The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Performance-based pay is on the horizon for Chief Executives of public sector agencies.   Departments are moving to another phase of cost-savings after the Budget confirmed spending reductions.   Finance and Public Service Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed pay boosts will be tied to progress but she's not expecting any bonuses to be paid out for at least a year.   Infometrics Principal Economis...

The economy could be slowing down more than expected.   NZIER is revising down its forecasts for annual average GDP growth to 0.2% in the year to March this year and 0.6% in the year to March next year.   It says high interest rates are continuing to dampen demand.   But Principal Economist Christina Leung told Mike Hosking that strong migration growth should ensure the economy starts growing agai...

Was Simon Upton watching the vote in Europe last week? As an outsized group of young people in places like Germany and Italy voted for the right, if not the far right, and didn’t vote for the Greens, despite the Greens being the alleged “go to” team for the young ones, Upton was speaking at the Environmental Defence Society conference. If you don't know, Upton is the Parliamentary Commissioner for...

Andrew Saville and Guy Heveldt joined Mike Hosking to discuss Super Rugby semi-finals, the Warriors' loss to the Storm, the US Open and the beginning of the European Football Championship 2024. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The black market for tobacco products in Australia has soared, according to new reports. New data indicates criminal gangs are behind the sale of one-third of cigarettes in the country. Australian correspondent Steve Price says this is down to increased taxes. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Princess Catherine appears to be happy to be returning to the public eye. The Princess of Wales has been pictured smiling in a carriage, alongside her three children, for the traditional Trooping the Colour parade. It's her first public appearance since revealing her cancer battle. Daily Mirror royal correspondent Russell Myers says the Princess released a statement before the event. "She was enjo...

The Supreme Court has overturned a ban on a rapid fire gun accessory used in the United States' deadliest mass shooting. The Court ruled six to three to lift the federal ban on bump stock devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire hundreds of bullets a minute. It was initially introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 - after 60 people were shot at a Las Vegas music festival. US Correspo...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 17th of June, just what are we going to do about the embarassment of our defence force planes after they broke down, yet again? Defence Minister Judith Collins tries to find the answers. Do our kids need to learn cursive handwriting? A new report suggests we do it for the first three years of their schooling. Guy and Sav cover off the...

Defence Minister Judith Collins says the Government is considering options with the Defence Force planes. The Prime Minister and his 52-person delegation en route to Japan were stranded in Papua New Guinea after the Defence Force plane blew two fuses. Chris Luxon's flown commercially to Japan - while Air New Zealand had to divert a flight to pick up the rest of the group in Brisbane. Collins says...

A structured literacy advocate says testing needs to be an important part of teaching. A report by the Ministerial Advisory Group reviewing English and maths learning has recommended annual checkpoint tests for students. It also recommends children be encouraged to write by hand as much as possible for their first three years at school and handwriting lessons in years four to six. Lifting Literacy...

Food inflation has eased to the lowest level since September 2018, according to new data. A report by Stats NZ says food prices fell 0.2 percent in May on the month before, to be 0.2 percent higher than a year ago - the lowest annual increase in over five years. Devon Funds Management Head of Retail Greg Smith says this comes as petrol prices are also dropping, but consumers shouldn't get too exci...

Prime Minister Chris Luxon aims to spend the next few days in Japan, boosting international business opportunities.  Japan is the world's fourth largest economy, and New Zealand's fourth largest export destination. Otago University international relations professor Robert Patman says Japan is potentially a very important economic partner for us. "We are seeing steadily improving trade with them as...

The Government's spending plans are set to be examined during Parliament's first-ever Scrutiny Week. Normal sitting hours have been suspended to allow select committees to call in ministers and their ministries' bosses for questioning about the Budget. It's hoped to improve on recent Parliaments' lacklustre scrutiny of governments. Leader of the House Chris Bishop says it's a chance for ministers...

A former Health New Zealand chair is sounding the alarm about hospital hardware in need of an upgrade. New reports confirm thousands of apps, a thousand servers, and a thousand devices around Health New Zealand hospitals are said to be fragile - in a released briefing to the Health Minister. The briefing states technology can improve care. Former Health Chair Rob Campbell says people just hope the...

World leaders are directing US$50 billion worth of interest from frozen Russian assets towards Ukraine.   The funding was announced at today's G7 summit in Italy as a signal to Russia it cannot win the war by depleting Ukraine's resources.   US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced a bilateral security agreement.   Zelenskyy's outlined the details of the ag...

$211 billion. That's a lot of money.   It is what it will cost Australia in lost productivity and revenue as a result of their Government panicking over reaction to the mass arrival of people via immigration.   Such was the panic, they started capping numbers. In capping numbers, they appeared to have made a mess of it.   If you follow Australian politics they make a mess of a lot of stuff, but th...

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 Warriors: 8/10   Three on the bounce and looking better by the week. Melbourne at home this week. Come on! This is our year!     Farmers and the ETS: 8/10   Good, old fashion common sense.     Oil and gas: 7/10   Some more good, old fashioned common sense. Yes, we want to...

The Hurricanes are sitting at the top of the table ahead of their Super Rugby semifinal against the Chiefs.   They’re facing off tomorrow at Sky Stadium, giving the Hurricanes a homefield advantage.   Coach Clark Laidlaw told Mike Hosking that there’s been a real buzz around Wellington the last few weeks, and the support from the city is right up there.   He said that the Chiefs are definitely goo...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 14th of June, the Government are putting out the idea of being able to go 120kmh on the open road, and do we have a solution for the gender pay gap?   Darleen Tana update alert! Or lack thereof... but you asked and we delivered.   Tim and Kate Wrapped the Week , and Kate finally got her chance to call out Mike's crap from the week.   Get t...

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson joined Mike Hosking once again to Wrap the Week that was.   On today’s agenda was the gender pay gap, the Tom Phillips situation, and Kate finally got her chance to call out Mike’s behaviour from the week.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Changes to KiwiSaver could be on the way, but one provider says more needs to be done.   Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson says New Zealanders' balances are too low.   She wants the minimum contrition to rise by one percent, alongside employers' contributions.   But Simplicity Founder Sam Stubbs told Mike Hosking that the Government should be doing more to encourage retirement savings.   He s...

A Kiwi motorsport champion turned advocate says changes to speed limits are logical.   The Coalition government's reversing speed limit reductions brought in under the previous Government, including 24-7 limits around schools.   Its draft report's also asking for input on its Roads of National Significance, once built, catering for speeds up to 120km/h.   Road safety campaigner Greg Murphy told Mi...

Boot camps for youth offenders will look different than they did when proposed during the election campaign upon their implementation at the end of July.   RNZ reports that Oranga Tamariki's boot camps will only involve three months of detention, rather than up to 12 months.   The remaining nine months will involve time in the community.   Billy Graham Youth Foundation Chief Executive David Graham...

There's a new approach to tackle New Zealand's stubborn gender pay gap.   Acting Minister for Women Louise Upston's announced a new tool businesses can voluntarily use to calculate the divide.   It replaces plans from the previous Government to make reporting mandatory.   The national pay gap is 8.6% and has typically sat around 9-10% for the past decade.    Business leader Dame Theresa Gattung to...

A big day for New Zealand business is on the cards as the Chinese Premier's trip continues.   Li Qiang has met with the Prime Minister, confirming that China will expand its unilateral visa-free travel policy to New Zealanders   Today, Chinese business representatives will be signing trade deals with local companies.   Trade Minister Todd McClay told Mike Hosking that there's huge potential for th...