The Hoon

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.
This edition also included discussions with special guests Jonathan Lyons, PhD on Iran and NZME’s Fran O’Sullivan.
* Bernard and Peter talked about the developments in New Zealand’s political economy in the last week, including PM Christopher Luxon’s second win in a caucus confidence vote in four months.
* Peter, Bernard and Catherine then talked about the Climate Commission’s latest report on where the Government was failing to achieve its legislated emissions reduction goals, and the idea of Jevons Paradox. Cathrine referred to this IMF paper on the issue.
* Peter mentioned this article from the FT-$ (gift) article from Pilita Clark on ‘How to stop global warming.’
* Peter, Bernard, Robert and Jonathan then talked about Iran’s apparent victory over the United States, which Jonathan will be writing about on his Substack Signal to Noise: History. Philosophy. Commentary.
* Peter, Bernard and Fran then talked about the National Caucus’s leadership debate and the differences between Helen Clark, John Key and Christopher Luxon. They discussed Fran’s column in the NZ Herald-$ on how Clark handled Foreign Minister Winston Peters when they were in Government together.
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 last 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.
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 featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.
This edition also included discussions with special guest Don Christie, the MD of Catalyst IT, who talked about Catalyst’s manifesto for Election 2026, and the need for sovereignty around Aotearoa’s data and resilience around our data centres.
* Bernard and Peter talked about the developments in New Zealand’s political economy in the last week, including PM Christopher Luxon’s surprise decision yesterday to commit National to holding a referendum on MMP, without talking to his coalition partners or his caucus about it, and the latest figures showing youth employment under-utilisation of 37%.
* Peter, Bernard, Catherine and Don then talked about the implications of big data centres in New Zealand, and the need for local data sovereignty and resilience.
* Peter mentioned articles from The Guardian and FT-$ (gift) as useful reads on the Ceuta migration issue.
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 last 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.
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 featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.
This edition also included discussions with special guests:
* Former PM Helen Clark on why PM Christopher Luxon should sack NZ First Leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters over his ‘go home’ jibe in Parliament this week at Green MP Laurence Xu Nan.
* Clark also described as humiliating New Zealand’s decision under Peters this week to join Belarus in abstaining on a vote to reappoint the UN’s Human Rights Commissioner, after the US pressured UN members to do so.
* Janet H Anderson from the podcast Asymmetrical Haircuts, which covers international justice from The Hague. Janet, Helen and Peter discussed the UN vote and US pressure on the International Criminal Court.
* Peter talked about the Helen Clark Foundation’s launch of a this book edited by Peter Davis: Facing Up To Our Future: Challenges and Choices for New Zealand: New Zealand’s traditional “she’ll be right” optimism is no longer adequate to the challenges facing the country. This major collection brings together 21 of New Zealand’s leading thinkers to examine the decades-long problems no single government can solve alone.
* Bernard and Peter talked about local politics and the economy in the last 15 minutes of the show, including mentioning Opportunity Party Leader Qiulae Wong ’s appearance on The Hoon in November last year. She also did a mini-Hoon with Bernard last month when Opportunity got 6% in that month’s Roy Morgan poll.
* Peter mentioned SurfDogChampions as this week’s skateboarding dog story.
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. Regular guest Robert Patman will be back next week.
The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in last 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.
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 featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Robert Patman & Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.
This edition also included discussions with special guest:
* Simplicity Chief Economist Shamubeel Eaqub on his third annual construction industry report for the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA).
This week:
* Bernard and Peter talked about Peter moderating a panel for the Helen Clark Foundation’s launch of a this book edited by Peter Davis: Facing Up To Our Future: Challenges and Choices for New Zealand: New Zealand’s traditional “she’ll be right” optimism is no longer adequate to the challenges facing the country. This major collection brings together 21 of New Zealand’s leading thinkers to examine the decades-long problems no single government can solve alone.
* Bernard mentioned this substack post by Dr Andrew Dickson on NZ’s Number 8 wire mentality: The Productivity Gap is a National Fantasy. The number 8 wire legend and the productivity lament are two sides of the same coin. Why New Zealand’s economic architecture is built on lack.
* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine then talked the Climate Commission’s warning in its annual emissions report this week that the Government needed to double its emissions reductions to comply with the law.
* Bernard recommended listeners sample the videos now uploaded on the website for the Reality of Everything conference that Cathrine helped organize.
* Then Bernard and Peter talked with Robert about China, the international rules based order, the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
* At the end, Bernard and Peter talked with Shamubeel about the NZCBIA report, Shamubeel’s LinkedIn post on inflation, and his T-shirt advertising the NZ Kiwi Hatchery near Rotorua.
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 last 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.
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 featured co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Robert Patman & Cathrine Dyer about geopolitics, the economy, climate change and politics.
This edition also included discussions with special guest:
* Green List MP Francisco Hernandez, talking about the Government’s tabling of its Climate Adaptation Bill this week, which again delayed a decision on cost sharing between Government and Councils.
This week:
* Bernard and Peter talked about PM Christopher Luxon’s popularity. They referred to this interview with Christopher Luxon by Nic Fildes for FT-$ (gift): New Zealand PM warns against Ardern-era ‘sugar rush economics’
* Bernard, Peter and Cathrine then talked about the global and local backlash against data centres and AI.
* Then Bernard and Peter talked with Robert about America’s pushback against talk of a ‘Middle Powers’ strategy.
* Bernard and Peter then talked with Francisco Hernandez about the Government’s non-decision this week on climate funding.
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 last 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.
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