The Mike Hosking Breakfast

National's Christopher Luxon says it's great to see so many people already showing up to vote.   Nearly 70 thousand people cast their ballots on day one of advance voting.   That's slightly more than the same time at the last election.   Luxon told Mike Hosking he's hoping that's a sign people are going to give his government another crack.   He says people understand it's been...

The Wellington City Missioner says Labour's rent-to-own scheme could help more people own a home.  The party wants $100 of Kainga Ora tenants' weekly rent put towards a home deposit.  Labour would also expand eligibility for 5% home deposits by increasing the income threshold to $300,000.  Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge told Mike Hosking this could help make people's dream...

What do they say about the truth always coming out?  By Friday morning Kerrin Leoni was gone.  She lied and she got caught with the photo and the video. Not only didn’t it pass the pub test, it didn’t pass the truth test.  Campaigns almost always have things in them you never saw coming. For Labour it was a combination of dishonesty and their past.  Law and order was not part o...

Subsidising access to GLP-1s through Pharmac would be a “win-win” for New Zealand, according to an Auckland University medical professor.  New research has found more than 80% of healthcare spending in New Zealand goes into treating chronic and long-term conditions.  A huge percentage of those conditions were tied to obesity, Professor of Molecular Medicine and Pathology Peter Shepherd t...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 27th of October, it's the first of our special Leaders Breakfast shows for the election.  Today it's two hours with Labour Leader Chris Hipkins, discussing everything from Kerrin Leoni to education, health , tax, and  coalition partners .  And ACT has released their manifesto, which talks about money for health and even mor...

Chris Hipkins has confirmed the Finance portfolio's off the table for any potential coalition partners, as well as Police and Justice for Greens and Te Pāti Māori MPs.  The Labour leader says everything else is up for discussion after the election.   Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast he wouldn't agree to increasing the size of Cabinet beyond the 20 Ministers it has now....

Chris Hipkins says he has no regret over his level of involvement with the Covid inquiry.   The Labour leader was criticised for not appearing at the public hearing when the Royal Commission was gathering evidence.   Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast he answered every question thrown at him.    He also says the reviews of the Reserve Bank’s response to the Covi...

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins admits his party wasn't totally ready to govern in 2017.  National won the largest share of the result in that election, but New Zealand First chose to go into government with Jacinda Ardern's Labour instead.  Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leader's Breakfast because of the nature of the election, they weren't as ready as they could've been.  He says he...

An offer by the French Government to students has fallen short of demands as mass protests continue.  More than 1300 people have been arrested over the weekend as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.  Police have fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in a number of cities including Paris, while barricades were set alight in Marseille.  Europe Corres...

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins is certain their campaign hasn't been impacted by the controversy surrounding MPs visiting gang members.  Former Labour candidate Kerrin Leoni resigned on Friday after fallout from her campaigning at a whanau event, attended by gang members.  Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast that having family members in gangs was not the main issue, her enga...

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.    Justin Bieber: 8/10  With 200 million followers, what he posted about us is worth its weight ten times over in gold, and is a very good reminder of what a special place we have here that's too often taken for granted.    Dairy auction: 9/10  Not j...

So a good week for National and, by association, for the Government in general.  There has been a shift with two weeks to go. The gang drama might just have put a nail in Labour's chances of government.  Their polling is now in trouble. Their gap to National is now a problem.  Thomas Coughlan's piece yesterday talking of the issues they have found with lack of enrolment in South Auc...

Ahead of the long weekend, Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson joined Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week that Was.  They discussed the latest from the election campaigning, the aforementioned long weekend for Labour Day, and what makes a business successful.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Airport is forecasting a flat year ahead following its annual meeting.  It maintained its underlying earnings forecast of between $290 million and $330 million for the 2027 financial year.  It's despite positive signs for international travel, including a 35% boost in Argentinian visitors thanks to a new China-South America flight route.  CEO Carrie Hurihanganui told Mike H...

A Formula 1 journalist believes it would take a perfect storm for Kimi Antonelli to secure his first Championship win.  The 20 year old Mercedes racer holds a 102 point lead over teammate George Russell heading into this weekend's US Grand Prix in Austin.  If he successful, he'd become the sport's youngest World Champion.  Chris Medland told Mike Hosking even if Antonelli does win t...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 23rd of October, ACT wants a charter school in every major town and Airbnb is changing some of its rules.  Nicola Willis discusses the inflation number and how it might affect an election campaign.  And Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson talk the election, long weekends, and what makes a business successful as they Wrap the Week that W...

ACT wants charter schools in every major town.  The Party's pledging if elected to lift enrolments to 10,000 by 2029 and increase conversions from state schools.  The current 20 schools have about 2000 students.  Leader David Seymour told Mike Hosking when it comes to demand for the schools, they've been overwhelmed.  He says that each time they do a round, there will be 60 or...

Airbnb guests may soon be spared the cleaning chores that come with some stays.  The platform's updated its rules for hosts, saying any checkout tasks must be reasonable and shouldn't require significant time or effort.  That includes tasks typically done by a cleaner, such as washing dishes, stripping beds or taking out rubbish.  Airbnb Superhost Ambassador Julie Wilson told Mike H...

National and Labour are offering quite different solutions to persistently high inflation.  Headline inflation's eased back to 3.7%, but some economists say it could reach as high as 4.7% by the end of the year.  Labour's Barbara Edmonds says freezing the fuel tax would address the single biggest factor – surging fuel prices.   But National's Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking National...

Inflation appears to have become more embedded in the economy.  Latest Stats NZ figures show the annual inflation rate's eased to 3.7%, down from 4.1% three months ago.  The quarterly inflation rate's eased to 0.7%, but domestically-driven non-tradable inflation has risen due to the annual increase in council rates.  Business NZ Chief Economist John Pask told Mike Hosking price rise...

We now have a poll in all seven of the Māori seats, which gives us a chance to at least make some sort of observation.  It's more than fair to suggest these polls are even ropier than the major polls, which have been all over the place at the best of times.  They are smaller, have greater margins of error, and involve a group that at first blush doesn’t automatically represent the demogr...

Praise for Liam Lawson from one of Formula 1's most charismatic characters.  Guenther Steiner is a former Team Principal for Haas, as well as the Former Managing Director and Technical Operations Director for what became Red Bull Racing.  "When [Lawson] came in in the beginning ... he was very good straightaway, and then obviously he was moved to the big team, but, and then I wouldn't ev...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 22nd of October, we preview today's inflation rate, which will likely be either good or okay news for the Government.  Labour leader Chris Hipkins goes through the debate fact check with Mike and discusses how the Māori seats will affect their prospects.  Former F1 team manager for Haas, Guenther Steiner is on his way to countr...

The sold-out sign is up for New Zealand's opening two T20 cricket matches against India in Christchurch, but that doesn't necessarily mean a home crowd given the local support for the visitors.  The sides last met in March's World Cup final at Ahmedabad, won by India.  Black Caps coach Rob Walter has outlined the series priorities for the five T20s, five ODIs, and two tests.  He tol...

There is a positive picture to be found within the Mood of the Boardroom, says EMA's Head of Advocacy and Strategy.  Alan McDonald told Mike Hosking that the underlying numbers are becoming more visible, which is beginning to give the business sector "a bit more confidence in a longer-term recovery".  Manufacturing has been a quiet achiever while the residential construction sector is pi...