The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Yet another competition has arisen between Australia and New Zealand.   KiwiSaver is underperforming, with only a 6% contribution rate in comparison to the 11% contribution rate to Australia’s Super System.   Simplicity Founder, Sam Stubbs, told Mike Hosking that politicians tend to think in the short term when it comes to KiwiSaver.   He said that they might be worried that if they make KiwiSaver...

Aside from the ongoing scandal at Three Waters headquarters that we talked about yesterday, is the news from ratings agency S&P, who tell us the real issue around water and what to do about infrastructure is not Government debt but local council debt. Now at this point Labour will yell "I told you so". The problem is the Government is not encumbered by debt if you compare it as S&P do to o...

Invivo was created back in 2008 with the intention of bringing kiwi wine to the world.   Fifteen years on they, alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, lead a seminar and tasting for some of the most influential beverage industry professionals at the world’s biggest wine event in New York.   Their wine collaboration is the fastest growing premium Sauvignon Blanc currently in the United States, with sales...

Small business sales have seen a decline in growth for the first time since Covid-19 lockdowns.   New Xero data for the September 2023 quarter shows a 1.5% decline year-on-year in sales, the weakest since September 2021.   It puts New Zealand well behind Australia and just behind the UK, but well ahead of the US and Canada.   Max Whitehead, the CEO of the Small Business Voice, told Mike Hosking th...

There’s a debate around whether teachers and students should be able to contact each other on social media.   A student who was groomed and sexually abused by her teacher is calling for teachers to be banned from talking to students on social media.   Secondary Principals Association President Vaughan Couillault told Mike Hosking that it's about appropriate use.   He says it's not necessarily the...

Helen Clark says the fact New Zealand has a caretaker government means it's taken time for a statement on the Israel Gaza conflict.   Outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, in consultation with incoming Prime Minister Chris Luxon, has joined international calls for humanitarian corridors in Gaza and designated safe areas.   The former Prime Minister told Mike Hosking that hostages will be fearing...

A Wellington City Councillor thinks the Town Hall saga is beyond the point of no return.   A majority of councillors yesterday agreed to accept a new budget of up to $329 million for the redevelopment and quake-strengthening of the heritage-listed building.   Tony Randle told Mike Hosking that they would have to consult the entire city if they voted not to continue works.   He says they were trapp...

Another piece has fallen into place for next year's America’s Cup.   Louis Vuitton has returned as the main sponsor for the event, marking forty-one years since they first got involved in 1983.   Team New Zealand CEO, Grant Dalton, told Mike Hosking that their return is really good for the cup.   He said it shows that they have faith in the Cup going forward, whether Team New Zealand wins or loses...

Local Government New Zealand maintains there are still council meetings that need a degree of privacy.   A Chief Ombudsman investigation into eight councils has found some have been effectively closing workshops to the public for invalid reasons.   It followed complaints they were undermining local democracy.   Local Government President Sam Broughton told Mike Hosking that the legislation still a...

As the coronial inquest into the mosque shooting gets underway surely one of the ironies is the fact that something that it is hoped will provide answers needs to answer a couple of questions itself. Why does it take so long to get an inquiry underway? Is something this far down the track from the event able to give the answers people want? One of the stories yesterday suggested the great hope was...

Politicians from opposing sides want special votes to be counted more quickly.   Special votes and the final election result will be released in nine days, giving the final makeup of Parliament.   National and ACT can govern alone on current numbers, but those may change once November 3rd comes around.   Labour's Megan Woods told Mike Hosking that she doesn't see how allowing people to enrol on th...

A fresh shout for Kiwi kids to back their team in black this week.   A campaign is calling on school kids to ditch their uniforms and don something black to show support for All Blacks ahead of the Rugby World Cup Final.   The man behind the campaign, former NZR Chief Executive, David Moffett told Mike Hoksing that it's a way for kids around the country to feel involved.   He says it'll give the f...

Sick leave is becoming an increasing issue for employers.   Business Desk reports bosses are noticing that people are not shy about using up all their sick leave entitlements.   Data shows that on average people take 5.5 sick days a year, a big jump from where it was at 4.5 pre-pandemic.   Business NZ's Director of Advocacy Catherine Beard told Mike Hosking that everyone's position on illnesses ha...

More than 220 Israeli hostages remain in captivity as the war with Hamas continues.   Four women have been released — one says she was led through a spider's web of damp tunnels into a large hall where she was under 24-hour guard.   US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that hopes for the rest remain unclear.   He says the US and Israel are pressing for a much larger hostage release bu...

Christopher Luxon has agreed coalition documents should be made public.   Special vote results get released on Friday week, showing the final make-up of MPs after the election.   Luxon wants vote-counting to be faster than that.   ACT's David Seymour says he has no problem making the coalition agreement public.   Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking that he's wanting to work...

The British Government's determined the explosion at a hospital in Gaza was most likely caused by a missile fired from within Gaza, not a rocket from Israel.   Palestinian officials say 471 people were killed in the blast at the hospital.   British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says their judgement is based on deep knowledge and analysis of their intelligence and weapons experts.   UK Correspondent,...

French President Emmanuel Macron is the latest world leader to attempt to calm waters in the Middle East.   He'll meet with the Israeli Prime Minister and President, following British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden last week.   Europe Correspondent Catherine Field says they're trying to avoid a broader escalation of the conflict.   She says they're asking for some kind of hu...

Andrew Webster has been locked in as the New Zealand Warriors head coach until the end of 2028.   The three-year contract extension means he'll equal the club's longest coaching tenure of six seasons.   Warriors CEO, Cameron George, told Mike Hosking that he has a way about getting belief into people.   He said that in tough situations you can measure a person’s leadership, and Webster didn’t move...

Wayne Barnes is the most experienced referee in test history.   He has been confirmed to referee the World Cup rugby final between the All Blacks and Springboks in Paris on Sunday morning.   Former International Rugby Referee, Vinny Munro, told Mike Hosking that he’s been there, done that.   He said that with that much experience, you’re going to get a good performance.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnyst...

Billions could be saved if we had a more concrete infrastructure project timeline.   An Infrastructure New Zealand-commissioned report shows streamlining delivery could result in savings of more than 26% on future projects.   CEO Nick Leggett says if applied, these savings could increase the amount spent on delivery by between 2.3-billion and 4.7-billion-dollars a year, over the 2025-31 period.  ...

A rise in workplace conflict could be down to people used to working from home, returning to the office.   A survey from GeniusYou shows 36% of people say they deal with conflict in the office often, up from the previous 29%.   Employment Specialist Jennifer Mills told Mike Hosking that it seems as if employees have a shorter fuse following lockdowns.   She says while people would've walked away f...

MetService is explaining why its models struggled to predict how bad the fatal Auckland Anniversary Storm was going to be.   An internal review reveals it failed to indicate the severity of the event and has found fault with the warnings issued.   MetService CEO Stephen Hunt told Mike Hosking that teams were in a real state of flow on the day.    Stephen Hunt says they're looking at using AI techn...

The caretaker convention's being blamed by the outgoing and incoming governments for their lack of comment on the situation in the Middle East.   The convention applies when an outgoing administration is preparing to make way for an incoming one.   Otago University International Relations Professor Robert Patman told Mike Hosking that what New Zealand says on the issue is important.   He says as t...

Not that I was aware of it on the night, but we asked Tamatha Paul to have a chat with us about her victory in the Wellington Central electorate. She said no, based on some thinking within the Green Party that I say stuff they don't like. Now, here is the problem with that. It shows an astonishing arrogance from the Green Party that, somehow, they feel as public representatives that they can dicta...

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 election: 7/10 A change of Government, reasonably clean result and an immediate lift in mood.   National: 8/10 Better result than most thought, a leader proved better than most thought, new MP's, a lot to play for and high hopes of at least two terms.   Labour: 3/10 Worse t...