August 27, 2025 • 11 mins
FIRST WITH YESTERDAY'S NEWS (highlights from Wednesday on Newstalk ZB) Don't Forget Your Money/Auckland Is So Awesome/Why Does Everything Suddenly Cost So Much?/Barnett Was Big/Only One Story Yesterday
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Said B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on
iHeartRadio Used Talk Said Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello, Making for Beanies and Welcome to the bean for Thursday.
First of yesterday's news. I am glensib. We're looking back
at Wednesday, of course, Auckland. Is it still going to
the pack or is it turning around? What do you
think actually the cost of living generally and what's behind that?
Marcus on that shortly, John Barnett, the sort of under
(00:49):
reported mover and shaker behind so much of New Zealand's
onscreen entertainment. And we must get of course to the
Taylor Swift Kelsey engagement thing, and we're going to spend
most of the podcasts on that obviously before any of that. Yes,
if you've got a million welcome in the new visa
(01:14):
arrangements for foreign investors.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
We're building more houses. We're opening up pathways for consent
so that even more houses can be built to clear
up the waiting lists. We do need to bring in doctors, nurses.
We didn't have enough at the time. We didn't have
enough workers at the time, and even in a time
(01:36):
of high unemployment, businesses still aren't finding the people that
they need to make their businesses more productive. So I'm
for it. I mean a million dollars, As we heard
yesterday when we were talking about how much you need
to retire, a million dollars doesn't sound like a lot
(01:59):
of money. A million dollars to become a kiwi doesn't
sound like a lot of money, does it, especially when
you open it up to the global market. But if
there are conditions there, if they're required to live in
New Zealand for much of the year, to pay their taxes,
(02:19):
to be working in the business, to be growing the business,
if certain businesses are excluded so that we're looking at
trying to steer people into productive businesses, surely it can
only be good for New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
It's so cyclical this stuff, isn't it. Like as soon
as we're running out of workers and you know, people
are fleeing the country, the brain drain and we need
to get those people in here. But once we're a
bit flush again, it's like, oh no, we don't want
any foreigners here. We just lurched from one side to
(02:55):
the other one with news talk z been okay, finger
on the Pulse time. How are we feeling about Auckland
at the moment. Gosh, it's great living in Auckland. They
don't call it the super city for nothing.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
There is a very good reason that National is talking
about revamping the Major Events Fund. It's the same reason
you're seeing them announced just half an hour ago they're
creating a new business investor Visa. Foreigners will get a
fast track to residency for chucking two million bucks into
a Kiwi business. It's the same reason they'll announce in
a few weeks. I reckon and most reckon that some
wealthy investors will be able to buy expensive houses here.
(03:30):
From November. They're trialing visa free holidays for the Chinese
coming here via Australia, and you can expect to see
more where that came from. The reason is, of course,
to boost growth, but specifically they hope in our largest city.
It's all about Auckland, the colon. It's the giant missing
piece of the puzzle, their runway for sorting out the
economy by election time. Hinges on them throwing the kitchen
(03:53):
sink at the Jaffers. It's forty percent of our GDP,
but a sort of economic malaise has set and not everyone,
not in every industry. But the two speed recovery is real.
The vibes off a bit and the numbers back it up.
I asked the Prime Minister about the on Monday. He says,
they're basically looking at everything and anything for Auckland, and
I reckon they'll campaign on a bed tax, and I
(04:15):
reckon they'll announce that they intend to do this either
late this year or early next to win the next election.
You don't need to win all of Auckland, but if
you lose Auckland, you're stuffed. Ask chippy. Labour scored twenty
nine percent of the party vote in Auckland at the
twenty twenty three election. This is increasingly a city of
migrants and these policies are aimed at them, their families
(04:37):
and their businesses. Forty two percent of auckland Is were
born overseas along with Otago. It's where most of the
expense of houses are that those wealthy investors will be
able to buy to boost this economy in a short
to medium term window. The government's clearly targeting migration. Foreign investment,
which often comes through existing connections to a city. Foreign
(04:58):
students is another one they're moving on Chinese tourists and
big events. The question is how quickly can they give
this city the tickler that it needs, and have they
left enough of a runway to turn things around.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I mean, you've got to have at least one city
that everybody else could make fun of. I mean, obviously,
I come from Hamilton, and nobody's ever made fun of
that because it's so awesome. And back when I used
to live there, Auckland was the city we used to
make fun of. We used to come up and win
the rand, really shield off them. That was always funny.
(05:37):
So yeah, I just feel sorry for people who have
been born and raised in Auckland and they've got no
other city to claim as their own. You talk city, Ryan,
talking about rates there briefly, I mean it's not just rates,
it's all sorts of things that are costing more. But
rates in particular do seem to be rocketing up, don't they.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Well, of course the other two big things the progat
expense is for people. Now, it's not just what he said,
electricity and groceries. It's also insurance, which has got up
nine hundred percent, and that's because the one group that
are factoring in the cost of climate change. Other insurance
companies they always will be. They're the ones that factor
and risk.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
That's their job.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
The other thing, of course, is rates, and it's all
because of local water done cheaper whatever it's called, because
the people wanted to do the rates locally, and the
water infrastructure, the sewerage, the pipes, the plumbing is incredibly
expensive to fix and the maintenance hasn't been done and
(06:36):
there was a fix around for that, but no one
wanted it. So yep, that's what's happened. And as a result,
if no one wanted three waters because of the makeup
of some of the panels, but what they've got now
is much much more expensive rates and they're going to
go up for the next ten years.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, Marcus kind of makes a good point there. But
obviously this whole I mean, most people's rates have gone
up astronomically, and this whole water infrastructure thing. It's not
just in New Zealand, by the way, you know, we've
obviously seen that happening. It's as infrastructure issues the states
UK their ward in particular, is it a terrible state.
(07:14):
People had just sort of built it and then they
forgot about it. Didn't they, And it's all coming home
to roost. So somebody's got to pay, and obviously it's
us the city. Now, if you're not familiar with the
name John Barnett, you're not the only one. But it
(07:34):
turns out even people who were pretty familiar with him
still didn't actually know how influential he was when it
came to making TV and movies.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
Listen, if I'm honest with you, the passing of John
Barnett on Sunday has actually hit our house quite hard
over the last three days, because you know, at the start,
nobody knew anything about what had happened, And as the
information has come out, we've realized that when my husband
bumped into him on the street on Sunday afternoon, it
was literally just before he died, like they stopped for
a chat. Husband went in one direction, Barney went in
(08:04):
the other direction, and it wouldn't have been another two
hundred meters or so beyond that that collapsed. Now, I
don't think the full force of it actually hit me
until I was watching the television news about this last night,
because you know, you're watching somebody alive on TV and
the footage but not alive in real life anymore. And
what struck me last night was that I never realized
how big a force John Barnett was for us in
(08:26):
New Zealand. I knew what he'd done, We all know
what he's done, Shorty Street, whale Rider, all of that.
But it wasn't until I heard the list rattled off
that I realized the scale of the impact. Foot Trot, Flats,
Soon's Wedding, whale Rider, Shortland Street. Once we're warriors, what
becomes of the broken hearted? Outrageous fortune, apparently commissioning Dave
Dobbin and Herbs to make slice of heron Heaven, apparently
(08:46):
helping to rescue Dawnray. I mean, how much of what
we consider to be to be intrinsic parts of our culture,
or at least reflections of our culture back to us,
were created or facilitated by John Barnett. It was really
easy to forget that when you knew John, because he's
really easy going and really gracious, never reminded you of
what a big deal he actually was. He was just
Barney who you bumped into almost every week on the
(09:08):
KINDI run or at the weekend, sitting outside disngof or
strolling down Ponsonby Road. The last time I saw him
and sat down and probly not saw him, but sat
down and properly had a chat to him was over
dinner at Prago, not long ago, And the thing that
struck me about him was how much into life he
still was at the age of seventy nine. He still
had an eye for a good yarn. He was telling
us about the story he never got around to making,
(09:29):
which is of the only woman ever to be jailed
in London for being a hit man. She was a kiwi,
and his eyes lit up and he cracked a big
smile telling the story. He was still enthusiastic about telling
our stories back to us. I will miss seeing John
on my walks, not nearly as much as his family
and his wife and his dearest friends will miss him.
But how lucky were we that he spent his life
(09:51):
giving us this part of New Zealand back to us.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, very nice words there from Heather. It is freaky
when you see somebody and then you know quite quickly
after that they are no longer with us. It happened
to me this year as well with a friend of ours.
For some and for some reason, that's always does drive
it home much more than if they just you know,
(10:16):
sort of a person in these guys News Talk right. Oh,
thank goodness, we've got time now to do the Taylor
Swift Chelsey. I can ever remember which Kelsey brother it
is one of them that Travis maybe. Anyway, Thank goodness,
we've got we've we've got a bit of time for this, Matthew,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Oh good a, what a great topic.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Great topic, divisive, but great for taking.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
A lot of.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Oh sadly, that's all the time we have for talking
about a couple of people getting engaged. Wide A shame
really having to dedicate a lot more of the podcast
for that, But you know, I've only got a certain
amount of time. I aglen Heart definitely will not be
talking about that topic tomorrow, if I've got anything to
(11:07):
do with it. We'll see you back here then though,
we'll have much bit of stuff to talk about.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
The man that you were about there used talking talking
zid Beam For more from News Talk st B, listen
live on air or online, and keep our shows with
you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Said B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on
iHeartRadio Used Talk Said Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello, Making for Beanies and Welcome to the bean for Thursday.
First of yesterday's news. I am glensib. We're looking back
at Wednesday, of course, Auckland. Is it still going to
the pack or is it turning around? What do you
think actually the cost of living generally and what's behind that?
Marcus on that shortly, John Barnett, the sort of under
(00:49):
reported mover and shaker behind so much of New Zealand's
onscreen entertainment. And we must get of course to the
Taylor Swift Kelsey engagement thing, and we're going to spend
most of the podcasts on that obviously before any of that. Yes,
if you've got a million welcome in the new visa
(01:14):
arrangements for foreign investors.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
We're building more houses. We're opening up pathways for consent
so that even more houses can be built to clear
up the waiting lists. We do need to bring in doctors, nurses.
We didn't have enough at the time. We didn't have
enough workers at the time, and even in a time
(01:36):
of high unemployment, businesses still aren't finding the people that
they need to make their businesses more productive. So I'm
for it. I mean a million dollars, As we heard
yesterday when we were talking about how much you need
to retire, a million dollars doesn't sound like a lot
(01:59):
of money. A million dollars to become a kiwi doesn't
sound like a lot of money, does it, especially when
you open it up to the global market. But if
there are conditions there, if they're required to live in
New Zealand for much of the year, to pay their taxes,
(02:19):
to be working in the business, to be growing the business,
if certain businesses are excluded so that we're looking at
trying to steer people into productive businesses, surely it can
only be good for New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
It's so cyclical this stuff, isn't it. Like as soon
as we're running out of workers and you know, people
are fleeing the country, the brain drain and we need
to get those people in here. But once we're a
bit flush again, it's like, oh no, we don't want
any foreigners here. We just lurched from one side to
(02:55):
the other one with news talk z been okay, finger
on the Pulse time. How are we feeling about Auckland
at the moment. Gosh, it's great living in Auckland. They
don't call it the super city for nothing.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
There is a very good reason that National is talking
about revamping the Major Events Fund. It's the same reason
you're seeing them announced just half an hour ago they're
creating a new business investor Visa. Foreigners will get a
fast track to residency for chucking two million bucks into
a Kiwi business. It's the same reason they'll announce in
a few weeks. I reckon and most reckon that some
wealthy investors will be able to buy expensive houses here.
(03:30):
From November. They're trialing visa free holidays for the Chinese
coming here via Australia, and you can expect to see
more where that came from. The reason is, of course,
to boost growth, but specifically they hope in our largest city.
It's all about Auckland, the colon. It's the giant missing
piece of the puzzle, their runway for sorting out the
economy by election time. Hinges on them throwing the kitchen
(03:53):
sink at the Jaffers. It's forty percent of our GDP,
but a sort of economic malaise has set and not everyone,
not in every industry. But the two speed recovery is real.
The vibes off a bit and the numbers back it up.
I asked the Prime Minister about the on Monday. He says,
they're basically looking at everything and anything for Auckland, and
I reckon they'll campaign on a bed tax, and I
(04:15):
reckon they'll announce that they intend to do this either
late this year or early next to win the next election.
You don't need to win all of Auckland, but if
you lose Auckland, you're stuffed. Ask chippy. Labour scored twenty
nine percent of the party vote in Auckland at the
twenty twenty three election. This is increasingly a city of
migrants and these policies are aimed at them, their families
(04:37):
and their businesses. Forty two percent of auckland Is were
born overseas along with Otago. It's where most of the
expense of houses are that those wealthy investors will be
able to buy to boost this economy in a short
to medium term window. The government's clearly targeting migration. Foreign investment,
which often comes through existing connections to a city. Foreign
(04:58):
students is another one they're moving on Chinese tourists and
big events. The question is how quickly can they give
this city the tickler that it needs, and have they
left enough of a runway to turn things around.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I mean, you've got to have at least one city
that everybody else could make fun of. I mean, obviously,
I come from Hamilton, and nobody's ever made fun of
that because it's so awesome. And back when I used
to live there, Auckland was the city we used to
make fun of. We used to come up and win
the rand, really shield off them. That was always funny.
(05:37):
So yeah, I just feel sorry for people who have
been born and raised in Auckland and they've got no
other city to claim as their own. You talk city, Ryan,
talking about rates there briefly, I mean it's not just rates,
it's all sorts of things that are costing more. But
rates in particular do seem to be rocketing up, don't they.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Well, of course the other two big things the progat
expense is for people. Now, it's not just what he said,
electricity and groceries. It's also insurance, which has got up
nine hundred percent, and that's because the one group that
are factoring in the cost of climate change. Other insurance
companies they always will be. They're the ones that factor
and risk.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
That's their job.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
The other thing, of course, is rates, and it's all
because of local water done cheaper whatever it's called, because
the people wanted to do the rates locally, and the
water infrastructure, the sewerage, the pipes, the plumbing is incredibly
expensive to fix and the maintenance hasn't been done and
(06:36):
there was a fix around for that, but no one
wanted it. So yep, that's what's happened. And as a result,
if no one wanted three waters because of the makeup
of some of the panels, but what they've got now
is much much more expensive rates and they're going to
go up for the next ten years.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, Marcus kind of makes a good point there. But
obviously this whole I mean, most people's rates have gone
up astronomically, and this whole water infrastructure thing. It's not
just in New Zealand, by the way, you know, we've
obviously seen that happening. It's as infrastructure issues the states
UK their ward in particular, is it a terrible state.
(07:14):
People had just sort of built it and then they
forgot about it. Didn't they, And it's all coming home
to roost. So somebody's got to pay, and obviously it's
us the city. Now, if you're not familiar with the
name John Barnett, you're not the only one. But it
(07:34):
turns out even people who were pretty familiar with him
still didn't actually know how influential he was when it
came to making TV and movies.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
Listen, if I'm honest with you, the passing of John
Barnett on Sunday has actually hit our house quite hard
over the last three days, because you know, at the start,
nobody knew anything about what had happened, And as the
information has come out, we've realized that when my husband
bumped into him on the street on Sunday afternoon, it
was literally just before he died, like they stopped for
a chat. Husband went in one direction, Barney went in
(08:04):
the other direction, and it wouldn't have been another two
hundred meters or so beyond that that collapsed. Now, I
don't think the full force of it actually hit me
until I was watching the television news about this last night,
because you know, you're watching somebody alive on TV and
the footage but not alive in real life anymore. And
what struck me last night was that I never realized
how big a force John Barnett was for us in
(08:26):
New Zealand. I knew what he'd done, We all know
what he's done, Shorty Street, whale Rider, all of that.
But it wasn't until I heard the list rattled off
that I realized the scale of the impact. Foot Trot, Flats,
Soon's Wedding, whale Rider, Shortland Street. Once we're warriors, what
becomes of the broken hearted? Outrageous fortune, apparently commissioning Dave
Dobbin and Herbs to make slice of heron Heaven, apparently
(08:46):
helping to rescue Dawnray. I mean, how much of what
we consider to be to be intrinsic parts of our culture,
or at least reflections of our culture back to us,
were created or facilitated by John Barnett. It was really
easy to forget that when you knew John, because he's
really easy going and really gracious, never reminded you of
what a big deal he actually was. He was just
Barney who you bumped into almost every week on the
(09:08):
KINDI run or at the weekend, sitting outside disngof or
strolling down Ponsonby Road. The last time I saw him
and sat down and probly not saw him, but sat
down and properly had a chat to him was over
dinner at Prago, not long ago, And the thing that
struck me about him was how much into life he
still was at the age of seventy nine. He still
had an eye for a good yarn. He was telling
us about the story he never got around to making,
(09:29):
which is of the only woman ever to be jailed
in London for being a hit man. She was a kiwi,
and his eyes lit up and he cracked a big
smile telling the story. He was still enthusiastic about telling
our stories back to us. I will miss seeing John
on my walks, not nearly as much as his family
and his wife and his dearest friends will miss him.
But how lucky were we that he spent his life
(09:51):
giving us this part of New Zealand back to us.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, very nice words there from Heather. It is freaky
when you see somebody and then you know quite quickly
after that they are no longer with us. It happened
to me this year as well with a friend of ours.
For some and for some reason, that's always does drive
it home much more than if they just you know,
(10:16):
sort of a person in these guys News Talk right. Oh,
thank goodness, we've got time now to do the Taylor
Swift Chelsey. I can ever remember which Kelsey brother it
is one of them that Travis maybe. Anyway, Thank goodness,
we've got we've we've got a bit of time for this, Matthew,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Oh good a, what a great topic.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Great topic, divisive, but great for taking.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
A lot of.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Oh sadly, that's all the time we have for talking
about a couple of people getting engaged. Wide A shame
really having to dedicate a lot more of the podcast
for that, But you know, I've only got a certain
amount of time. I aglen Heart definitely will not be
talking about that topic tomorrow, if I've got anything to
(11:07):
do with it. We'll see you back here then though,
we'll have much bit of stuff to talk about.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
The man that you were about there used talking talking
zid Beam For more from News Talk st B, listen
live on air or online, and keep our shows with
you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
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