The hunt for magical merger efficiencies goes on

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey · May 5, 2026 · 27m

Here’s the six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day around housing, climate and poverty:

* Chris Bishop has dumped his plan to dismantle regional councils and replace them with mayoral committees, instead telling councils to present their amalgamation plans to the Government within 90 days or ‘we will do it for you.’

* The ultimatum is the latest in a multi-decade series of Government pleadings and orders to councils under both Labour and National to amalgamate to find synergies and make it easier to find private capital for infrastructure. It’s driven…