Episodes

  • EP: 69 Ken Mair and Amokura Panoho on Rā Whakamana - day of solidarity.

    EP: 69 Ken Mair and Amokura Panoho on Rā Whakamana - day of solidarity.
    Oct 25 2025

    In this interview I talk with two of the organisers of Rā Whakamana, an event happening next Tuesday the 28th of October 2025. It is a national day of solidarity between Māori, the Unions and Tangata Tiriti allies which coincides withe the 190th anniversary of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (1835 Declaration of Independence)

    It is not a strike or protest, but a tikanga-led action that centres on Māori wellbeing, cultural identity, and mana motuhake throughout the motu.

    Rā Whakamana is also a response.directly to the intensifying political, legal, and cultural attacks on Māori being driven by the current coalition government.

    You can find out more about the Rā Whakamana event on their Facebook by clicking on the following link.

    https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Ra%20Whakamana

    And on the Together.org.nz website here :

    https://www.together.org.nz/ra_whakamana

    You can support this day of solidarity by attending at the following times and locations

    28 October 2025

    Waitangi: 10am, Te Tii Marae

    Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland Central: 12pm, Okahu Bay

    Tāmaki Makaurau | South Auckland: 12pm, Māngere Bridge (meeting at corner of Waterfront Rd & Coronation Rd)

    Thames: 11.00am, Te Whariki Mana Wahine o Hauraki

    Tauranga: 11.30am, Marine Park

    Rotorua: 12pm, Lakefront

    Whanganui: 12pm, Pakaitore

    Te Whanganui-a-tara | Wellington: 12pm, Midland Park

    Ōtepoti | Dunedin: 12pm, Queens Gardens

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    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bryanbruce.substack.com/subscribe
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    28 mins
  • Ep 67 : Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn Artivist

    Ep 67 : Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn Artivist
    Oct 11 2025

    .Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa) was part of protest group Te Waka Hourua, who defaced (she says “redacted” ) Te Papa’s large wooden display panel of the English version of the Treaty of Waitangi in 2023 for which she was recently fined $1500.

    In this interview Catherine talks candidly about why she was one of those who did it - and what you hear isn’t the senseless ramblings of a vandal, but words of intelligence and reason spoken by a wahine toa.

    Head2Head interviews are free to view and listen too thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers.

    If you are receiving this post as a free subscriber please consider upgrading. I post something to read, listen to, or watch every day, so right now you are probably seeing one item out of 12 that I produce.

    For $10 a month you will not only get access to my fourth rstate writing, podcasts and documentaries, you will be able to join our vibrant chat room in which New Zealanders from all walks of life intelligently discuss the issues we are facing as a nation in a environment safe from trolls.

    Please restack and share any posts you find useful.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bryanbruce.substack.com/subscribe
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    31 mins
  • Ep. 66 : The Wealth Chasm - Economist Dr Ganesh Rajaram Ahirao

    Ep. 66 : The Wealth Chasm - Economist Dr Ganesh Rajaram Ahirao
    Oct 7 2025
    I recently caught up with Dr Ganesh Rajaram Ahirao who was formerly the Research Director at BERL and Chair of the now disestablished Productivity Commission ,who has been analyzing data from Stats NZ on wealth distribution in our country - and what he has uncovered is truly alarming.You can find his research on his Substack here:However I have copied his research post below in case you can’t access it and you want to read his disturbing analysis as he talks to me about what it means._______________________________________________________________In 2024 Aotearoa wealth ranged between* an average net debt of $298,000 for each of 19,9401 households* an average net wealth of $9.2 million for each of another 19,940 households.Alternatively,* 19,940 households shared total net debt of $5.9 billion* another 19,940 households shared total net wealth of $183.8 billion.The picture below illustrates the net wealth per household - across the total spectrum of the wealth distribution - with each vertical bar representing 19,940 households.2The right-hand end of the spectrum illustrates that, while relatively small in number, the net wealth of the uber-wealthy was visibly well above those only a few bars towards their left. For example, the 19,940 households in the 95th percentile (the 6th bar from the right) each with $4.1 million of net wealth is less than half that of the $9.2 million for each of those households in the 100th percentile.Adding up the ten bars at the right-hand end of this spectrum, (together representing 199,400 households), results in a combined $1,006.9 billion in net wealth. Each household in this group possesses net wealth of at least $2.5 million, with many having visibly more.However, wealth at the left-hand end of this spectrum is close to invisible. The widespread prevalence of household’s either in net debt, or possessing relatively negligible levels of net wealth, is saddeningly stark.The left-hand 50 vertical bars in the picture - together representing the net wealth of 997,000 households (that is, half of all households) - barely register any visible wealth.The following picture magnifies the previous chart, allowing the left-hand 50 vertical bars to become visible. Note, critically, that the vertical axis depicts a considerably smaller range of wealth (in $thousands and not $millions) than in the previous chart. However, each vertical bar still represents 19,940 households - with the 50 bars together totalling half of all households in Aotearoa in 2024.The numbers are sobering, if bland* the half of all households illustrated here together recorded net wealth totalling $138.2 billion* that means half of all households in Aotearoa possessed 6.7% of the total net wealth of all households* consequently, the other half of households in Aotearoa possessed 93.3% of the total net wealth of all households.I urge you to see past the blandness of the numbers and remind yourself that behind each of the 19,940 households represented by each of those vertical bars lie individuals, families, whānau, hapū, and community hopes and aspirations.The numbers in the latter chart include many people and communities still awaiting - in vain - for the hope and opportunities to be accrued from the much-promised trickle down.The chasm opensThose unfortunate to be amongst those households towards the left-hand end of this spectrum have seen their wealth struggle to register any significant improvements over the 9 years to 2024. Worse, many have seen their debts noticeably increase.What was a divide, has become a chasm.The combined total debt of the least-wealthy 10% of all households (that is, 199,400 households, being the ten bars at the left-hand end of the spectrum in the pictures above) last year totalled $8.0 billion. In 2015, that debt totalled $1.7 billion.In contrast, the combined wealth of the most-wealthy 10% (the ten bars at the right-hand end of the first picture) rose from $551.5 billion in 2015 to the aforementioned $1,006.9 billion.Yes, the nine years to 2024 saw the least-wealthy households in Aotearoa subjected to an ever worsening debt picture - with their total debt rising by $6.3 billion.That is, an average $31,640 worsening for each household.Over the same period, the most-wealthy households in Aotearoa enjoyed an increase in their total wealth of $455.3 billion.That is, an average $2.3 million improvement for each household.I know it is a cliche to talk about the rich getting richer, while the poor get poorer. But, what I do not know is when (or how) we - as a nation - have seemingly become so immune to this utter failure of our economy and the consequent dereliction of our duty to our people and communities.Many prognoses, advice, and policies centre on education as the key out of poverty. I share such a view. And, yes, I wholeheartedly encourage further education and training as this data (discussed below) provides evidence of a better wealth outcome for those with further ...
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    39 mins
  • Ep 65 - Teanau Tuiono MP- Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for The Green Party of Aotearoa.

    Ep 65 - Teanau Tuiono MP- Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for The Green Party of Aotearoa.
    Aug 21 2025

    Is the Israeli government committing genocide in Gaza? What should we be doing to assist Ukraine? What’s gone wrong with the New Zealand- Cook Islands relatiomship ? Should we be a neutral country? And what do we need to know about Pacific politics and environmental issues?

    In this wide ranging and engaging conversation Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teanau Tuiono, speaks candidly about these issues and more.

    He is the Greens first Pasifika MP, who also holds their portfolios for Defence and Disarmament,National Security and Intelligence, Oceans and Fisheries, Pacific Peoples, Space,Veterans and Workplace Relations and Safety.

    You can find out more about Teanau Tuiono and his political views here:

    https://www.greens.org.nz/teanau_tuiono

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    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bryanbruce.substack.com/subscribe
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    25 mins
  • Monday is Hope Day - Sir Graeme and Lady Dingle

    Monday is Hope Day - Sir Graeme and Lady Dingle
    Aug 17 2025

    Last Friday I had the pleasure of talking with Sir Graeme Dingle and Lady Dingle - Jo-anne Wilkinson (pictured) who started the Graeme Dingle Foundation 30 years ago with the aim of improving the lives of young New Zealanders and helping them realise their full potential.

    The Foundation works with Aotearoa New Zealand’s tamariki and rangatahi at different life stages through schools and communities, delivering life enhancing programmes that have now involved over 30,000 young people in 10 regions across the country.

    One of the things that makes the Graeme Dingle Foundation special is their focus on being the fence at the top of the cliff, not the ambulance waiting at the bottom. They believe that prevention is better than cure, and their programmes are designed to empower youth to make positive choices and develop healthy habits early on in life.

    While we talk about the work of the foundation in this podcast, much of our conversation is about a rugged 1200 km journey Sir Graeme undertook with six violent offenders back in 1988 and Jo- anne and Graeme’s views about how military-style Boot camps are not the way to help young people develop the resilience they need to turn their lives around.

    You can find out more about the inspiring work of The Graeme Dingle Foundation here:

    https://dinglefoundation.org.nz

    Sir Graeme Dingle is a New Zealand outdoor adventurer and mountaineer. In 1968, Dingle and Murray Jones were the first to climb all six major European north faces and the Bonati pillar, including Eiger and Matterhorn in one season.He has achieved over 200 mountaineering and adventure firsts worldwide, including first ascents of mountains and faces in the Himalayas, the Andes, and in New Zealand.Dingle made the first traverse of the Himalayas, a distance of some 5000 km, in 265 days. He has made a 28,000 km traverse of the Arctic, the first winter traverse of the Southern Alps taking 100 days, and the first transit of the Northwest Passage by snow machine.

    This interview has been made free to listen to thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who support my independent public journalism.

    For $10 a month including GST ( less than a cup of coffee a week) you can not only gain full access to all my paywalled fourth estate articles and podcasts, but get to comment in a chatroom full of thoughtful Kiwis who care about our country and where it is going.

    I post something everyday and all subscriptions go to meet production costs .



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bryanbruce.substack.com/subscribe
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    22 mins
  • Ep 63 Action Station's Free Dental Care For All Campaign - Hana Pilkinton-Ching

    Ep 63 Action Station's Free Dental Care For All Campaign - Hana Pilkinton-Ching
    Aug 3 2025

    Monday Is Hope Day

    Do you think everyone should be able to access free dental care?

    I do.

    It has always seemed ridiculous to me that if something goes wrong with any other part of your body you can get help through our public health system - but not teeth.

    Well, this week’s Monday Is Hope Day story is about Action Station’s campaign to do something about the bad teeth situation and are calling on the Government to bring universal dental care into the public healthcare system to make it free for all.

    For a start they are close to getting their target of 20,000 signature on their petition which you can sign here :

    https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/make-dental-care-free-for-all-nz

    But wait! There’s more!

    Last Friday I spoke with Hana Pilkinton- Ching who is one of the campaign organisers and starting next Monday they are taking Dental Care For All on the road.

    They will be heading all over the motu from August to October this year to hold dozens of Dental for All community events. From panel discussions, to market stalls, to free dental days and more. You can find the details on their website:

    https://www.dentalforall.nz

    Their first roadshow trip is in August, heading up the West Coast of the North Island from Te Whanganui a Tara and wrapping up with events in Kirkiriroa and Rotorua.

    Check out the Dental for All Roadshow calendar (or Facebook events) for event details. It would be great if you could tell them if you’re planning to attend.

    To keep in the loop about their second and third roadshow trips, make sure you’re signed up for updates — because more info coming soon!

    People like Hana and organisations like Action Station remind me that despite the self centred policies coming out of the Beehive , there are lots of good people in our country doing good things to make life better for all of us - and in that, there is hope!

    This interview has been made free to listen to thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who support my independent public journalism.

    For $10 a month including GST ( less than a cup of coffee a week) you can not only gain full access to all my paywalled fourth estate articles and podcasts, but get to comment in a chatroom full of thoughtful Kiwis who care about our country and where it is going.

    I post something everyday and all subscriptions go to meet production costs .



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bryanbruce.substack.com/subscribe
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    19 mins
  • Ep 62 - Chlöe Swarbrick - Co-Leader New Zealand Aotearoa Green Party

    Ep 62 - Chlöe Swarbrick - Co-Leader New Zealand Aotearoa Green Party
    Aug 2 2025
    The Sunday Long Read and ListenI had the very enjoyable experience of interviewing Chlöe Swarbrick last Thursday. I’d never met or spoken with Chlöe before and I was taken by how the MP for Central Auckland and Co-Leader of the Greens, has carefully thought through in detail big issues such as What is the role of government in the economy? and How can we pay for better housing, healthcare, education and all the other things people in our society need ?Authenticity comes from knowing who you are and what you believe. Authenticity comes from walking the talk.And authenticity, born of social conscience, is as freshing as it is inspiring.So, if you are in need of a little hope for the future,you might like to find 25 minutes today to listen to the very authentic Chlöe Swarbrick.Or, you may prefer to read the transcription. Please share and restack posts you find useful. Thank you This interview has been made free to listen to thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who support my independent public journalism.For $10 a month including GST ( less than a cup of coffee a week) you can not only gain full access to all my paywalled fourth estate articles and podcasts, but get to comment in a chatroom full of thoughtful Kiwis who care about our country and where it is going.I post something everyday and all subscriptions go to meet production costs .TRANSCRIPTIONHello, I'm Bryan Bruce and welcome to Head to HeadMy guest today is the co-leader of the Green Party and MP for Auckland Central, Chloe Swalbrick.Kia ora, Chloe.Chlöe :Kia ora, thank you for having me.Bryan :You've been an MP for nine years now, is it? Since 2017?Chlöe : Nearly nine years.Bryan: A lot of people will know your name, but not much about your background.Just fill me in a little bit about where you grew up, how you got interested in politics.Chlöe : Yeah, how long have we got? (laughs) So I grew up all over kind of central, south central Taumaki Makaurau, Auckland. So me and my little sister were trying to count up the number of rental properties that we lived in the other day, but couldn't, a few dozen. But long story short, you know,I spent a lot of time with my dad and in those conversations, what some would call arguments as I was growing up. I learned a lot about how you can flesh out your worldview by trying your best to understand other people and their perspectives. As my old man used to always say, different people see different things differently.I later went to uni, did one of my undergrad degrees in philosophy and realized my old man was not Socrates, did not come up with the idea of subjectivity. ( laughs)But, you know, in doing so, I guess that's part of the intellectual framework or ideological framework that I approach things with, where I'm just, obviously very clear about where my views and values have landed, but I'm fundamentally interested in understanding other people's points of view, because otherwise you can't move forward.So yeah, I then went on to study my law degree. While I was at university, I spent about four and a half years at 95 BFM, number one alternative radio station in Auckland, where I thought that I might actually eventually become a journalist because I was really interested in, again, trying to understand the shape of the world, the motivations of different players and that. And I was consistently interviewing these community leaders and researchers and people who had dedicated their lives to solving and understanding these problems…and then the politicians!!And I did not understand that the massive gap between the reality of what people were saying on the ground and then what the politicians were coming to the table with, let alone the gap between what politicians said and what they did. So all of that was bubbling away in the background as I also got involved in running a few different small businesses with my former partner- Alex.We were involved in producing menswear clothing for a little while, we ran a bunch of events,particularly in arts and culture and nightlife across Tamaki Makaurau,particularly in the central city.And up until the point that I was elected, I was running a little art gallery, coffee and donut shop on Mount Eden Road next to the Crystal Palace.So that's, I guess, a bit of a grab bag of all the things that I'd been doing,How I got involved in politics is I was interviewing the kind of top four candidates as prescribed by the mainstream media for the Auckland Mayoralty in 2016, and I was just really frustrated by the fact that I didn't feel as though they were addressing issues that mattered to me or to my community or to my friends.At the same time, we were sitting in the context of the brain drain, you know, with the former national government, and I was watching a bunch of my mates who are incredibly talented all go offshore for a lower cost of living and a higher quality of life, and I just kind of had to go and say, stay and fight, you cowards. You know, ...
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    26 mins
  • EP- 61 Labour MP Vanushi Walters

    EP- 61 Labour MP Vanushi Walters
    Jul 21 2025

    As part of my Head2Head series I have been interviewing politicians to find out a little about who they are,why thet got into politics, and what they believe.

    In this episode I meet Vanushi Walters who is Labour’s Shadow Attorney- General and an Associate Spokesperon on Foreign Affairs .

    We discuss the threats to our rule of law and our democracy by legislation that has been brought before the House in recent times, and what New Zealand could be doing about the terrible events in Gaza and Ukraine.

    This interview has been made free to view thanks to the generosity of my paid subscribers who support my independent public journalism.

    For $10 a month including GST ( less than a cup of coffee a week) you can not only gain full access to all my paywalled fourth estate articles and podcasts, but get to comment in a chatroom of thoughtful Kiwis who care about our country and where it is going.

    I post something everyday and all subscriptions go to meet production costs .



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bryanbruce.substack.com/subscribe
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    36 mins