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Copies of text messages just released by Treasury confirm Adrian Orr was likely to be sacked if he didn't resign as Reserve Bank Governor. The process was so advanced, Secretary to the Treasury Iain Rennie warned Finance Minister Nicola Willis she might receive a recommendation from the Reserve Bank board to advise the Governor-General to remove Orr. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further, LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Christopher Luxon doesn't think the Reserve Bank's reputation has suffered any long-term damage. Neil Quigley resigned as chair of the central bank on Friday night, after Nicola Willis raised concerns over its handling of Adrian Orr's resignation earlier this year. Willis has revealed to Newstalk ZB, she would have asked Quigley to resign, if he hadn't resigned of his own accord. The Prime Minister says Quigley has made the right decision. He doesn't think the current situation is a mess, but it would have been a shambles if it had carried out much longer. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The resignation of the Reserve Bank chair Neil Quigley was announced by Finance Minister Nicola Willis last night as happening with "immediate effect". It came after months of close scrutiny over his handling of Adrian Orr's resignation as Governor. Quigley described Orr's resignation, in early March, as a "personal decision" but a series of revelations followed that cast doubt on that. Minister Willis declined to be interviewed on Saturday Morning but in a pre-recorded interview to RNZ last night she said "Mr Quigley chose to tend his resignation. If he had not offered his resignation, I would have asked him for it." RNZ Business Editor Gyles Beckford has the latest.
Reserve Bank board chairman Neil Quigley has resigned “with immediate effect” in the wake of the shambolic handling of Adrian Orr's resignation as Governor. Finance Minister Nicola Willis made the announcement just before 6pm on Friday - the day after the Reserve Bank revealed Orr temporarily stepped down as Governor a week before the public was told he resigned The Finance Minister says she did not ask the Reserve Bank Chair to quit, following news he's resigned with immediate effect. Nicola Willis told Heather du Plessis-Allan that having completed key work streams with the bank, Quigley said the timing was appropriate. Willis says she raised criticism around the board's handling of information relating to the former Governor's exit. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Whether it's the government, international organisations, higher education, or the media, one of the defining dynamics of the social media age is the deteriorating trust in public institutions. It's extraordinary, really. At a time when humans are on the whole wealthier, healthier, and more dominant than at any other time in our species' history, we're more distrustful of the institutions that are supposed to serve us. Saturday Mornings is usually a monetary policy-free zone, and I promise to mostly keep it that way for now. But it was pretty remarkable at the close of play last night to see an announcement from the Finance Minister about the Chair of the Reserve Bank. Neil Quigley had resigned, effective immediately, following further revelations about his handling of former Governor Adrian Orr's departure. Nicola Willis confirmed to Newstalk ZB that if Quigley hadn't offered his resignation, she'd have asked for it. I don't expect everyone to follow all of the Reserve Bank dramas. But the long and short of it is that former Governor Adrian Orr got in a dispute with the government over the bank's funding. It turned into a showdown of sorts, the Reserve Bank Board raised concerns with him about his conduct (some of which he disputed), and after taking leave for a few days he ultimately resigned. But instead of being absolutely transparent about the dispute and what had actually happened, the RBNZ Chair Neil Quigley told media that Orr had resigned for “personal reasons”. If this was just some rando then no harm no foul. But Adrian Orr was the Governor of the Reserve Bank, one of the most powerful public servants in the country. His pen stroke and the decisions of his Monetary Policy Committee could be the difference between thousands or hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs or homes. Like many journalists, I didn't buy the “personal reasons” explanation and felt we all deserved to know more detail about what had actually happened. Ater all, this wasn't a private company. The Reserve Bank serves us. After Neil Quigley's explanation, and after the Reserve Bank declined for Adrian Orr to be interviewed, I even went to the extreme length of sending him a letter at his home asking him to front. It's something I'd almost never do, but the public deserved an explanation. And it's taken until now and a ruling from the ombudsman for us to get the full story. I think there are lessons in this for all of us who work in jobs that purport to serve the public. In my role, I think about trust a lot. And look, I know this is very different to the Reserve Bank, much lower stakes, but I had the chance to reflect on my own work this week, and tried to lean into the spirit of introspection and openness. I was on a podcast, re_covering, in which Newstalk ZB's Frank Ritchie asks journalists to reflect on a story they covered. I didn't choose one which I'd absolutely nailed. Instead, I reflected on my five years as TVNZ's US Correspondent, and on my surprise at the first election of Donald Trump. As I said on re_covering, the fact so many of us were so shocked by the result (including Trump!) shows I and the rest of the news media covering that election had done a massively insufficient job of reflecting the scale of the anger and dissatisfaction with the status quo in the US. That election changed the world. Ultimately, I hope reflecting on my surprise will make me more sceptical of conventional wisdom, and better at my job today. Humans are fallible. We all make mistakes. But the Reserve Bank episode demonstrates the best thing a public institution can do to protect its reputation is not try and protect its reputation. Just admit when you got things wrong. Admit things that make you look bad. Learn lessons the hard way. Convince the public you have nothing to hide by showing us you have nothing to hide. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Friday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Took Him Long Enough/What a Wacky Old Story/Mark the Week/Between the BSA and a Hard Place/What Beer Is ForSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's been revealed the Reserve Bank chairman sent a warning letter to Treasury in the wake of Adrian Orr's resignation. Neil Quigley warned that it would 'immediately destroy the goodwill' between the two entities if it publicly released details of the fateful meeting. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's been revealed the Reserve Bank chairman sent a warning letter to Treasury in the wake of Adrian Orr's resignation. Neil Quigley warned that it would 'immediately destroy the goodwill' between the two entities if it publicly released details of the fateful meeting. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Reserve Bank says it wasn't dragged kicking and screaming to a review of capital rules. It's put out two proposals aimed at loosening capital requirements. Board Chair Neil Quigley says they were reviews that the bank has been looking at for a while. He told Mike Hosking if they were loosened, it wouldn't cause too much of a shakeup, and it probably won't have a big effect on pricing. Meanwhile, Quigley says the decision about a full-time replacement for Adrian Orr is weeks away. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
"MP's struggle to identify silver bullet solutions". That was the headline Friday as Jenee Tibshraeny detailed a years worth of work by the Finance and Expenditure Committee that has come up with zip. Oh they have made recommendations, don't get me wrong. Imagine what it would look like if they had been toiling away for a year and came up with a blank piece of paper. But without telling you I told you so... I told you so. Here is the difference between us and them. They entered this particular exercise with an ideological or conspiratorial bent. The opposition and their ideas involve public ownership, Māori banking theories and all sorts of psychobabble that has nothing to do with competition. The Government has the Nicola Willis idea that this is all a scam, the banks are crooks and they are ripping us off. I have argued there is no scam, there is plenty of competition and I have become increasingly convinced the issue really lies in the Reserve Bank and their desire for retail banks to hold gargantuan amounts of money in reserve "just in case". Labour buys into this thinking, which is why they appointed Adrian Orr, who introduced the rules in the first place. The evidence is all around us. Is there choice? Do people swap banks a lot? Do banks openly compete for customers? Can you do deals through brokers, or directly? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Would more banks help? Probably, but there is nothing stopping them opening. So, the committee has no silver bullet. Do you know why? Because there isn't one. Because guess what - the system isn't broken. No, it's not perfect. It's what happens with limited markets and small populations. As I have said to Nicola Willis all along, if you've got an answer, do it. Pull the trigger, show us your trick and wave your wand. But one year of searching tells you one thing. If you look at things with an open mind, you wouldn't have gone down the rabbit hole. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People aren't telling pollsters they'd vote for Labour because they'd actually vote for Labour. Labour hasn't got any policies - they're an empty vessel. It's captain is still, according to most recent polling, less popular than the current Prime Minister. It's a protest vote. They're telling the PM to hurry up and do something else to rescue the economy the last lot, and a trade war, have suppressed. You don't throw the baby out with the bath water and back a team that has no plan. That clown that's running in the Wellington Mayoral race has more policies than Hipkins. He wants to turn the Basin Reserve into a swamp. Sure, it's mad, but at least it's something. Late last year and early this year, the recovery was on-track. We then got hit by Trump's Liberation Day. Confidence and investment took a massive hit, the markets were in freefall, remember? That's thrown everything off course. Now, you can argue that National went too hard and fast on cutting spending and stopping infrastructure. But at the same time, they were voted in to stop wasteful spending on dumb projects. That's what we asked them to do - many think that hasn't gone far enough. Just yesterday we learned of 100 jobs to go at the Reserve Bank, which under Adrian Orr, wanted a budget of a more than billion bucks and twice the staff they started the pandemic with. Does that sound reasonable? This comes down to a question of who is best placed to invest in this country. The private sector or the state? The answer is, of course, a bit of both. But's chicken or the egg stuff right now. One thing's for sure, if the only thing capable of keeping this country afloat is government borrowing, then we'll only ever end up back in this same position. Over and over again. The medicine needed to dig us out of this whole is nasty. Completely unpalatable. But the disease its treating is worse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Can I suggest Jarrod Kerr for Governor of the Reserve Bank? Jarrod is Kiwibank's Chief Economist. He has been completely consistent in his ongoing commentary around interest rate cuts and the Reserve Bank's need to do more. To be fair, our own Greg Smith at Devon Funds Management has told us, and argued, a similar story. The Kiwibank economic report that got a decent amount of coverage over the weekend is Jarrod's - proof positives that he is right and Adrian Orr and Christian Hawkesby have been, and are, wrong. As long as they continue to be myopic and look at nothing but inflation they can argue two things. 1) It's in the band, even though it's dangerously close to not being, and will most likely breach it this year, 2) This ongoing, but increasing false, idea that they have cut enough and the efforts of that will flow through eventually. We are virtually in August and the 25 points cut in the latter part of this year that's supposed to be lift off is nothing of the sort and the Kiwibank report confirms it. It tells us what we know already - the further south you go the better it is. But here is the real news; even in the best, most lucrative, optimistic part of the country i.e Otago and Southland they only get 5/10. A half mark is as good as it gets. The rest of the country is miserable. Are there signs? Yes, but how long do you want to squeeze the economic lemon looking for juice? Dairy, meat and kiwifruit - all the stuff we have talked about, and celebrated, is not only doing the heavy lifting; it's doing almost all the lifting. Tourism is there in Otago. But its still only 86% of what it was six years ago. Confidence is hard to find, foreigners still can't buy a house when they invest millions, and for every dollar you get from lower interest rates you pay $2 more for your power and insurance and rates, which have become the new version of highway robbery. The economy needs help. It needs a major enthusiast, it needs a circuit breaker and the Reserve Bank and their view and actions are potentially it. Jarrod sees it, Greg sees it, John Key sees it and wants a full 100 points drop. But until anyone of them is Governor, we rely on Christian and his committee and that is where the problem lies. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Can I suggest Jarrod Kerr for Governor of the Reserve Bank? Jarrod is Kiwibank's Chief Economist. He has been completely consistent in his ongoing commentary around interest rate cuts and the Reserve Bank's need to do more. To be fair, our own Greg Smith at Devon Funds Management has told us, and argued, a similar story. The Kiwibank economic report that got a decent amount of coverage over the weekend is Jarrod's - proof positives that he is right and Adrian Orr and Christian Hawkesby have been, and are, wrong. As long as they continue to be myopic and look at nothing but inflation they can argue two things. 1) It's in the band, even though it's dangerously close to not being, and will most likely breach it this year, 2) This ongoing, but increasing false, idea that they have cut enough and the efforts of that will flow through eventually. We are virtually in August and the 25 points cut in the latter part of this year that's supposed to be lift off is nothing of the sort and the Kiwibank report confirms it. It tells us what we know already - the further south you go the better it is. But here is the real news; even in the best, most lucrative, optimistic part of the country i.e Otago and Southland they only get 5/10. A half mark is as good as it gets. The rest of the country is miserable. Are there signs? Yes, but how long do you want to squeeze the economic lemon looking for juice? Dairy, meat and kiwifruit - all the stuff we have talked about, and celebrated, is not only doing the heavy lifting; it's doing almost all the lifting. Tourism is there in Otago. But its still only 86% of what it was six years ago. Confidence is hard to find, foreigners still can't buy a house when they invest millions, and for every dollar you get from lower interest rates you pay $2 more for your power and insurance and rates, which have become the new version of highway robbery. The economy needs help. It needs a major enthusiast, it needs a circuit breaker and the Reserve Bank and their view and actions are potentially it. Jarrod sees it, Greg sees it, John Key sees it and wants a full 100 points drop. But until anyone of them is Governor, we rely on Christian and his committee and that is where the problem lies. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Michael Reddell, who appears on this show a fair bit, has put the Adrian Orr resignation back in the news. He has a source close to the action that, in simple terms, suggests that Orr packed a sad at a couple of meetings, one of which was with Nicola Willis, the chair of the Reserve Bank Neil Quigley wrote to Orr with a list of concerns over that behaviour, and Orr quit. The underlying issue appears to be the fact the Government were determined to cut the Reserve Bank's budget, which ultimately, they were successful in doing. Why? Because like everything else under the Labour Government, too much money was spent, things blew out and the Reserve Bank had wandered off into new and expensive areas they didn't need to be in. The main point being: essentially what we thought happened, did. Adrian Orr has a short fuse, a fairly elevated sense of entitlement and importance, and didn't like what was unfolding – which is fine. He didn't have to like it and if he disliked it so badly, he could walk, which he did. But, and here is where this is important, he held a critical role in all our lives. People in jobs like that need to exemplary. Exemplary in execution and exemplary in person. He wasn't. He was a failure. Which then takes us back to how he got the job: through Grant Robertson. Not only did Robertson appoint Orr, he reappointed him. Bad people make bad decisions, and those bad decisions go on to have consequences. By way of contrast what do you reckon the pressure on Jerome Powell is like right now? Is Powell yelling and packing a sad? Is Powell going to quit in a massive hissy fit and vanish from the face of the earth without a word? I have a dollar with anyone who wants it that the answer is "no". Maybe Orr doesn't give a monkey's. Maybe Orr is that sort of bloke who's so inflated and mesmerised by himself that he is well past any reputational reflection. Maybe Grant is too. But the damage still sits in our bank accounts and rates bills and economic funk to this day. The bloke who stuffed the joint, packed a sad and stormed out, never to be heard from again. It's a sad indictment on a role and influence that should have been handled a great deal more elegantly and with a mile more professionalism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 24 July 2025, the Government is making significant changes to voting rules. Same day enrolments are gone and you must now enrol to vote before early voting starts two weeks before election day. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith speaks to Heather. Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she still has confidence in the chair of the Reserve Bank, Neil Quigley, as more details are revealed about Adrian Orr's alleged behaviour before he quit his job as Governor. A group of doctors and nurses want politicians to waive their right to private healthcare while they're in power, so they can get a better feel for the constraints of the public health system. Plus, the Huddle debates whether people who enrol to vote on the day are dropkicks. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Finance Minister's repeating dismay over the Reserve Bank handling of its Governor's abrupt resignation. It's been confirmed chair Neil Quigley apologised to Treasury over Adrian Orr's behaviour, just weeks before he quit. It wasn't released through official information requests - and follows the central bank also apologising over its management of the departure. Nicola Willis says she was aware emotions were running high at the time. "Yes, I do have confidence in Neil Quigley. I have also, however, previously shared my disappointment at the way information on the way information on this matter has been shared with New Zealanders." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Thursday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Could It All Be a Cunning Plan?/Winston Wags the Dog/Don't Mention Adrian/MG ArgybargySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Treasury has confirmed concerns were raised about former Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr's conduct. Its comment comes as it responds to an allegation there was more to Orr's departure than the public has been led to believe. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny speculates further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Treasury has confirmed concerns were raised about former Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr's conduct. Its comment comes as it responds to an allegation there was more to Orr's departure than the public has been led to believe. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny speculates further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 22 July 2025, Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney tells Heather why she bought Three for $1. Foreign Minister Winston Peters says enough is enough in Gaza, but what will it really take to end the war? Reserve Bank Governor Neil Quigley gets a grilling after new claims about the events that led to ex-Governor's Adrian Orr's resignation. Why are we seeing such a huge rise in gym related injuries? Plus, the Huddle debates a new poll that suggests the Government will lose power at the next election - and NZ First voters are keen on Labour again. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Finance Minister's revealed top-level legal advice was sought over the Reserve Bank's battle with Treasury for funding. The bank received less money than it anticipated in the latest funding round - which prompted Adrian Orr to quit as Governor. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny unpacks the issue further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Finance Minister made it clear she was unimpressed with the way the RBNZ handled public communication around Adrian Orr's departure. Reserve Bank board chair Neil Quigley recently revealed he 'regretted' the time it took to release information around Orr's surprise resignation. Nicola Willis says the central bank could have provided some clarifying statements more promptly than they did. "As soon as they'd worked through what they could say with the former governor, there was obviously significant public interest in that information. And it would have been in everybody's best interests for them to share that at an earlier junction." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's hardly a surprise, is it? Adrian looks at what Nicola is offering to run the place, packs a sad, and is off. It's a pathetic end to a tumultuous period in which we, the people who paid him, deserved an awful lot better. The fact this information on the Orr resignation had to be dragged out of the bank by way of the Official Information Act, the rules of which were ignored as the bank failed to meet deadlines, shows you just what sort of place we are dealing with. How you conduct yourself is critical. It's critical to all of us and even more critical the further up the totem pole you are. There's nothing wrong with Adrian quitting if he genuinely believed the money being offered to run the bank wasn't enough. But you do it with some dignity. You quit, you serve out your period, you offer reasons for you quitting and you move on with life. In doing it that way you give us all an insight into what sort of human being you are. And in this case, you might well have been able to give us insight into how your organisation runs, what its thinking is, what the gap is between the bank and the Government and why you might be right, and they might be wrong. It doesn't have to turn into a scrap or a fallout. Just a series of adult ideas as to why people might see things at odds to each other. If Covid taught us nothing else, it taught us the critical role of a central bank and what sort of people run it. The way Adrian ran it is well documented and the general view held by many is widely traversed. But the sudden departure was another insight into why Adrian did things the way he did. He is petulant. You don't leave out of the blue and in silence. You don't bail on hosting an international finance conference having said you were looking forward to it. It's toys and sandpits with Adrian and then obfuscation from the bank when a few simple questions were asked. If you can't conduct yourself, and the bank can't conduct themselves, with any great level of clarity, transparency and professionalism, is it any wonder the economy got run over the way it did? Ol' Adrian won't be missed. But you would have hoped for something a bit more sophisticated on the way out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all. Ryan Fox: 9/10 Living the dream by winning. It rarely gets better, and another chance at a big one over this weekend. Greta Thunberg: 2/10 Not kidnapped, just fantastically annoying. She is a good example of where your annoyingness outweighs your effect on your cause. Adrian Orr: 4/10 Local disappointment of the week is both him and the Reserve Bank over their petty mucking around over simple questions. When its petty at the top, it leads nowhere productive. They should be embarrassed. The Warriors: 8/10 Can't stop winning. Another two points this weekend with the bye and two more after that against the Panthers. This is the journey to the promised land. This is our year. Los Angeles: 3/10 Was that an overreaction looking for a skirmish, or what? You can only show us an intersection of a few hundred masked try hards and pretend it's a "thing" for so long. Businesses and franchises: 7/10 Record sales. We're selling businesses like hotcakes. That's got to be a good sign for confidence. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Finance Minister says the Reserve Bank should have given the reasons behind Governor Adrian Orr's abrupt departure - sooner. It released documents yesterday showing Orr resigned over Government funding being well below the Budget allocation he sought. Nicola Willis criticised the central bank's delay in outlining the reasons. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
I don't enjoy saying what I'm about to say because personally I quite like Neil Quigley, but I think that he needs to quit as the chair of the Reserve Bank - simply because I do not think that we can ever trust a single word that comes out of that man's mouth again as the chair. He has been busted telling not just one, but quite a lot of fibs about Adrian Orr's resignation. So for a start, on the day that Adrian Orr quit, you'll recall Neil Quigley was the one who held the press conference. At the time he said Adrian's resignation was a personal decision. That is clearly not true. Adrian, we now find out, packed a sad, and quit over funding. Neil Quigley also said that there was nothing that the Government had said in the days before that that caused Adrian to quit. Not true. Adrian and Nicola, and actually Neil himself, had a meeting about the funding 9 days before the resignation. Neil Quigley was also asked whether there were any policy conduct or performance issues which are at the centre of this resignation. He said there are no issues of that type that are behind this resignation. Once again, not true. He was asked what happened because: "Reserve Bank governors don't just up and resign" and he said: "There is a time when you think having achieved what you wanted to achieve, that's enough". Once again, not true. That's not why Adrian quit. Adrian quit because he packed a tantrum because he didn't get enough money. Now, I do not know why Neil Quigley decided that he needed to tell porkies in order to defend Adrian Orr. I mean, I get the feeling that he has spent a great deal of his time, unfortunately for him, trying to manage the tantrums of our former toddler governor, and perhaps he just got into a little bit of a pattern of butt covering for the guy. He has suggested that he was constrained in what he could say by Orr's exit agreement. But in that case, you simply say, look, I can't say much because it's an employment agreement. And I think we all will understand that because we're all employees or employers, and we're all constrained by the same law, so we get it. But he didn't choose to do that, did he? He chose to stand there and fib to us, and that means that next time he's up answering some tough questions, I don't know if we're going to trust him, are we? Already, unfortunately for Neil, he's got quite a big black mark against him. He was part of the money printing team with Adrian Orr that stuffed up the economy, and some already think that that is enough reason to call for him to quit. Never mind the fact that he has now been busted telling straight out porkies in public. So if I was Neil Quigley, he's got two options. He can hang in there and see how it goes, or he can quit while he's still ahead - and I would do the latter. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tonight on The Huddle, Maxim Institute researcher Thomas Scrimgeour and Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The UN has raised the alarm over declining fertility rates, with cost of living and job insecurity being cited as the primary factors behind these changes. How can we fix this? What changes could be made? Kainga Ora is set to roll out the wool carpets in new state homes. How do we feel about this? Should Reserve Bank chair Neil Quigley resign because he didn't tell us the truth earlier about why Adrian Orr quit? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Finance Minister says a move to require wool carpets in state housing makes financial sense. Nicola Willis has announced a change to Kainga Ora's supplier agreement that will see it re-open its previously nylon-only carpet tender process. From the start of next month, all public entities will also be required to use woollen fibres where practical and appropriate. Willis told Mike Hosking officials have told her it makes sense for Kainga Ora to make this change. She says it's cost-neutral, and it performs well across a number of other dimensions. Nicola Willis says the Reserve Bank should never be exempt from cost-cutting across the public sector. Newly released documents show Adrian Orr's abrupt resignation as Governor came after he was denied the Budget allocation he was seeking. The Finance Minister says the central bank still has the funding it requires to do its statutory duties. She told Hosking the Reserve Bank can't operate as a "gilded palace" – it needs to be fiscally responsible, like all other government departments. Willis says any idea that the Reserve Bank doesn't need to abide by the same funding constraints as other Government agencies is wrong. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 11 June 2025, the real story of why Adrian Orr quit his Reserve Bank Governor job is out... so what was all the secrecy about? The Israeli ambassador speaks to Heather after the NZ Government imposed a travel ban on two Israeli Ministers. A luxury real estate agent reckons we could attract hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from overseas if only we let foreign investors buy homes here. Former UK education Minister Sir Nick Gibb on how he turned around shocking reading and maths rates in the UK. Plus, the Huddle debates the use of DNA tests as 23andMe gets sued for trying to sell people's genetic data. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Revelation of long-awaited details of Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr's March resignation. In February, Orr emailed his board - saying there were significant differences in the funding needed and how much the Government would provide. The bank confirmed its board agreed to a lesser amount of funding and that caused Orr's resignation. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says it's unclear why the central bank was so secretive about this matter. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A former Reserve Bank economist is calling out his former employers' lack of transparency. The bank today revealed Adrian Orr quit as Governor in March, when the five-year funding for the RBNZ was much less than anticipated. Michael Reddell says the bank waited far too long to say why Orr left so abruptly. "It's just extraordinary - maybe they couldn't tell us the full story on the day, but the new Reserve Bank funding agreement was published on the 16th of April. There's absolutely no excuse at this point for lack of clarity." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) You Can't Argue with a Performance Like That/People Will Always Go to Good Places/Where In the World is Adrian Orr?/Stop Trying to Save the Planet/Speaking of Terrible Cars...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What I hope for today is a sign and a sense that what we are facing economically as a country is real, and it's real bad, and the Government see it, accept it, and chart a path forward that gives us some sort of hope. The damage done by Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson, Chris Hipkins, and Adrian Orr is now years long. You can't invent money in that volume without spending the ensuing years trying to dig yourself out of it. The start has been made. The cutbacks have begun and the screaming, wailing, and upset has ensued. But there is a lot more where that came from. The seeds of recovery are real, manufacturing is expanding, and has been for several months, but services aren't. Sentiment isn't. The farmers have struck gold, but the weather has been exceptionally kind, as have Americans with their passion for burgers. Our debt is shocking. We are not running a surplus on an annual basis and still won't be for years. The Finance Minister today has virtually nothing to play with; no excess, no lolly, and no largesse. She has, I hope, found a fortune in savings and she will redirect that to better places. I pray she isn't borrowing on top of what we have already incurred. If she has, she may well be making a generational mistake, given Treasury says 50% debt by way of GDP is it, and we are close enough to that to worry the conservatives. In a sense today should wrap some numbers and forecasts around the rhetoric, being we are open for businesses, we are pro-growth, we are big on infrastructure and most importantly, fiscally as well as economically, we are not going to die wondering. Today is not a day for a dollar here and a dollar there. It is not an itch-scratching exercise. It should be a document that lays an ongoing foundation for the major project that is the economic resuscitation of the New Zealand economy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all. Anthony Albanese: 8/10 Better than anyone, and I suspect even he, expected. Nigel Farage: 8/10 Better than anyone, and I suspect even he, expected. Donald Trump: 6/10 Between the redecorating tips, the movie move, the GDP going backwards, Mark Carney, whatever the Middle East announcement is, the deals he wants to do, the deals he doesn't want to do, his withdrawal of another nomination, defunding of public broadcasting, his outrage over the Emmy nod for the interview he's suing over, plane loads of illegal's to Syria, Lord knows how many court cases - and that's just this week! Have you ever seen a more omnipresent international player? Erica Stanford's email: 2/10 The biggest time-wasting nonsense of the week. Adrian Orr's farewell: 4/10 The saddest thing you ever heard. $6,000 for water, juice and biscuits. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Adrian Orr steps down and Trump's tariffs step up—this week, global finance is in flux and Kiwis are wondering what comes next. We break down what the Reserve Bank's next move means for borrowers, how Trump's tariffs are shaking the global economy, and what Orr's exit signals for the future of monetary policy in New Zealand.Next Steps: Need help navigating rate changes? Talk to the team at Lighthouse Mortgages—no guesswork, no stress, just the right loan with the right structure at the right price. Want to learn more? Check out these episodes below:How Trump is Shaping the Global Economy ft. Jarrod KerrNZ's Economy in 2025: Is the Worst Over? For more money tips follow us on:FacebookInstagramThe content in this podcast is the opinion of the hosts. It should not be treated as financial advice. It is important to take into consideration your own personal situation and goals before making any financial decisions.
The Reserve Bank wasn't planning to announce former governor Adrian Orr's resignation until after it had hosted a big international conference. But the unexplained resignation was brought forward by five days to March 5 - the day before the conference, new documents reveal. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ex-politician Rodney Hide is fighting a battle. It began a couple of years ago, and it continues today. It involves the 'Relationship and Sexuality Education Curriculum' being taught in his daughter's school. It's actually taught in all schools. Rodney is not the only parent unhappy about what's being taught, but he stands almost alone in trying to address it. To him it is a matter of principle. But we also discuss other matters- the RBNZ and Adrian Orr, Luxon and the National party, economic growth, and more. And we wind up in The Mailroom with Mrs Producer. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Finance Minister insists the Reserve Bank governor's reasons for resigning are his and his alone, as questions continue to be asked over exactly why Adrian Orr has gone. Mr Orr's immediate departure means he didn't host a major conference today, with the Deputy - now Acting - governor taking to the stage instead. Here's our political reporter Giles Dexter.
Political Editor Jo Moir spoke to Lisa Owen about the resignations of Reserve Bank head Adrian Orr and Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran, as well as the sacking of UK High Commissioner Phil Goff.
Adrian Orr resigned as Reserve Bank Governor this week after 7 years in the job, but three years early, effective immediately and without explanation. Bernard Hickey talks in an emergency edition of When The Facts Change with NZ Initiative executive director Oliver Hartwich, an Orr critic, about his legacy and how his replacement should change the bank, and with Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr about Orr's operation of monetary policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Am I joining too many dots? I wonder aloud whether the Government and the Prime Minister, having had by any measure a very good week, has at last got the message that some action, as opposed to yak, might be what the punter wants a bit more of? There's been several solid health changes; more doctors already here to be parked at GP's, more nurses and scripts via tech when we want them. I mean, the idea that getting a script on the net at an hour that suits you really shouldn't be a thing, but it does show you how backward we have become. They are all practical, sensible, and politically beneficial. The exam concerns from principals that wanted less hard work and more free credits? That was dismissed as the minister hammers home the concept of hard work and not giving up. The big one was Adrian Orr gone. It was a sacking without a sacking and a result the Government wanted and needed. Then there was Phil Goff gone. Was it thinly veiled? Maybe. It was a stupid comment, if you didn't catch up on it, and a Commissioner's job is to represent the Government, and never more so than when you are dealing with a new, unpredictable America and walking a tight rope in the Pacific between China and the US. A couple of other minor ones - the Prime Minister's marmite sandwich line on this show. It was a nod to middle New Zealand who are fed up with elite moaners and elite media and their pile on over an issue that, in a convulsing world, is really embarrassing now. Secondly, and more importantly, health again with bowel cancer. The screening age has been has been dropped from 60-years-old to 58-years old. The money comes from the segregated Māori bowel screening programme. The message is this is one country, with one rule for everyone. Bowel cancer is not a race issue, it's a health issue. So by the time you put all that together on a Friday morning you have collected up a fairly substantial seven days, and the vast majority of it is positive, on the right side of the voter and gives the very clear indication that a week's worth of actual “doing” is vastly more appealing and productive than a week worth of announcing, or defending, or scrapping, or time wasting. Keep it up and the polls will show it's what the majority of people actually voted for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Reserve Bank Board chair Neil Quigley said governor Adrian Orr has made a personal decision to step away and he has full confidence in him.
An economist says Adrian Orr's resignation as Reserve Bank Governor is unprecedented and raises questions about confidence in the bank's leadership. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen spoke to Corin Dann.
On today's episode, the trade war between the United States and Canada is in full swing and will have wide ranging consequences in both nations, the CIA has confirmed the United States has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, an economist says Adrian Orr's resignation as Reserve Bank Governor is unprecedented and raises questions about confidence in the bank's leadership, government minister Simeon Brown appointed a prominent oil and gas lobbyist to an energy savings board against official advice, documents released to RNZ show, and the Black Caps are through to the Champions Trophy final after dismantling South Africa in Lahore.
A former Reserve Bank senior staffer ranks Adrien Orr as the least competent Reserve Bank Governor New Zealand's ever had. Orr's announced he's quitting two years into his second five year tenure. Geof Mortlock told Mike Hosking there's been many negative results from his monetary policies. He contends Orr has left New Zealand taxpayers with more than $10 billion of debt. His shock exit announcement yesterday comes as the bank is in the process of agreeing its funding increase for the next five years. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 6th of March, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr has quit, so what is his legacy? And what's next for the Reserve Bank? We fact check the almost two hour long speech from Donald Trump to Congress yesterday. Kiwi chef Peter Gordon gives an insight into the current state of the restaurant industry - and tells us how to make a good meatball! Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The fact Adrian Orr is leaving is excellent. It shows a level of accountability and responsibility for what has been a ruinous period for the New Zealand economy. The receipts and reviews are in, and the story is stark. We have been hit harder than any other country in the OECD. We had three recessions while most countries, as a result of the Covid plan, had none. Grant Robertson carries some blame for encouraging and endorsing Orr but, more dangerously, reappointing him so close to the last election. The new Government could have/should have sacked Orr, although that would have set a fairly disturbing precedent given the Governor is supposed to be neutral. Orr made the Governor's job a household fascination. Yes, Don Brash got well known, but really only when he went political. The others came and went. I might have interviewed Allan Bollard a couple of times. Before Spencer Russell, who you also never heard of, the job was called the Chief Cashier. Russell was your first Governor. Anyway, the upside of Covid and Orr was we at last took an interest. We had a view, and we know about cash rates and inflation and quantitative easing. But we learned the hard way. We paid an enormous price and are in fact still paying the price. Orr has years to run on his contract and clearly the pressure was on. The Government is currently negotiating a budget with the bank, and I assume they were twisting arms, hard, behind the scenes. By the way, the bank staffing numbers have ballooned. Orr has come across as haughty and arrogant, unable to really express any level of regret, if in fact he has any, for all the damage he has done. Giving banks money for free and not putting restrictions of where that money went was the height of incompetency. Still handing out money when we knew a lot of what we thought would happen during Covid didn't, was a scandal. The onerous banking restrictions he placed on the retailers with his “just in case” thinking was needlessly restrictive. The conclusion has to be that although everyone flew blind during Covid, no one flew more blind than us. And no one was led by a more ideologically driven, fiscal ransacker than Adrian Orr. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Reserve Bank is dangling the prospect of three more cuts to the official cash rate to around 3 percent by the end of the year. Reserve bank governor Adrian Orr spoke to business editor Gyles Beckford.
Pressure is mounting on banks to pass OCR cuts onto their customers. The Reserve Bank's signalling yesterday's double cut to the cash rate will be followed by at least two more single cuts. All major banks have started dropping their rates. But Governor Adrian Orr told Mike Hosking they need to go further. He says they need to be doing better, looking at their own margins, and chasing and competing for customers much more vigorously. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.