The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Trade Minister's shrugging off comments by Winston Peters and says it's time to seal the deal.  The New Zealand First leader strongly opposes the Free Trade Agreement with India, which the Government is signing in New Delhi next week despite not having the numbers to pass it into law.  He fears it'll lead to rising immigration, which the National Party rejects.  Trade Minister T...

The revamped Golden Visa is providing a major boost to the economy. The Active Investor Plus visa's brought in $1.5 billion, with another $2.4 billion in the pipeline.  More than 600 applications have been lodged since last April, from nearly 2,000 people.  Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking she's thrilled with those numbers.  She says the impact for individual bu...

There are concerns we're moving too slow to shore up New Zealand's security.  A New Zealand Initiative report warns the Government's $12 billion defence plan risks being absorbed into a system too slow and fragmented to deliver for our security.  It recommends six areas of action, including an independent 90-day review of defence policy settings reporting to Cabinet.  New Zealand In...

The Infrastructure Commission says a move to give it greater oversight over major projects will lead to more consistent decision-making.  The Government's announced the commission will now analyse all major infrastructure proposals, instead of the Treasury.  It says the current system lets bad projects gain momentum until it's too late and wastes money.  Commission Chief Executive G...

It's quite possible the Prime Minister might look back on yesterday's caucus meeting as a moment that defined his leadership.  He read the riot act, they had a vote, and he won.  He was always going to win, but in making his statement afterwards he hopefully, once and for all, sent a message to the media that the sort of drama they live for is over.  He should have done this sooner...

Cross-lease owners are being warned a Court of Appeal ruling may curb current veto powers.  A decision made last week could make it harder for a neighbour of a cross-lease property to withhold consent to proposed alterations.  It shifts the old power balance, with 215,000 cross-leases owned nationwide.   Pidgeon Judd Law Director Joanna Pidgeon told Mike Hosking changes can't be vet...

Politicians are unimpressed with Shane Jones’ suggestion the India Free Trade Agreement would lead to a "butter chicken tsunami" of Indian migrants coming to New Zealand.  Christopher Luxon says the New Zealand First deputy leader's comments were "alarmist" and "scaremongering".  Labour's Ginny Andersen told Mike Hosking the Prime Minister should go further and call the comments out as r...

Donald Trump says Iran either needs to agree to negotiate or prepare for bombing to begin again.  Iran still hasn't decided whether to take part in the next round of peace talks with the US in Pakistan and says it will only start negotiations when the US is ready to end its port blockade.  The US President has told CNBC he's prepared to relaunch military action if the talks don't proceed...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 22nd of April, the inflation rate for Q1 has held steady at 3.1%. Finance Minister Nicola Willis discusses what that means going forward, and touches on the National Party leadership vote.   Gilbert Enoka has returned as the All Blacks’ mental skills coach under Dave Rennie and joined Mike to discuss his appointment.   And Mar...

Coach Dave Rennie is bringing back two former All Blacks staffers as he completes his management group for his first season in charge.  Dr James McGarvey returns to the side as the team doctor, replacing Martin Swan.  Gilbert Enoka also returns to the side as leadership and mental performance coach, replacing Dr Ceri Evans.  Enoka told Mike Hosking that Rennie has been slow and deli...

More Kiwis are signing up for nursing courses but there are concerns job opportunities aren't keeping up.  Latest Ministry of Education data shows almost 18 thousand people were enrolled in nursing courses last year.  About 34 thousand are studying other health courses.  Nurses Society National Director David Wills told Mike Hosking the country is facing a health funding bottleneck,...

Inland Revenue is reminding crypto-investors of their tax obligations.   The agency says it has identified 355 thousand unique crypto-asset users in New Zealand conducting some 57 million transactions.  It says any profit from selling, trading, or exchanging the assets is taxable as income.  Tax Partner at Dentons, Bruce Bernacchi told Mike Hosking there’s quite a lot of misundersta...

The Finance Minister is concerned about an expected spike in inflation.  The inflation rate has remained unchanged at 3.1% in the March quarter, despite forecasts of a drop.  ASB economists now expect it to approach 4.5% this quarter, remain above 4% until the end of the year, and remain above 3% until at least the middle of next year.  Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking there's no dou...

You’ll be aware of the Far North Council and their unelected Māori voting plan.  It is of course a scandal, but more importantly it is part of the overall de-Māorification of the economy this current Government, in one form or another, promised to address.  The fact this stuff is still going on proves they are failing.  ACT’s Todd Stevenson the other day wrote to Public Service Mini...

Britain's Prime Minister is accusing officials of withholding information from him before he appointed Peter Mandelson US ambassador.  Sir Keir Starmer sacked Mandelson in September last year over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.  Starmer says officials deliberately didn't tell him Mandelson has failed security vetting, and he wouldn't have cleared Mandelson to the role if he'd known. ...

There’s no doubt ‘The Boys’ is one of the biggest shows on television at the moment.  It’s in its fifth and final season and has been one of Amazon’s biggest hits – season 4 drawing in 55 million viewers.  The satirical superhero show is helmed by two well-known Kiwis, Antony Starr, who plays Homelander, and Karl Urban, who plays Billy Butcher.  Urban is actually in the midst of one...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 21st of April, BNZ’s Chief Economist looks ahead to the inflation data set to be released this morning, and Air NZ CEO Nikhil Ravishankar discusses the latest on jet fuel stocks and price increases.   Buckle up – Mike names the five National MPs seemingly behind the discontent within the party.  Kiwi actor Karl Urban discusses t...

A fuel squeeze is driving higher airfares and stronger demand for Air New Zealand, particularly on international routes.  Long-haul fares have jumped 25% over the past year, trans-Tasman 20%, and domestic flights 10%.  Jet fuel stocks have climbed to 51.4 days, according to the latest figures.  Chief Executive Nikhil Ravishankar told Mike Hosking long-haul is 'a double-edged sword'...

Rural schools are welcoming extra support from the Government to deal with rising fuel costs.  Small schools will receive one-off additional funding, and 70 schools will receive a one-off grant to speed up the replacement of diesel boilers.   Mileage support for rural relief teachers is also being doubled.  Rural Schools Leadership Association president Andrew King told Mike Hosking...

Today's inflation numbers won't reflect the full impact of the war in the Middle East.  The first quarter of this year's expected to show a dip in annual inflation after 2025 ended with a rate of 3.1%.   Bank economists are predicting an inflation rate between 2.8 and 3.1%.  BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Mike Hosking despite not showing the current picture, there will still be...

Insurance companies are getting very specific when assessing which properties are exposed to risks like flooding, an insurance expert says, but there’s a limit.  An intense storm like the one that hit some Wellington suburbs yesterday could have happened anywhere, making the risk much harder to pin down to individual properties, Bryce Davies —climate spokesperson for AMI, State, and NZI— told...

Opioid detections in workplaces are rising sharply.  Workplace testing firm the Drug Detection Agency says detections of opioids like morphine and fentanyl has increased by more than a third in the past year.  In Taranaki, it's recording almost five times as many opioids as the previous year.  Chief Executive Glenn Dobson told Mike Hosking the stats will vary in comparison to wastew...

The idea of reducing reliance on fossil fuels, including the Green Party's new electrification plan, is often met with criticism that not everything can be switched over, but Mike Casey, CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, says that isn't the immediate goal.  "My focus is mainly on households at the moment, which is basically gas in the households and also electric vehicles, putting solar on the roof a...

Far-right politician Pauline Hanson's party One Nation has seen an unexpected surge in popularity ahead of this year's election, and Hanson's stardom has skyrocketed as a result.  Australia correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking about his encounter with her at a local football club. "She walked in and got a standing ovation from people, and then a queue formed to her right of mainly youn...

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