A Jesse and Henry special this week while Maddy is abroad. We discuss Luxon’s performance and the changing priorities as the Coalition Government passes their first year in power, the benefits and future of the Healthy Homes programme, how maybe things are not quite as great over in Australia as some of our peers make out, and the latest in Auckland with Brown vs Brown.

Your Iron Duke trio are joined today by Jamie Miller, a former Executive Director and expert campaigner for the Republican Party in Florida. Jamie is also an author and continues to write on the Reasonable Arguments Substack. We discuss with our first ever international guest what happened in the US election, including on the ground insights from Florida, where Trump succeeded, where the Democrats lost it and what this all means going forward.

All three podcasters are back in Iron Duke Studios to discuss the latest in policy and politics from New Zealand and around the world. We discuss our highs of this week including the Government’s formal apology to those abused in state care, the not-so-bad change in the unemployment rate and the rallying US share market. Getting us down include Trump’s clean sweep and potential first policies, the introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill to Parliament and the latest in the IRD data breach.

2024 US PRESIDENTIAL SPECIAL – votes are still being counted, but we have a clear winner. President Donald Trump will become the first to win non-consecutive terms since the 19th century. Jesse and Henry discuss what has happened, how it happened, possible implications going forward for the next four years, and the biggest winners and losers of this outcome. Tune in so you can keep up with all the presidential chat down at the pub on Friday night - no doubt we will be back again next week with some extended details too.

Get ready to learn more about space than you ever thought you needed to know! Also on this week's episode, Henry has an alarming Ozempic hype segment, we talk the Labour party, the banking review, silly thoughts on taking GST off sunscreen and builders self certification.

Another hefty week in policy and politics in New Zealand and around the world. The Iron Duke Studio trio peaks of the week include the end (hopefully) of the Darleen Tana saga and now Golriz appealing her shoplifting conviction, the US presidential election coming in hot and how the candidates are lining up in the polls, and David Seymour’s controversial potential success over the school lunches reform. Getting us down this week includes Central Government’s failing of promised localism agenda with the WCC intervention and preventing Otago from implementing their own fresh water plan, plus the Minister Andrew Bayly dilemma.

After an unintended hiatus, the Iron Duke trio is back in the studio to bring you your weekly recap of all things policy and politics. We discuss the newly appointed and well awaited Public Service Commissioner, the checks and balances of the building and construction reform and the latest polls which are a bit dire for some. Then we end with the never-ending Wellington Councillors debacle with threats of Central Government intervention, Foodstuffs’ latest approach of attacking the methodology used to prove New Zealand has a grocery pricing problem and the sinking of our Navy ship HMNZS Manawanui.

Jesse and Henry carry us through this week alone as Maddy tries out working from home, just as the luxury is being ripped from the hands of public servants across the land. They take us through the state of AI - regulation and its role in education and some classic Jesse Corlett energy chat.

This week the team at Iron Duke Studio’s take you through the pushbacks against the Government’s reversal of speed limit reductions, the US election debate and the ever demising poll results for Chris Hipkins. Henry also gives his take on the Government’s loose approach to regulating AI, Jesse is pleased that he will no longer waste those heartfelt expired gift cards, and Maddy gives us a run down on her infatuation of the Polkinghorne case. Enjoy. 

Another week, another podcast in Iron Duke Studios. Our peaks this time round include the latest global developments in AI, capital gains tax being back on the table with the opposition as well as the latest riveting ANZ Business Confidence Survey. The pits this week include protests following France’s appointment of the new Prime Minister, our poor podcast timing with the US presidential debate and schools having to send kids home due to teacher shortages.

In the face of very difficult conditions, our small business community in New Zealand - tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and the Kiwis who work for them - has once again proved its resilience. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the people who take on a small business and make it work. They are collectively our largest employers and they provide many of the things that we rely on day to day.

The Iron Duke Studio’s trio take you through some of their ups and downs in New Zealand and around the world from the past week. Our peaks include the new alcohol laws being implemented by Auckland Council, the approach to infrastructure that the country is looking to take and finally someone explains how the mighty Paralympics actually work! But we always have our pits… this week we discuss what is happening with the infamous Let’s Get Wellington Moving project and the Golden Mile, the Treasury’s boss leaving and her last hurrah as well as the 2024 Annual Grocery Report from the Commerce Commission.  

This week we take you through everything local government with the mystical Regional Deals and Luxon’s ‘mean’ speech, as well as some classic policy wonk action with the Fast-Track Bill changes and how the Government plans on solving our domestic energy shock. We also dive into some international waters with a US election update and the mighty AB’s playing over in Johannesburg.

Power bills, interest bills, grocery bills, they're all ramping up! This week we talk all things needed for a competative market. We also cover off the fraudulent ways people are getting kids into good schools and the heat Kamala Harris is bringing to the presidental race.

The team at Iron Duke Studios runs you through some of their highs and lows from the last seven days in the world of policy and politics. Maddy goes back-to-back with another week of fun Olympic facts, Henry outlines the Government’s new Climate Emissions Tool for manufacturers and Jesse gives us the downlow on Minister Erica Stanford’s new way to teach math to school kids. The lows include the UK riots, tension between MPs, as well as a recap of what’s happening in Venezuela and the New Zealand energy crisis.

Your favourite policy and politics podcast rounds out July with a sporting special in appreciation of the 2024 Paris Olympics kicking off. The team also cover the regulating of the online casino market, the future for nuclear power, rising social licence issues with tourism across the globe and the not-so-democratic election in Venezuela. The release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care marks one of the darkest days in history for New Zealand – we begin to scratch the surface of this harrowing and in-depth report to finish.

Your weekly policy and politics commentators are back in Iron Duke Studios. The team dive full noise into the IT sector with a debrief on what happened with the global CrowdStrike outage and New Zealand might finally be following suit with open banking. They discuss Kamala Harris taking over from Sleepy Joe, the Tauranga City election, the Health NZ takeover and the dire times of New Zealand’s energy sector. A mighty week of content!

Straight from Iron Duke Studios –  Jesse, Maddy and Henry take you through the big news in the US with Trump being shot and his confident selection of JD Vance for VP. We also discuss the latest Emissions Reduction Plan from the Government, the continuation of the Darleen Tana Saga, some interesting speed camera policy and New Zealand’s poor OECD stats.

Another relentless week of policy and politics to recap on. The team first take you through their doom and glooms, including the Early Childcare Education sector (again), as well as the French election results and the implosion of President Biden and his Democratic Party and supporters. But after every storm, there is a rainbow – this week it is Going for Housing Growth, the smartest of RUC possibilities, and the brightest and breeziest places to work in Aotearoa in 2024.

This politicisation of infrastructure, often based on purely ideological grounds, is one of the prime reasons why we have such a lack of consensus around the types of infrastructure that we build and how it will be paid for.