The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Investigative journalist Nick McKenzie has called revealing the truth behind Australia's most decorated soldier the toughest assignment of his 21 year journalism career. Ben Roberts-Smith lost his defamation case against three newspapers who reported he had murdered civilians in Afghanistan. McKenzie was the first to report the story - and has now released his new book Crossing the Line. He told M...

A back up Defence Force 757 aircraft has been sent on Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ trip to China due to the aircraft’s unreliability and likely chances of breaking down. Both planes are about 30 years old and in less than a year $33 million has been spent on repairs, on top of the $70 million already spent in the last five years. They are both set to be replaced between 2028-2030. Former Defence...

A government announcement to help universities get over the line is coming this afternoon. Victoria, Otago, Massey, and Waikato universities are all struggling with financial deficits, due to declining student enrolments and pandemic impacts. Acting Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni told Mike Hosking more people are working rather than studying due to the cost of living. She says this is about making...

An average of around 16 percent of Kiwis' after-tax income is spent on infrastructure services - including drinking water, transport, broadband and home heating. And spending on those services is surprisingly comparable to Australian households. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission General Manager of Strategy Geoff Cooper joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

A lifeline comes as the Government offers a $5 million helping hand towards the liquidators of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts. The loan is being touted as the silver bullet to ensure the ski season can go ahead. Meanwhile, discussions continue behind closed doors. Bids are on the table for an iwi group to purchase the skifields against a separate bid to split operations between Pure Turoa and Whakapapa Hold...

It's expected Chris Hipkins will be walking a tight rope during his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing today. Newstalk ZB Political Editor Jason Walls says the diplomatic proceedings will be highly choreographed, with every word chosen carefully. He told Mike Hosking it will be a balancing act. “Such as things like human rights, things like the treatment of the Uighur Muslims and...

If you haven't caught up, Three Waters is back. That surprises me to a degree, given the trouble the Government has had with Three Waters, the problems they have in the polls and the trouble they dug themselves into last week over race issues in health. Just to recap - when the Prime Minister became the Prime Minister he tossed a bunch of stuff out, or on the bonfire. But one of them wasn’t Three...

National's law and order policy is being applauded for putting focus back onto victims of crime. It’s vowing to stop funding cultural reports on offender's backgrounds, redirecting the money to victim support. If elected, a 40% cap will also be slapped on the amount judges can discount sentences. Independent victim advocate Ruth Money says survivors of crime feel the discounts are getting out of c...

There's trepidation over a controversial attempt to manipulate the weather to fight climate change. The European Commission is looking at interfering with weather patterns to cool the earth. It would involve multiple controversial techniques, including a vehicle flying around up to 25 kilometres above the earth's surface shooting out micron-sized particles that affect the sun. Victoria University...

National's hitting out at the Government's plane double up for its China trip. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and his entourage, along with a business delegation and reporters landed in Beijing last night on the Defence Force Boeing 757. But a second 757 has tailed them as a contingency plan, given that breakdowns have become a somewhat regular occurrence. National Party Leader, Chris Luxon told Mik...

An attempted armed mutiny in Russia suggests that things may be unravelling for Vladimir Putin. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner fighters has forced the Russian president into an amnesty agreement. The deal halted Wagner's march on Moscow, but only after two major cities had been seized. US correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that Putin...

Alarm bells are ringing over surgeons' ability to use surgical mesh. Due to concerns about avoidable harm, the Health Ministry's set up a credential process for highly-specialised urogynecological operations. In the first round of assessments, 12 surgeons applied but only half met the requirements. Some are calling for the practice to be suspended. Wellington Hospital's Clinical Lead for Gynaecolo...

A rare uprising in Russia is thought to be reflective of Vladimir Putin's splintering leadership. The US says the weekend mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner fighters has forced the Russian president into an amnesty agreement. Two major cities had been seized before the deal halted Wagner's march on Moscow. Putin accused the group of treason but all charges have since been dropped. The Center for...

I don’t think I am alone in thinking we have got about nowhere in this scandal around race based health prioritisation. Sadly it has, entirely predictably, descended into a race scrap where by those who quite rightly ask questions about a highly contentious issue are simply called racist. Being called racist is the laziest of responses sadly rolled out on queue to often these days by people who ha...

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.   Michael Wood : 1/10 "How to blow up a career with a dozen warnings and an indescribable amount of arrogance."   Ruapehu : 4/10 "You can't help but conclude self-interest won the day at the expense of an entire region." "Upside, all is not lost - a deal will hopefully be done."...

The final game of the Super Rugby season will kick off this Saturday in Hamilton. The Crusaders and Chiefs will battle it out for the Super Rugby title in front of a sold out FMG Stadium. Chiefs Head Coach Clayton McMillan joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oceangate says the five missing crew on the Titan submersible are believed to be dead. Debris was found 500 metres away from the titanic Oceanographer Dr Jules Jaffe helped discover the Titanic wreck - he joined the Mike Hosking Breakfast out of California. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National's finance spokesperson says she's shocked by Government's inability to confirm if the Provincial Growth Fund is getting bang for buck. Parliament has been told the paper trail tracking the Government's handling of the $640 million fund is so poor, auditors had to ask officials to recall what happened in their meetings. National's Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking she can't believe they didn...

With numbers of those employed in the public sector increasing by 28 percent,  along with more top heavy well-paid managers and communication teams, and an increase in spending - a new report is questioning why the outcomes in government dominated sectors aren't performing better. An earlier study shows the best performing countries are capable of achieving the same public service outcomes as New...

It is about to become a lot tougher for criminals to get their hands on guns. That's the ultimate aim of a digital firearms registry that goes live tomorrow. It hopes to track nearly 240,000 licensed gun owners, who must sign up within five years. Police minister Ginny Andersen told Mike Hosking an issue right now is criminals stealing legal guns, and the new system will help determine where those...

The Prime Minister has a tight rope to navigate as he prepares for his trip to China next week. Chris Hipkins is set to leave on Sunday with a large business delegation including exporters from the primary sector, tourism and education sectors. He will meet with Chinese leader Xi JinPing. Former Prime Minister Sir John Key says China's economy has enormous upsides and plenty of opportunities for N...

The whole Michael Wood story defies any logical explanation. It defied explanation when he got into trouble over the airport shares. It defied explanation when it was thought he got asked six times to get rid of them but didn’t. It defied explanation when it turned out to be 12 times The Prime Minister had the chance to lance the boil at the time but chose not to. Chris Hipkins has been let down i...

What a season the Warriors are having. In the top eight, playing well, beating the teams they are meant to beat and competing for all 80 mins. The week's of State of Origin is considered the halfway point of the season so we thought it was a good time, with the Warriors coming off a bye, that we get coach Andrew Webster back as we get in to the business end of the NRL season. Andrew Webster told M...

A politician is frustrated with a lack of change at Oranga Tamariki. The department has revealed two staff members have been stood down and are being investigated for alleged sexual misconduct with young people in the past year. About five young people were affected. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush will conduct a review. Act Party children spokesperson Karen Chhour told Mike Hosking despite p...

Do you eat the stems of your broccoli? Well apparently a lot of us don't - about a third of Kiwis throw them away making around 282 tonnes of broccoli waste each year. That waste is combined with the more than $3 billion worth of food thrown out by Kiwis yearly. Leaderbrand CEO Richard Burke joined Mike Hosking to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.