The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Advice to the Government around child poverty has been made public.   According to Treasury, the target set by the previous government is ‘no longer realistically achievable’.   Top officials say is would cost three billion dollars to get back on track.   Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston tells Mike Hosking the current government are “going to do something different”.   LISTEN ABOVE  ...

New Zealand’s influence as a nation is on the decline, according to the Lowy Institute’s annual Asia Power Index.   NZ is one of only three countries to go backwards, alongside Russia and Myanmar.   A traceable drop in diplomacy since 2018 is partly to blame.   Lowy Institute’s SouthEast Asia Program Director Susannah Patton tells Mike Hosking the index looks at a range of things including economy...

More collaboration is being proposed within the university sector.   Students could soon be picking up courses from multiple institutes simultaneously.   Universities NZ CEO Chris Whelan tells Mike Hosking the collaboration applies to subjects which need to grow.   Whelan says it makes sense for universities to work together on the infrastructure needed for certain courses and allows for those sub...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 23rd of September, more good news around getting people out of emergency housing. But more bad news around our reputation as a country.     Mike is flummoxed by the newest trend in the hospitality industry - cocktails in a keg.   Guy and Sav break down where the All Blacks went wrong in the second half of the first Bledisloe test and L...

In the nine months since September, the number of families in emergency housing has dropped by 57%, from 3100 to 1300.   According to Ministry of Social Development, this creates a saving of half a million dollars every day.   Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka tells Mike Hosking the change has been achieved by ensuring all avenues are explored before placing people into emergency housing.   L...

Voting has started in the US election and a new national NBC poll has Kamala Harris ahead of Trump by 5 points.   US correspondent Richard Arnold tells Mike Hosking this is a clear reversal of the same polling when Biden was on the card.   While Harris has accepted a date for the second debate, Trump continues to indicate he will not take part.   Meanwhile, a mass shooting in a popular nightlife a...

An aging workforce is resulting in shortages in sectors vital to New Zealand’s economic development.   New Zealand’s Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics sectors need an extra 40,000 workers by 2028.   The Workforce Development Council is launching a campaign to get boots on the ground.   Workforce Development Council CEO Phil Alexander-Crawford tells Mike Hosking New Zealand has a unique oppo...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 20th of September, Finance Minister Nicola Willis attempts to turn our economy around as we stare down the barrel of another recession.  Penny Simmonds spoke to AUT about their race-based ranking system to send professors to overseas conferences. So did she get to the bottom of it and stop it?  Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson talk Dubai choco...

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.     The economy: 4/10   Between the GDP and the current account, it’s a bad week of data. You could argue the upside is it might be the worst of it. It might be better from here on in.     Whining unions: 3/10   This week it was relief teachers. Name me the last time unions said...

The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years – a significant political boost for the Harris campaign.   Rates have gone down by 0.5% to about 4.8%, a far bigger rate than economists had predicted.   Policymakers expect the rate to fall another 0.5% this year and go down to around 3% by the end of 2026.   US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking...

What I would like out of the Philip Polkinghorne trial is access to the jury.   This country has an archaic and sheltered view of certain aspects of justice. If you believe justice has to be seen to be done, it behoves us to fully understand the process.   I have had virtually no interest in the trial. I have no real overarching interest in crime generally.   I got fascinated by the David Bain bus...

Will Jordan’s move to All Blacks fullback has been short lived.   Jordan shifts back to the right wing for Saturday afternoon’s Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney, with Beauden Barrett restored to fullback and Caleb Clarke on the left wing.   It’s the same back three that started in Johannesburg against the Springboks, before Barrett switched to the bench for Cape Town.   Coach Scott Robertson says they...

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back once more to Wrap the Week that was alongside Mike Hosking.   They discussed Producer Sam’s recent purchases of Dubai chocolate bars, vacuum cleaners, and Luke Combs’ upcoming return to New Zealand.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Law Association says changing the threshold for the right to a jury trial doesn't make sense.    Currently a defendant can choose between a jury or a judge-alone trial in cases where the maximum penalty is two or more years in jail.   The Government's seeking feedback on increasing this to three, five, or seven years, saying jury trials drive court delays.   Law Association Vice-President Juli...

A million dollar boost is on its way towards methane vaccine research.   Scientists are wanting to develop antibodies that reduce methane emissions from animals.   AgriZeroNZ and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre are providing $13.5 million to Lucidome Bio to develop the treatment.   AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee told Mike Hosking they're on a path to eventually...

The Finance Minister is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in the wake of the latest economic figures.   Latest Stats NZ figures reveal the GDP contracted by 0.2% in the three months to June   In the March quarter, 0.1% growth was recorded.   Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking we're still very much in clean-up mode, but the important indicators look good.   She says inflation is forecast to co...

The Tertiary Education Minister says AUT has good rationale behind its policy to give Māori and Pasifika staff extra points in choosing staff to attend overseas conferences.   AUT says there's a critical shortage of those academic staff in the sector, and the policy helps address that.   The Government's directed the public service to allocate services on need, not race.   Minister Penny Simmonds...

The good news is confidence in our economy is improving.   It has been a decent week: farmers confidence is up and markedly, our confidence is up a bit —still overall pessimistic, but up nevertheless— and last week we saw business confidence rise a bit.   Then come the newest numbers, our current account.   It’s a mess. We are a mess. In essence we buy more from the world than we sell it, and give...

The automotive sector is hoping to take industry-training out of Government hands.   The Motor Industry Training Organisation supports on-job learning in sectors like automotive, logistics, and road transport.   But the Motor Trade Association says under Government control, it has become detached from the industry.   Chief Executive Lee Marshall wants a transition to being industry owned and led....

He may have stepped back from his iconic series, but that doesn’t mean Lee Child has put his pen down.   Since his announcement last year that he was passing the character of Jack Reacher over into his brother’s hands, he’s been credited in the latest novel ‘In Too Deep’ , which is being released in October.   But before that Child has released another project of his own, an action-packed short st...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 19th of September, the Fed dropped by half a point, so what will happen with our GDP today ?   David Seymour says charter schools will have performance requirements, and they'll lose their status if they don't keep up. He gives ZB the exclusive.   Author extraordinaire Lee Child is back to talk to Mike about his new short stories venture...

Organisers of a Rotorua charity garage sale are considering canning it altogether after a burglary.   A car, trailer, and small donated items were allegedly stolen from the sale's storage area at Ngongotaha Railway Park over the weekend.   Small electronic goods were discovered missing from the containers.   Ray White Rotorua co-owner Tim O'Sullivan told Mike Hosking he suspects this wasn't opport...

Today's GDP figures are expected to show the economy weakened in the second quarter of this year.   Analysts are forecasting a contraction between 0.1 and 0.5%.   The first quarter of 2024 showed just 0.2% growth.   Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold told Mike Hosking June was the weakest month they've seen in a while.   He says they expect it to have gone backwards again in Q3, but it will be...

A second wave of explosions have hit Lebanon a day after pagers used by Hezbollah detonated.   At least 12 people are dead from the pager attacks, while 14 have been killed from exploding walkie talkies today.   Thousands are injured, and Hezbollah believes Israel is responsible.   Auckland University international relations professor Stephen Hoadley told Mike Hosking some academics believe the at...

The Government's announced attendance, achievement, and financial targets for charter schools.   The schools must meet the targets or risk interventions, including possibly having their contract ended.   Associate Education Minister David Seymour told Mike Hosking Charter Schools have the same goals as state schools, such as 95% getting NCEA level two and 80% regularly attending.   He says the dif...