting food, petrol, rent, shipping and wages, but inflation hasn’t touched the housing market. Bernard is joined by Kiwibank economist Mary-Jo Vergara to unpack the surprisingly big and long spike of inflation that is cascading into every aspect of our day-to-day lives.
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Bernard Hickey (When The Facts Change; parliament studio) and Toby Manhire (Gone By Lunchtime; Auckland studio) join forces for a budget reaction crossover special.
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Inflation has become the thief in our wallets for the first time in a generation and there are plenty of culprits to blame. The Ukraine War, supply chain disruptions and US$10t of money printing are the first and most obvious cabs off the rank, but there's a new and more insidious source of inflation developing: automatic inflation. These annual CPI-linked price increases from a range of companies, utilities, government departments and regulated services are fine when inflation is "normal" and stable around 2%, but this year’s 6% increases are turning into a nasty feedback loop of inflationary pressure that will hurt those on the lowest disposable incomes the hardest. Bernard Hickey goes on the hunt for these inflation robots in this last episode of this season of When The Facts Change. He asks Finance Minister Grant Robertson whether the likes of Chorus should lift its prices in line with inflation and finds out from Paul Fuge, who manages Powerswitch.org.nz for Consumer NZ, how electricity companies are pushing through increased rates amid a confusing welter of regulatory changes.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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In December 2021 the government made changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act that were designed to protect borrowers – but had consequences that saw reports of people being rejected for lending because they had takeaways too often, had too many streaming subscriptions, and even because they made regular investments. Earlier this month, the Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, David Parker announced that the Government plans to make further changes to the CCCFA to help avoid these unintended outcomes. To understand where we are at with bank lending – and what the changes are designed to achieve – Jo Kupa, Kiwibank Mortgage Area Manager and Madeleine Allen, Mobile Mortgage Manager for Kiwibank joined The Spinoff’s Simon Day on the monthly bonus episode of When The Facts Change, brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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The government’s decision to cut fuel taxes this week highlights just how hard it is for politicians and voters to deal with short sharp shocks to the system. The ‘lizard brain’ part of our body politic has evolved to recoil from a petrol price shock, but this type of ‘thinking fast’ will need to be replaced with ‘thinking slow’ if we are to engineer a just transition to carbon zero. To find out more, Bernard talks to political scientist Bronwyn Hayward, environmental sociologist and public health researcher Kirsty Wild and economist Rosie Collins about how to replace thinking fast with thinking slow in our climate change actions.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
Back in 2002, supermarket chains Foodtown and Woolworths were allowed to combine into the group now known as Countdown. That consolidated the market down to a duopoly of the Australian-owned Countdown and the local cooperative of Foodstuffs, which owns Pak’nSave, New World and Four Square. A new report published by the Commerce Commission this week found the duopoly has used its market power to suck profits from either side of them in the grocery supply chain to make an estimated $430m a year in superprofits. To help unpack the report’s findings, Bernard talks to Sarah Balle, the founder of online grocery startup Supie.co.nz, about how hard it is going up against such a powerful duopoly, and Food and Grocery Council CEO Katherine Rich explains the fight supermarket suppliers face to be treated fairly.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
New Zealand has a lot of small businesses, but relatively few of them expand into larger, more productive operations. Strawberry farms are a good example of this – many don’t invest in technology or systems to grow scale or profits, because it’s more profitable to simply wait for the farm’s land value to rise instead. But there are some interesting exceptions out there too. This week, Bernard talks to strawberry scientist Geoff Langford and Kiwibank business banking manager Wayne McEntee about the sorts of choices small businesses face around going up, going out, or just remaining stagnant.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
The Reserve Bank made its first big set piece decision of the year this week, releasing its monetary policy statement and raising the Official Cash Rate to 1.0%. So what does that mean for interest rates and house prices? In this week’s episode, Bernard Hickey asks Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr about the property price boom and wage inflation, and talks through the implications of the Reserve Bank’s decisions and outlook with Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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This year marks 50 years of the gay liberation movement in New Zealand – 50 years of fight, advocacy, celebration, progress and frustration in the Rainbow community’s struggle for equality and equity. In recognition of the Pride festival this month, Liz Knight, chief risk officer at Kiwibank and a proud member of the Rainbow community, and Jess Segal, senior manager of Leadership, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Kiwibank, joined The Spinoff's Simon Day to discuss how far New Zealand has come – and the work that still needs to be done.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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The price of aluminium has exploded in the last six months – so much so that Rio Tinto now wants to delay the closure of the aluminium smelter it owns at Tiwai Point beyond the planned end date of 2024. But this decision has thrown a big spanner into the works of climate change planners, investors and politicians, who had been working under the assumption that, come 2024, the 13% of the nation’s power supply that Tiwai Point uses would become available to help cities decarbonise their transport fleets. To find out more about what Tiwai Point staying would do for our climate plans, Bernard talks to climate change minister James Shaw and renewable energy expert Rebecca Peer.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
Building a light rail line between Auckland’s CBD and the airport sounds like a good thing for the climate and reducing transport emissions. But the new plan to dig a long tunnel and lay a new railway line will actually generate an extra 400,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in its first 10 years, and take until 2040 before it starts being carbon negative. Still sound like a good idea? In this episode, Bernard Hickey talks to transport minister Michael Wood and economist Andrew Schoultz about how the government’s light rail plans fit with their climate targets, and how business and government planners are incorporating things like emissions forecasts, shadow carbon prices and discount rates into their planning.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
Who or what is responsible for all the price inflation we’ve been seeing lately? And how do we know when we’re paying too much? Bernard Hickey talks to economic consultant Donal Curtin (previously of the New Zealand Commerce Commission) and Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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All the political roads in housing and climate change lead to council chambers rather than parliament these days. This week, we look ahead to the high stakes local elections in October, which will decide whether much progress is made in the next decade to deal with our twin emergencies. Bernard talks to Wellington mayoral candidate Tory Whanau about how tough 2021 was in local politics, and the massive year ahead.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Against all expectations a year ago, the global economy ended 2021 wracked by inflation and a debate about whether it’s transitory (and so can be ignored by central banks) or bedding in (and should be beaten down with higher interest rates). Bernard talks with Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr about what’s happening in our housing market and how well our exporters have done to offset the collapses of international tourism and education exports.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Natalie Vincent is the chief executive of Ngā Tangata Microfinance Trust, which works with New Zealanders experiencing financial hardship to provide them with small, safe, interest-free loans and mentorship to help them get – and stay – out of debt. The last two years have been the busiest in the organisation’s history, and December 2021 brought the most referrals for support yet. Natalie tells Simon Day how easy it can be for people to get into financial difficulty when one crisis puts them into debt, how hard it can be to get out and the importance of building financial capability and wellbeing.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Bernard Hickey is joined by Ockham founder Mark Todd to dig through a massive year for housing. They talk about the record high number of houses being built despite all sorts of supply chain grief and skills shortages, plus whether the ‘Townhouse Nation’ law changes rammed through Parliament will actually make a difference, or leave us regretting the prescriptive legislation in years to come.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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When the Facts Change is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our most popular episodes of 2021.
From July: Over the last 30 years, a generation of voters and politicians made a decision to stop investing in infrastructure – it’s expensive, and it means you can’t cut taxes or keep rates low. Now we’re seeing the collective catastrophe of this underinvestment landing on our heads in the form of labour shortages and massive housing affordability problems. In this episode, Bernard Hickey reveals an intergenerational wealth transfer worth $1 trillion, and how it could be atoned for and reversed – if only to ensure the culprits can enjoy watching their grandchildren grow up healthy, warm and in person. Guests: Ockham Residential founder Mark Todd and Stephen Sutorius, owner of Thames Pacific.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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When the Facts Change is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our most popular episodes of 2021.
From June: For a growing number of Wellingtonians, the dream of owning a home in the city is all but dead. And it's the same story in other parts of the country too – successive governments have sat on their hands afraid that doing anything to create more housing might drive down prices, and as a result median rents and house prices have skyrocketed out of reach. To find out more about the costs of this housing inaction and Wellington's Spatial Plan, Bernard talks to Ashok Jacob from Renters United, Alison Anitawaru Cole from Victoria University, director of the Growing Up in New Zealand study Susan Morton and Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow earlier this year removed all doubt about how fast we need to cut climate emissions. If we’re to keep warming below 1.5 degrees, we need to make big changes by 2030 – two or three decades to build rail lines and wait for Tiwai Point to close won’t cut it any more. So what needs to be done to rapidly engineer a just transition to zero carbon in less than a decade? Bernard Hickey talks to Our Energy CEO John Campbell about how virtual energy trading of distributed solar energy generation could help, and climate activist Paul Winton explains why we have to reconfigure our existing roads for cycling, walking and buses ASAP.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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The social discount rate is one of the tools the government uses to calculate the cost benefit analysis on long-term investments. And according to a report released earlier this week, our social discount rate has been too high for more than 30 years. In this episode, Bernard Hickey looks at the way the government makes decisions around intergenerational issues like climate change, child poverty and housing affordability, and how things like discount rates have disadvantaged future generations. To find out more, he talks to parliamentary commissioner for the environment Simon Upton, who’s calling on Treasury to lower New Zealand’s discount rate, and public sector analyst Jess Berentson-Shaw from The Workshop, who has seen how the use of high discount rates has frozen the public service in time.
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Like the rest of the world, Aotearoa’s ports are clogged with containers, trucks, ships and growing shipping bills. But it’s not all because of Covid worker shortages and lockdowns. In this episode, Bernard Hickey looks at how the many weird economic effects of Covid are playing out through the world’s logistics chains, from frantic factories to empty store shelves and even Adele’s new album. Guests: Chris Edwards, president of the Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation, and professor Tava Olsen, director of the Centre of Supply Chain Management at the University of Auckland Business School.
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Steve Jurkovich has been CEO of Kiwibank for three years, during which time he has introduced a raft of changes – from embracing te ao Māori to registering as a B Corp. He tells The Spinoff's Duncan Greive what's driven this reimagining of the organisation.
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This week new National leader Chris Luxon was asked a question that was posed to Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins before last year’s election: Do you want house prices to fall? It’s a curly one for politicians to answer – how do they make housing more affordable while at the same time preventing the market from collapsing? In this episode Bernard Hickey attempts to figure out how it could be done, and how long it might take to happen. He talks to Sense Partners economist Kirdan Lees, who co-wrote the ground-breaking analysis of the bipartisan ‘Townhouse Nation’ accord, architect and urban design writer Jade Kake and Green MP for Auckland Central Chlöe Swarbrick.
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New Zealand’s Labour Cost Index showed a 2.4% wage increase last year. But when you set that against an inflation increase of 4.9% over the same period, in real terms the average New Zealander took a 2.5% pay cut. In a tight labour market, we should in theory all be marching into our boss’s office and asking for a raise – so why isn’t this happening? To find out, Bernard Hickey talks to CTU chief economist Craig Renney and Kiwibank economist Mary Jo Vergara.
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Back in March, a virtually unheard-of digital artist called Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, made a collage of 5,000 pieces of his digital art into an NFT and sold it via auction house Christie’s. When the hammer finally fell, bids had reached over US$69million. In just the last couple of weeks, some similarly eye-watering prices have been fetched in New Zealand’s fine art market, with Michael Parekowhai’s sculpture 'A Peak In Darien' selling at auction for a record-breaking NZ$2.05million. In this episode, Bernard Hickey looks at how the rise of NFT art and the state of the world’s art markets in general have a direct connection to what’s happening in financial markets and the monetary system globally, and where it’s all headed.
Guests: Independent art consultant and founder of auction house Art+Object Hamish Coney, formerly of auction house Art+Object, EasyCrypto co-founder and CEO Janine Grainger and New Zealand-based NFT digital artist Richard Parry.
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Recorded during Fraud Awareness Week, Simon Day speaks to Neil Hallett, the New Zealand Operations Manager for IDCARE Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber support service. Kiwibank is a key partner of IDCARE, and the bank refers its customers who have been victims of cyber crime to the charity’s support services. IDCARE offers victims a trained case management officer to guide them through the practical steps for what they need to do to respond to the fraud. Neil discussed why Covid-19 has created fertile ground for cyber crime, what makes people vulnerable to scams, and what you need to do to protect yourself.
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Back in 2008 New Zealand's property development sector went bust, and it scarred people for over a decade. How do we move past that now that we’ve got all this KiwiSaver money which could be used to build houses much more affordably? Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs and NZ Living director Shane Brealey join Bernard Hickey to talk about their big plans.
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Last month the Reserve Bank of New Zealand released its 2021 Climate Change Report, the first significant report it has released on the topic since launching its Climate Change Strategy in 2018. In this episode, Bernard takes a deep dive into what climate change means for monetary policy, and the one thing that dominates not just New Zealand’s economy but our society in general – house prices. With Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr and Victoria University economist Belinda Storey.
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Kiwibank economist Mary Jo Vergara joins Simon Day to talk about how Covid-19 has affected the local economy over the last two years. What has the pandemic revealed about the country’s economic strengths and weaknesses, and what does the forecast for the future look like? Mary Jo also speaks to the financial position of women in Aotearoa and how they have been among the worst affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Central banks all over the world have been looking at building their own digital currencies – and in the last couple of months, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has issued a discussion paper about how one might work here. To find out more, Bernard talks to Ian Woolford, the head of money and cash at the RBNZ, and Janine Grainger, the CEO of NZ-based exchange Easy Crypto.
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A big new bipartisan deal on housing was announced this week that could change the face of our cities and allow more medium-density housing to be built. But is there a piece of the puzzle missing? To discuss the new RMA changes and the issues they raise, Bernard is joined by Wellington City Councillor Tamatha Paul, Wellington Regional Councillor Thomas Nash, National Party housing spokesperson Nicola Willis and Kiwibank economist Jeremy Couchman.
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There’s no shortage of cash piled up in New Zealand’s banks and pension funds – but what we do have a shortage of is affordable housing. So how do we connect all the money in the institutional funding sector with the housing projects that would begin to solve the housing crisis? To find out more, Bernard talks to Community Finance GM Paul Gilberd, Forever Affordable Housing founder Imogen Schoots and Community Housing Aotearoa CEO Victoria Crockford.
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Over the last 18 months Covid-19 has changed the way many of us work and put real pressures on how we organise our lives. To find out more about how the culture of work has changed, the rise of burnout and the inequities the pandemic has exposed, Bernard Hickey talks to tech leader Rowan Simpson and clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire.
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More and more companies are committing to doing sustainable and ethical business by becoming B Corporation accredited. Bernard Hickey talks to Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich about what B Corp certification means and why they’ve done it, and B Corp ambassador Tim Jones from Grow Good explains what companies have to do to become accredited.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Over the last 30 years, we’ve built an incredibly complex supply chain to give us stuff really cheap. But is it really? Or have the costs just been pushed onto the environment and other workers? How do we find out which products are produced cleanly and don’t impose those unseen costs?
On this week’s episode, Bernard speaks to John Holt, who’s launching All Things Considered – a global directory that collates, organises and fact checks the sustainability claims of companies and organisations. He also talks to Sam Jones, founder of apparel company Little Yellow Bird, about how she’s using this information to do business in a sustainable, transparent way.
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ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing is a movement that has arisen over the last decade or so, where big fund managers invest only in companies with sustainable, socially responsible policies. It turns out this is often also the most profitable approach in the long run. One of the leading players in this movement has been the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, and its CEO Matt Whineray joins Bernard Hickey in this episode to talk about how the fund operates its ESG policy. Bernard also talks to Barry Coates, founder and CEO of individual ethical investment tool Mindful Money, about how to tell if a company is really as ethical as they say they are.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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In recognition of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and what the language means to the fabric of Aotearoa, The Spinoff’s commercial editorial director Simon Day speaks to Teahooterangi Pihama, head of Māori advisory, and Keita Te Ngoungou, Kiwibank Māori advisor. They’ve been given a mandate to steer the Kiwibank waka on it’s journey into te ao Māori, and talk about why te reo Māori is important for all New Zealanders, and how lifting the cultural competency at Kiwibank can improve outcomes for Māori staff and customers, support the growth of the Māori economy and raise the financial capabilities of Māori.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Gordon Gekko’s “Greed is Good” era of shareholder-driven global capitalism is ending, but what and who will replace it? Bernard Hickey interviews renowned Chicago School economist, author and podcaster Luigi Zingales (Capitalisn't) about what went wrong with corporate capitalism and how it could be fixed.
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Businesses face a big task and some big decisions in the months ahead. They need to ensure as many staff as possible get vaccinated, without breaking the law or alienating their workforces. They’ll have to look at their own vaccination programmes, their own testing policies and their employment policies. Should they adopt a “no jab no job” policy? Can they? To discuss where these lines will be drawn and who should be doing that drawing – businesses or government – Bernard Hickey talks to BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope and Frances Hughes from Oceania Healthcare.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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When New Zealand’s second national level four lockdown was announced in August, it was a situation many New Zealand business owners were already familiar with and prepared for. The Spinoff’s commercial editorial director Simon Day speaks to Quentin Quin, chief customer officer – business banking at Kiwibank, about what businesses have learned from the last 18 months and how that’s changed their response to the most recent outbreak. Before joining Kiwibank, Quentin worked in a number of post conflict countries, emerging economies and unregulated unstable business environments, and he compares that experience to the economic uncertainty of Covid-19.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Last year the government paid out $14 billion in wage subsidies to businesses as part of the Covid-19 response. This included a number of large companies who went on to deliver big annual profits and dividends to shareholders – and very few of those companies have repaid it. In this week’s episode, Bernard Hickey looks at the ethics of the wage subsidy scheme and asks: where is the accountability? And is the social license that was there for wage subsidies in March 2020 still there now? Guests: Professor Jilnaught Wong from the University of Auckland and Peter Vial of Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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How big do we want Aotearoa to be? How fast do we want it to grow, and where? And are we still a classless society, or are we becoming a country of owners and servants? In this episode, Bernard Hickey looks at the need for an actual population policy alongside new migration settings. To find out more he talks to demographers Paul Spoonley and Tahu Kukutai, the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission's Geoff Cooper and geographer Francis Collins.
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How is it that democracies can only make big, politically difficult changes when faced with an emergency? We did it last year with Covid-19 – so could we do it again with the climate emergency that is in our faces right now? New reports released this week all point to the fact we can’t really afford to wait any longer – we need to take some political and economic pain to reduce emissions, and do it fast. To explore the political economy issues of dealing with climate change as an emergency, Bernard talks to Stephen Mills from UMR, researcher Jess Berentson-Shaw and the 1point5 Project’s Paul Winton.
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What does the way we treat our migrant population say about who we are as a country? With around 200,000 people living and working in New Zealand on temporary visas, pressure is mounting on the government to make sweeping policy changes to address the limbo these migrants are being left in – an already Kafkaesque situation which has only been exacerbated by Covid. To look at how we ended up in this situation and what needs to be done to tackle the problems that have arisen as a result, Bernard talks to National’s immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford, The New Zealand Initiative's Eric Crampton and Dr Oliver Hartwich, along with immigration lawyer Alistair McClymont.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Bernard Hickey goes on a journey to find out how New Zealand's fascinating public transport history can inform our future, meeting musician, historian and public transport advocate Anthonie Tonnon at Whanganui’s historic Durie Hill underground elevator. Built in 1919, the elevator was once part of an extensive and heavily used public transport network in the city – how were these networks built, why did they die off and what can they tell us about the future of public transport in this country? To find out more about the current state of public transport and what happens next, Bernard talks to transport minister Michael Wood.
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The Spinoff business editor Michael Andrew speaks to Joanna Greaves, head of the small and medium enterprise team at Kiwibank. As an award-winning dairy farmer, accountant, agricultural ambassador and small business owner, Joanna has a wonderful insight into the value and the realities of SMEs in New Zealand.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Around the world, countries are seeing Covid-19 vaccination rates plateauing at around 50-60% – and it's hurting them badly. So how will we get our Covid-19 vaccination rates up to the 80%-90% required for herd immunity? In this episode, Bernard Hickey explains how we can nudge our way to that target using behavioural economics and behavioural finance to get there. To find out more, he speaks to Māori health advocate Rawiri McKree Jansen and vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris.
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New Zealand's electricity market isn't working to produce enough renewable power to get to carbon zero by 2050 – but maybe there’s a solution in solar power and batteries in everyone’s homes. In this episode, Bernard Hickey explores an idea for how the government could shake up the electricity sector and return the big taxpayer-built power schemes to public ownership. Guests: Flick Electric Co CEO Steve O’Connor and Eric Pyle, the director of public affairs and policy at solarZero.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Over the last 30 years, a generation of voters and politicians made a decision to stop investing in infrastructure – it’s expensive, and it means you can’t cut taxes or keep rates low. Now we’re seeing the collective catastrophe of this underinvestment landing on our heads in the form of labour shortages and massive housing affordability problems. In this episode, Bernard Hickey reveals an intergenerational wealth transfer worth $1 trillion, and how it could be atoned for and reversed – if only to ensure the culprits can enjoy watching their grandchildren grow up healthy, warm and in person. Guests: Ockham Residential founder Mark Todd and Stephen Sutorius, owner of Thames Pacific.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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In last week’s episode, Bernard Hickey talked about how he had given up hope for affordable housing. This week, he talks to some people who still have hope to hear their ideas on how to solve New Zealand’s housing crisis. Kay Saville-Smith is a longtime researcher and policy advisor on housing who still believes there are ways through – in fact, she’s more hopeful now than she has been for years. And Ronji Tanielu sees the real-world impact of the housing crisis as a policy analyst and advisor for the Salvation Army, but still has plenty of ideas and hope for change.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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In this month's bonus episode, The Spinoff’s business editor Michael Andrew is joined by Ranjit Jayanandhan, general manager of Kiwibank’s foundation tech experience hub. As the person leading Kiwibank’s digital innovation journey, Ranjit has a unique perspective into how banking and fintech will change in New Zealand and the increasing role technology plays in the customer experience.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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For a growing number of Wellingtonians, the dream of owning a home in the city is all but dead. And it's the same story in other parts of the country too – successive governments have sat on their hands afraid that doing anything to create more housing might drive down prices, and as a result median rents and house prices have skyrocketed out of reach. To find out more about the costs of this housing inaction and if Wellington's Spatial Plan can change anything, Bernard talks to Ashok Jacob from Renters United, Alison Anitawaru Cole from Victoria University, director of the Growing Up in New Zealand study Susan Morton and Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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The Climate Change Commission report released last week made it clear that we need to start building new houses that are warmer, drier and produce less carbon. Not only that, we need to retrofit all the houses we’ve already built. How do we do this, and how are we going to finance it? To find out more, Bernard talks to healthy housing expert Philippa Howden-Chapman and Kiwibank head of sustainability Julia Jackson.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
This week, Bernard Hickey takes a deep dive into the new Climate Commission report and finds an unrealistic and inadequate prescription to get to carbon zero. To find out more, he speaks to asset manager Paul Winton about how reconfiguring motorways for cycling, walking and buses could be quicker and more effective than building new rail networks, and associate professor Sara Walton from the University of Otago business school explains how insurers and banks are being pushed to force businesses to reduce their emissions and plan for a lower-carbon future.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
Have you ever thought about what money really is, and what it might look like in the future? With central banks now considering launching digital currencies to take on the rise of big tech and cryptocurrency, our currency systems could be in for some big changes – so who should we trust to create and run the digital currency or currencies that will define the world’s financial and economic landscapes for decades to come? To find out more, Bernard Hickey speaks with Dave Corbett, CEO of New Zealand fintech company P^werFinance, and Chris Berg, co-director and co-founder of the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub in Australia.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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We’ve been hearing the phrase “social insurance” a lot since the government released the 2021 budget last week. It’s an idea designed to deal with unemployment we’re going to see a lot more of in the years to come, but it also brings up issues of inequality and fairness. Would introducing unemployment insurance just help embed a two-tier system in which the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor? To find out how it could work in practice, Bernard Hickey speaks to Kirk Hope from BusinessNZ and NZCTU president Richard Wagstaff.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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This week’s episode is coming to you from parliament, where Bernard Hickey has been up to his elbows in the budget just released by finance minister Grant Robertson. This year’s budget is a big one – it’s the first one after Covid, and with a parliamentary majority, a very popular prime minister at the helm, a strong economy and low public debt, it was a huge opportunity for the government to do some things… so what did they do? Bernard shares his impressions of Budget 2021, then speaks to Kate Prickett, director of the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families at Victoria University, and Hillmarè Schulze, chief economist at BERL, to see what they made of it.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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New Zealand has made international headlines in recent weeks for deciding to take the word “genocide” out of a parliamentary motion criticising China for its treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province. Basically, we were afraid it would hurt our trade relationship. In this episode, Bernard Hickey wants to change our minds on how New Zealand deals with China, and explain why we should follow Australia's lead and stop worrying so much about trade and start standing up for our views on human rights. To find out more, he talks to Natasha Hamilton-Hart from the department of management and international business at the University of Auckland business school, before Sam Roggeveen from the Lowy Institute offers an Australian perspective.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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The Spinoff business editor Michael Andrew is joined by Kiwibank sustainability lead Julia Jackson to talk about the evolving concept of sustainability, its growing influence on businesses and how New Zealanders can better integrate it into their lives.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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How does a government work out the best way to spend money to maximise not just GDP but the long-term health and happiness of its population? This is something our government is trying to do, or says it’s trying to do – but when it comes to the wellbeing side of the equation, is it doing a good enough job?
In this episode, Bernard Hickey talks to Girol Karacaoglu, head of the school of government at Victoria University and one of the architects of the way New Zealand analyses happiness. He then talks to Susan St John, an economist at the University of Auckland’s business school who has an interesting take on what we should be spending our money on.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
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Imagine if the value of your house doubled overnight. Could that actually happen? In this week’s episode, Bernard Hickey explains how it could – and how the Reserve Bank and government are doing things in the next couple of weeks to make sure it doesn’t. To find out more about how banks, lending and the housing market all operate, Bernard talks to Carmen Vicelich, CEO of Valocity Global. She knows exactly how banks decide who to lend to, when to lend to them and how much the property under the loan is worth. He then asks Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr what type of restrictions the Reserve Bank could apply in the coming weeks, and just how landlords are reacting to the government’s big changes announced last month. Spoiler alert: they’re not rushing for the exits.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
A new report on temporary migration in New Zealand suggests the current settings are letting down migrants and contributing to a low wage, low productivity and low wellbeing society. To find out more, in this episode Bernard talks to Julie Fry, the economist who wrote the report, and asks Anu Kaloti from the Migrant Workers’ Association about the scale of temporary migrant exploitation in New Zealand and what needs to change. Because right now, we’re not exactly living up to our image as a kind country.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
You may think the big decisions around housing affordability and climate change are being made in the Beehive, and that these are national policies. But in this week’s episode, Bernard suggests these issues are actually manifesting in a series of house-to-house and street-by-street fights at council level. To find out more, he speaks to Tamatha Paul from the Wellington City Council and Auckland city councillor Efeso Collins about how young renters and activists wanting higher density housing and more pedestrian and cycling friendly transport routes will have to fight the battle of their lives in next year’s local elections.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
For the last 12 years, Kiwibank has supported the Local Hero Award, acknowledging the people making a difference to New Zealand communities. In this bonus episode of When the Facts Change, The Spinoff’s business editor Michael Andrew talks with Shannon Te Huia, the 2021 Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year.
Shannon established Pūniu River Care in 2015, a marae-based initiative designed to improve water quality and biodiversity by planting trees along the banks of the Pūniu river in the Waikato. He talks about where the idea came from, how he grew it into a viable project and what the award means to him and means for the project.
Read more: https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/01-04-2021/kaitiakitanga-in-action-how-one-man-saved-his-awa/
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
This week we’re talking about global capitalism, and how it's in danger of destroying itself from the inside out. The concept is known as a “doom loop”: as the economy grows, those who own all the assets get more and more, those who don’t get poorer and poorer, and as a result growth slows as the machine grinds to a halt. And the key to stopping this doom loop lies in addressing inequality and productivity. To explore this idea and how it affects New Zealand, Bernard Hickey talks to the Productivity Commission's Ganesh Nana and Council of Trade Unions economist Craig Renney.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
This week we're looking at the rise of the work from home economy that has grown out of global lockdowns. Bernard talks to Dr Paula O’Kane of Otago University about the encouraging evidence around productivity and flexibility as well as the negative effects of disconnection, Zoom fatigue and the blurring of work and home boundaries. He also speaks with Kiwibank’s Chief People Officer Charlotte Ward about how large organisations managed sudden remote working conditions and the long term changes being made as a result.
In addition, Bernard takes a moment to reflect on the dust that has settled since last week’s housing package announcement, and he challenges the government to set a clear target for housing affordability.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
The facts changed earlier this week when the government announced a major new housing package. In this episode, we’ll work out what it all means for buyers and renters with Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr, before talking to architectural designer, writer and housing advocate Jade Kake (Ngāti Hau, Te Parawhau, Ngāpuhi, Te Whakatōhea, Te Arawa) about a part of the market that didn’t get a lot of attention.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
Welcome to When the Facts Change, a new podcast from The Spinoff together with Kiwibank. Each week host Bernard Hickey and guests will be peeling back the layers of New Zealand’s economy to reveal how it’s changing our lives and our society.
This week, we’re talking about housing. Bernard is joined by Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr to discuss what’s going on with interest rates and whether more high-density housing will help solve our affordability issues. He then speaks with National housing spokesperson Nicola Willis about how she wants to improve the number of apartments being built, and Helen O’Sullivan, an expert on managing and developing these apartments.
When the Facts Change is brought to you by The Spinoff Podcast Network together with Kiwibank.
Created by The Spinoff together with Kiwibank, When the Facts Change with Bernard Hickey is your essential weekly guide to the intersection of economics, business and politics in Aotearoa.
Every Friday, Bernard will be joined by expert and industry-leading guests, including a range of Kiwibank specialists, to peel back the layers of our economy and reveal how it’s changing our lives and our society.
This series is for anyone curious about what changes in technology, the global economy, finance, housing and politics will mean for them, their jobs, lives, communities and futures.