The Mike Hosking Breakfast

While Shane van Gisbergen has received all the headlines lately, and rightfully so, there's yet another Kiwi on one of the main stages of racing doing it at an elite level. Nick Cassidy competes in the Formula E championship - the competition for electric vehicles. There are only four races left in the season and after winning the last race in Portland, Nick is a single point off the championship....

Top restaurants are being spammed with fake reviews on Google. Overseas internet scammers have been known to start posting five-star reviews from fake accounts, where they then follow up by threatening to leave unfavourable reviews unless they receive payment from restaurants. CEO of the Restaurant Association Marisa Bidois joined Mike Hosking to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE     See omnystudio.com/listen...

The Commerce Commission has appointed a new Grocery Commissioner to referee New Zealand's supermarkets. Former Sanitarium New Zealand boss Pierre van Heerden will take up the role this Thursday. Commission chair John Small says van Heerden brings more than 25 years of experience on the supply side of the grocery sector. The appointment is part of reforms brought in by the passing of the Grocery In...

It's still unclear if Chris Hipkins will get a chance to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Acting Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni says told Mike Hosking he would like to, if he can. “Certainly if the logistics will allow then our Prime Minister does want to meet with him. But it’s up to the logistics and being able to make that work but there’s definitely no issue with our relation...

Big questions for Nato over who should be allowed to join the military alliance. Leaders of 31 Nato countries and 14 other countries are gathering for the start of the Leaders' Summit in Lithuania tonight - including Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. Finland has been admitted to Nato in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Otago University international relations expert Robert Patman told Mik...

Questions are being raised on whether the Government will consider the recommendations of a review into dawn-raid style tactics. An independent probe into the practice is calling on the Government to consider banning it for residential addresses, while urging officials to only use out-of-hours visits as a last resort. Jacinda Ardern apologised two years ago to Pacific people for historic Dawn Raid...

We now have a Fair Trade Agreement with the European Union. And Australian farmers are rubbishing the deal - urging their Trade Minister to walk away from negotiations with the EU if they are offered a similar deal. Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor joined the Mike Hosking Breakfast. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I guess you look at New Zealand in a slightly different light when you are offshore. The only news New Zealand got in Australia last week was the video of a pig that was wandering around Auckland. They thought that was funny. As I read about home I wondered what sort of parallel universe I was in. Ingrid Leary, a Labour MP from Dunedin, wanders into a gang meeting but it’s the wrong meeting. The P...

The Green Party has laid out its vision for the next government. It launched its election manifesto yesterday, including a plan to end poverty, guarantee a warm home for all, and take strong climate action. There's also a big focus on children, culture, inclusivity, and drug law reforms. Co-leader, James Shaw told Mike Hosking that the current Government hasn't always performed perfectly, but has...

Southland farmers are warning that an order to stop winter grazing comes at a massive cost. Environment Southland issued the abatement notice to several farmers after deeming that the rules under the national environmental standards for freshwater were being broken. This included red flags on critical source areas, or the breaking of slope rules. Federated Farmers Winter Grazing Spokesperson Jason...

A survey coming out of the tobacco industry reveals a nearly 30% decline in black market tobacco consumption since 2019. Otago University Professor Nick Wilson told Mike Hosking that there are a whole range of anti-smoking programs, but a lot of smokers are switching to vaping as it’s readily available. He says while the increase in vaping is concerning, it’s important that those wanting to quit t...

The EU trade deal has officially been signed as Chris Hipkins starts his week in Europe. Former Trade Minister Tim Groser says that overall there is useful aspects of the agreement, but it wasn’t realistic to expect a transformational deal in conscientious areas such as beef and dairy. He says it’s a subjective judgement as to whether the negotiators should’ve pushed harder, but he trusts in their...

The ACT Party is touting its new crime crackdown policy as a way to curb youth offending. It wants to see 17-year-olds charged as adults, and for youth justice facilities to be run by Corrections, not Oranga Tamariki. ACT Party Leader David Seymour told Mike Hosking that their plans are about putting penalties on offenders. He says this policy is about putting personal responsibility on those that...

More details have been released about the latest pay offer from midwives this morning. The agreement lifts the base pay for Te Whatu Ora midwives by up to $12,000 a year. Graduate midwives will start work in a public hospital on almost $73,000 a year before overtime and allowances. It will be backdated to April last year Midwifery union, MERAS co-leader Caroline Conroy told Tim Dower this will hop...

Alarmed experts have sounded warning for the mental and physical wellbeing of Kiwi children after new research revealed our kids are spending about a third of after-school time on screens. The high rate of screen time is exposing youngsters to cyberbullying, harmful sexualised content and inappropriate advertising for sectors such as alcohol and gambling. YouTube and Netflix are the most popular w...

Thirty-million users have signed up for Mark Zuckerberg's newly-launched Threads app on its first day. The owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - Meta - has released its direct competitor to Elon Musk's Twitter, which offers a text-based version of Instagram. US correspondent Richard Arnold told Tim Dower this is a significant move from the Meta boss. He says Zuckerberg hopes to turn Threads...

Single sex secondary schools seem to be a better environment for boy's learning. A study commissioned by the Association of Boys' Schools of New Zealand has found boys in single sex schools are 20 percent more likely to get University Entrance than co-ed boys. It also finds boys at co-ed schools were twice as likely to leave school with no qualifications. The data was taken from boys who left scho...

The All Blacks face Argentina on Sunday for their first Test of 2023. It's an early start for us, with kick off at 7.10am on Sunday. We had the unveiling of the squad earlier this morning - the main talking point is Damian McKenzie at first-five. The three Barrett brothers are all in the starting line-up and Shannon Frizzell has claimed the blindside flanker spot. Former All Black and commentator...

Fears over the wider social implications of a brazen daylight robbery at an Auckland dairy. An owner and a customer were injured in a hammer attack at Jyoti's Dairy in Mount Roskill on Wednesday afternoon. Both are now recovering at home, and police are appealing for any more witnesses. But Puketāpapa Local Board Chair, Ella Kumar said Thursday it won't be an easy fix emotionally and mentally. She...

ACT says $531 million spent on unused Covid tests is money down the drain. Our newsroom can reveal Te Whatu Ora has almost 60 million rapid antigen tests in stock around the country. About 30 percent of them have already expired or are due to expire by month's end. ACT's deputy leader Brooke van Velden says this shows total disregard for the good use of taxpayers' money. She says the half-a-billio...

Time now to talk with one of our best homegrown RNB artists. Alayna Powley, you'll know her best as just Alayna when she's performing, first appeared on the music scene in 2013 when a YouTube video of her singing Sam Smith's nirvana went viral. Her debut ep was in 2018 titled Sweet Soul followed by Tender in 2020. 60 million streams later - we are about to get her debut album. It's been three year...

The cricketing world is still not over the events of last week's Ashes test - but tonight is the third match in the series. England need to win at Headingly to keep the series alive. talkSPORT UK correspondent Jon Norman joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Education Ministry has opted for an American carpet supplier, rather than buy New Zealand wool for 600 small and rural schools, They've gone for nylon tiles instead. General Manager of Campaign for Wool NZ Tom O'Sullivan and Head of Property for the Ministry of Education Sam Fowler joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A third medical school could be the pipe line if National gets into Government. Leader Chris Luxon has unveiled plans to set up the school at Waikato University if elected. As well as increasing the medical school placements at Auckland and Otago - the Party expects to have an additional 220 doctors graduating a year by 2030. Waikato University Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley said Wednesday...

New research from NIWA and Auckland University shows more than 400,000 homes are in flood prone areas. Put it another way; it's 12 percent of residential buildings. Around half are in Auckland and Canterbury - Wellington, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions also have their share. Chair of the NZ Planning Institute Reg Proffit joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...