The Hoon

Last night I spoke with The Urban Advisory’s Managing Director Dr Natalie Allen, who has released the first results of a new longitudinal survey on the experiences and aspirations around housing of renters and owners.

The New Zealand Housing Survey is a nationwide study designed by The Urban Advisory and analysed by the University of Auckland. It was conducted with 2,587 adults aged 16 and over between August 2024 and February 2025 and found:

* Nearly 75% of renters expressed dissatisfaction with the housing options available to them;

* 53% of non-homeowners said they didn’t own a home because they ‘can’t afford to buy anywhere’;

* While 75% of homeowners “strongly agree” that their home is stable and secure, only 30% of renters feel the same; and,

* Most renters expect their next move will be by choice and 47% plan to move in the next year, however, nearly 20% anticipate being forced to move.

Allen says the survey showed the unmet demand for affordable homes in apartments, townhouses and other ‘co-housing’ situations in locations close to work, schools and other amenities.

“These statistics highlight the stark disparities in housing experiences across Aotearoa. For some, a lack of housing mobility means they’re stuck in place, even when they want or need to move.

“For many others, constant relocation is the norm, driven by the absence of affordable, suitable options. This instability has far-reaching consequences, directly affecting educational attendance, academic outcomes, and economic productivity.

“There’s a big gap between what people want and what sort of housing is being delivered. The gap is between the public housing sector and the private market, and to bridge it will require flexible support and more housing options.

“Until the gap is understood, which is the purpose of this ongoing research, and addressed, New Zealanders won’t have the range of housing options they need to thrive.” The Urban Advisory’s Managing Director Dr Natalie Allen

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the New Zealand Housing Survey

02:50 Understanding Renters’ Perspectives

05:53 Housing Preferences and Trends

09:02 Densification and Community Needs

Here is the summary of the first year’s results and the full results in PDF form.

Subscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.

Ka kite ano

Bernard

Last night I spoke with economist Ganesh R Ahirao, who has written another letter with 19 other economists to PM Christopher Luxon and Minister of Finance Nicola Willis, calling on them to abandon their fiscally stringent approach to the economy.

Here’s the letter:

We discussed:

* the Government’s sole focus on cutting interest rates as the way to boost the economy;

* the need for investment in infrastructure and public services rather than solely focusing on reducing debt; and,

* the disconnect between financial management and economic growth.

We talked about how:

* Austerity measures have historically failed to solve economic problems;

* Government debt is not the primary issue; external debt is more critical;

* The private sector has not stepped in to fill gaps in the economy;

* Economic resilience requires investment in infrastructure and services;

* Reducing government spending may exacerbate economic downturns;

* The current fiscal policy lacks a clear rationale for its approach;

* Saving for a rainy day should include economic preparedness, not just financial savings;

Chapters:

00:00 Economic Concerns and Government Response

09:50Rethinking Fiscal Policy and Economic Resilience

Subscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.

Ka kite ano

Bernard

In the final week of council elections, I spoke with The Integrity Institute Director Bryce Edwards about the need for more transparency & vigilance around lobbyists & candidates in local democracies.

It followed this detailed comment piece from Bryce.

We talked about:

* the lack of scrutiny in local government;

* the influence of lobbying;

* the need for greater transparency and integrity in political processes;

* the connections between local politicians and corporate lobbyists; and,

* the risks of foreign influence.

We also talked about the need to:

* introduce a lobbyist register, including at local Government level;

* probably to be managed by an Electoral Commission, which should also manage local elections; and,

* especially as councils start using Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) more intensively.

Chapters

00:00 - The State of Local Democracy in New Zealand

07:02 - The Role of Lobbyists in Local Politics

10:47 - Foreign Influence and Local Governance

12:57 - Calls for Integrity and Transparency Overhaul

Subscribe in full as a paying subscriber for more detail and analysis in the full video and podcasts that go out with my Daily Chorus email newsletters. Paying subscribers support my work being done in the public interest here, and via my appearances on other media such as RNZ & 1News. Paying subscribers also get early and full access to our webinars, our chat room, my morning ‘Early Bird’ post with the full ‘Picks n’ Mixes’ digests of news links, and can comment on articles.

Ka kite ano

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features Bernard Hickey talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. Peter Bale was off for a week travelling.

This week’s special guests were .Electric Kiwi CEO Huia Burt, Listener Columnist Danyl McLauchlan and Rewiring Aotearoa’s Mike Casey.

We talked about:

* This week’s not-transformative-at-all electricity reforms

* New Zealand not recognising Palestine

* Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza

* Donald Trump’s ramble to his generals

* The economy and the political situation.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change.

This week’s special guests were primary school teacher Lucas Campbell and BusinessDesk Founding Editor Pattrick Smellie.

This week’s Hoon featured discussions about:

* Speeches by US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly in New York and China’s President Xi Jinping at the UN Climate Summit with Robert.

* Cathrine talked about President Xi’s pledge that China would cut climate emissions 7-10% by 2035 (Reuters) and this comment piece via Newsroom from Kevin Trenberth about the latest climate science, and the latest misinformation.

* Lucas talked about cirruculum reforms, teachers’ strikes and a 1% pay offer to teachers.

* Pattrick talked about this week’s Mood of the Boardroom survey on the cabinet’s performance and the appointment of a new Reserve Bank Governor.

* The ‘Skateboarding Dog’ item at the end was about this video via BlueSky showing a sperm whale eating a giant squid.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change.

This week’s special guests were CTU Economist Craig Renney and Monopoly Watch’s Tex Edwards.

This week’s Hoon featured:

* The fall of US democracy;

* Israel’s invasion (again) of Gaza and whether New Zealand will recognise Palestine as a state;

* Australia’s new climate impacts forecast that 1.5 million will be affected by sea level rise by 2050 and its more ambitious climate target announced yesterday;

* NZ GDP falling an unexpectedly large 0.9% in the June quarter;

* The Government announcing the first reforms to competition law in 20 years.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. This week’s special guest Simplicity Chief Economist Shamubeel Eaqub .

This week’s Hoon featured:

* An initial discussion between Peter and Bernard about the death of Charlie Kirk and Rupert Murdoch’s ‘Succession’ deal with his children.

* A chat with Cathrine about the Climate Change and Business Conference this week, including a now-infamous panel session of MPs squabbling over who should pay for climate change.

* We referred to these articles from Marc Daalder on Newsroom and Anne Salmond on Newsroom. We also referred to Marks & Spencer’s ‘Plan A’ strategy to shift to 100% of its food coming from farms using regenerative practices by 2030.

* We spoke with Robert about Israel’s re-invasion of Gaza and Russia’s drone flights over Poland.

* We spoke with Shamubeel Eaqub about his State of a Thriving Nation 2025 report this week for the Business Leaders’ Health & Safety forum, along with his report with fellow Simplicity Economist Rosie Collins on the building and construction sector for the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association last month and his report with Rosie for the Helen Clark Foundation in April on social cohesion.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics and climate change. This week’s special guests were tech activist Julian Oliver and The NZ Herald’s Wellington Business Editor Jenee Tibshraeny.

This week’s Hoon featured:

* An initial discussion between Peter and Bernard about burrowing through to the other side of the world, as depicted in Vincent Ward’s 1988 movie The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey.

* Peter, Bernard, Cathrine and Julian discuss this week’s re-announcement of Amazon’s plans for data centres, supposedly in New Zealand, including the implications for climate change, water usage, data sovereignty and the erosion of Aotearoa’s tax base. Julian recently featured on Q+A. Bernard referred in the discussion to this report, Big Tech, Little Tax, published yesterday by Tax Justice Aotearoa and Better Taxes for a Better Future.

* A discussion with Cathrine about ACT Leader David Seymour’s call this week for Aotearoa to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

* A discussion with Robert about former PMs Helen Clark and John Key attending commemorate Xi Jinping’s military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. We discussed Anne-Marie Brady’s criticism of their attendance in this Newsroom Op-Ed.

* A discussion with Jenée about the resignation last week of Neil Quigley as Chair of the Reserve Bank and her commentary in the NZ Herald that Finance Minister Nicola Willis shouldn’t have waited until the public discovered they had been misled before really cracking down on the Reserve Bank board.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics, climate change and the future of trade. This week’s special guest is Ganesh R Ahirao.

This week’s Hoon featured:

* A discussion between Peter and Bernard about homelessness and helicopters, along with RNZ’s pivot to focusing on older listeners and the SIS’s annual security report. We referred to an analysis by Sanjana Hattotuwa via BlueSky and his own wordpress post about how 10,000 public sector job cuts threaten New Zealand’s national and human security.

* A discussion with Cathrine about new evidence of ice loss in the Arctic and Antarctic, gas shortages in Aotearoa and the Government’s decision announced yesterday to further loosen emissions standards for vehicle imports.

* A discussion with Robert about Donald Trump’s ‘Alaska Catastrophe’ summit with Vladimir Putin, New Zealand’s purchase of helicopters and jets announced yesterday, and Israel’s imminent invasion of Gaza.

* A discussion with Ganesh about the Reserve Bank’s decision this week to cut rates and promise more, the Government’s economic (non) strategy of relying on rate cuts and Treasury’s ‘Back to the Future’ Long Term Fiscal strategy document published last week that focused utterly on debt reduction. We referred to Ganesh R Ahirao’s substack post on the Government’s dismemberment of the public sector.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman about the global economy, local and international politics, climate change and the future of trade.

This week’s Hoon featured:

* A discussion between Peter and Bernard about how ACT continues to dominate the agenda of the Government, and that ACT voters are the happiest with the Government’s performance on the economy and cost of living.

* A discussion with Cathrine about whether Road User Charges and an Auckland Congestion Charging scheme will actually reduce climate emissions (spoiler: they won’t).

* A discussion with Robert about the upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and a look at New Zealand’s position on the recognition of Palestine.

* A discussion with trade expert and former MFAT diplomat Steph Honey about the future of trade agreements in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over 200 paying subscribers and was produced and edited by Simon Josey.

The Hoon won the silver award for best current affairs podcast in this year’s New Zealand Podcast awards.

(This is a sampler for all free subscribers and anyone else who stumbles on it. Thanks to the support of paying subscribers here, we’re able to spread my public interest journalism here about housing affordability, climate change and poverty reduction other public venues. Join the community supporting and contributing to this work with your ideas, feedback and comments, and by subscribing in full. Remember, all students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz and .school.nz email accounts are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Also, here’s a couple of special offers: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)

Ngā mihi nui.

Bernard