The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Synlait Milk is warning of a potential net loss in its half year results.   The independent milk processor is projecting a 17-to-21-million-dollar loss for the six months to June, down from a net profit of $4.8 million from the same period last year.   It's putting the loss down to rising interest rates and operational costs and lower margins   Ashburton-based Synlait supplier Willy Leferink told...

Emotions are running high after the death of Green MP Efeso Collins.   The 49-year-old died after collapsing at a charity event in Auckland yesterday.   Community leader David Letele was at the event and told Mike Hosking that he spent yesterday reflecting.   He spent the day with his family because life is fragile, and we have to treasure every moment.   Parliament has adjourned until Tuesday and...

Australia and New Zealand are going head-to-head today in the T20 opener in Wellington.   The city is expecting the largest crowd for a cricket game in almost a decade, over 22,000 fans expected to attend.   Black Caps coach Gary Stead told Mike Hosking that the Australians place them under a lot of pressure, so the key is absorbing it for extended periods of time and then finding opportunities to...

There are several questions you can ask about Grant Robertson bailing now.   1) Why not on the night, or shortly afterwards?   He seemed to give some indication post-election he would hang around for a while to see how things were travelling.   But the clue was there last year when he pretended that you couldn’t be a Finance Minister and an electorate MP at the same time, despite having been a Fin...

Businesses are being warned supply disruptions are set to continue due to an uncertain global environment.   The Productivity Commission's final report before funding moves to the new Ministry for Regulation, warns that disruptions could impact thousands of jobs.   Modelling shows that wars, new tech, and oil price rises could see GDP go down from 1.4% to 7.5%.   Mainfreight Managing Director Don...

Labour’s police spokeswoman, Ginny Andersen, claims Police Minister Mark Mitchell was “paid to kill people” and has asked him whether he kept a “tally of how many you shot” while providing private military services in Iraq.   Mitchell says Andersen’s comments are “outrageous” and she should apologise. Andersen refused.   The pair appeared on  Newstalk ZB  this morning for their usual politics slot...

We're not alone in being overweight as the rest of the western world is also struggling.   Health New Zealand's latest review of the state of our health has found one in three adults carries enough weight to affect their health.   Nutritionist Lillian Morton told Mike Hosking that we all know we need to exercise and eat well to stay healthy, but the reasons we don't do that are complex.   She says...

ANZ is standing by its prediction of more interest rate rises this year.   The country's largest bank is forecasting the OCR will be hiked two more times this year, bringing it to 6%, despite other banks expecting the OCR to remain steady.   It's also not ruling out the OCR surpassing 7% or even 8% in the current cycle.   ANZ Economist Andre Castang told Mike Hosking that they're relatively confid...

David Seymour says pharmacists and members of the public are supportive of his move to bring back pseudoephedrine.   The cold and flu drug was banned in 2011 in an effort to combat meth manufacturing.   Now, the Associate Health Minister is introducing a Bill to make it available from a pharmacy without a prescription.   Seymour told Mike Hosking that most people have told him what's available now...

Chris Hipkins says Grant Robertson indicated his departure from politics long ago.   The former Deputy Prime Minister and former Finance Minister is set to become Otago University Vice Chancellor when he leaves the Labour Party next month.   Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins told Mike Hosking that it wasn't a huge surprise.   He says Robertson had indicated to him not long after Jacinda Ardern too...

Nurses are calling for something to be done about the financial hurdles they face while finishing their studies.   The Nurses Organisation 2023 Student Survey found 84% feel nursing students should receive financial compensation during clinical experience.   Nurses' Organisation National Student Uni Co-Chair Shannyn Bristowe told Mike Hosking that there needs to be a fix to get students through.  ...

Kiwi chef Ben Bayly is returning for another season of his highly anticipated show 'A New Zealand Food Story'. The show is returning for a third season, Bayly touring the country seeking fresh and innovative ideas for the menu of his award-winning restaurant 'Ahi', as well as spotlighting kiwis dedicated to cultivating some of the world's finest ingredients. The show began in 2020, the first seaso...

The good news from the new immigration minister is that a reset on numbers is coming.   I think the major issue is not that too many people are coming, it's that too many of the wrong people are coming.   You need to ask yourself why.   If every genius, billionaire, and entrepreneur was beating a path to our door, the 120,000 odd we are growing by would not be an issue.   But the fact that most of...

Long-term neglect of Police infrastructure has led to health and safety concerns at a number of stations nationwide.   The Police Association says issues range from areas being off-limit because of black mould, to leaky walls and roofs, nailed-up windows, and lockers housed in toilet cubicles.   Association President Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking that this isn’t this government’s problem.   He sa...

Auckland's Mayor is confident the public —and councillors— will back his preferred budget plan.   Councillors will vote today on seeking public feedback on rising rates by about 38%, 20%, or 13% over three years.   The 38% option would fund new infrastructure, while the 13% would see assets age and deteriorate.   Mayor Wayne Brown told Mike Hosking that he's backing the 20% option, involving annua...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he has spoken to a lot of Work and Income frontline caseworkers who say their biggest frustration was people abusing the beneficiary system.   “They don’t feel that they can apply the sanctions when they need to be applied, people who are wilfully and knowingly abusing the system and not taking their situation seriously,” Luxon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking....

St John's move to pull some ambulances off the road has shone a light on our public health system.   The service is aiming to rein in costs for when a worker is sick or on leave.   Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Sarah Dalton told Mike Hosking that she doesn't understand why a core health service isn't publicly funded.   She says ambulances are critical, and as a cou...

A former Work and Income boss is applauding the Government's benefits policy, saying there's no future for someone on welfare.   From mid-2024 there will be a ramp up of check-ins for jobseekers and sanctions for those who don't meet their obligations, particularly for young people.   Former WINZ boss Christine Rankin told Mike Hosking that people rot on the benefit.   She says it's a responsible...

A Japanese satellite launched into orbit by Rocket Lab will collect data on space junk. It's currently travelling about 27-thousand kilometres per hour, orbiting earth roughly every 90 minutes. It will rendezvous with an aging piece of space junk to see if it can be removed in the future. Rocket Lab spokeswoman Morgan Bailey told Mike Hosking that they're pretty close to that becoming a reality.  ...

A lack of surprise over Alexei Navalny's death. The 47-year-old Russian opposition leader died at the weekend, after collapsing following a walk in his Arctic prison. In the wake of the announcement of his death, more than 400 people have been arrested across Russia, as local police crackdown on memorials across 36 cities. Auckland University international relations expert Stephen Hoadley told Mik...

Fast tracking the opening of State Highway 25A proved to be a boost to the Coromandel's local economy. The road, which was closed due to storm damage last year, was opened three months early. It's said to have increased the region's GDP by 85-million dollars. Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Mike Hosking that there needs to be a lesson here for the Government. He says i...

The Government says it's time to get real about what it will take to get a country with the modern infrastructure we need. Prime Minister Chris Luxon used his state of the nation speech yesterday, to describe the country as being in a fragile state. Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking that there are areas where things need to be done more efficiently. She says not every road needs a c...

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. New Auckland stadium: 7/10 More accurately, the Auckland stadium “drawing”. What a quality piece of work. But, any money and any odds you want say it'll never be built. Superbowl: 9/10 The most watched event in TV history. That's how you sell a sport. The Joe Biden report: 1/10 H...

Callum Hedge has had an interesting start to the year.   The 19-year-old motorsport driver started 2024 with some health issues, but is back with a bang   This weekend he’ll be competing in the New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands, touching down from Finland at 5am, on the track by 10am.   Hedge told Mike Hosking that this weekend is pretty important, to get out on the track and make sure everythin...

The odd stat of the week was the 50,000 people who claim superannuation but also earn over $100,000 a year.   That doesn't mean anything. But as a result of that odd stat, yet again off we went down a bit of a rabbit hole debating superannuation and its many and various outworkings.   1) We are not changing super.   Every time someone suggests it, the political unpalatability becomes fairly obviou...