The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Qantas is gearing up to go from the city of sails to the Big Apple in a 16 hour flight. The Australian airline begins its Auckland to New York flight tomorrow, after years of planning and nine months after Air New Zealand launched its service for the route. Chief Executive, Alan Joyce told Mike Hosking there's big demand for the route, and they'll be competing directly with our national airline. H...

National's plan to delay emissions pricing is being applauded in some quarters as a step in the right direction. Under the party's policy, the date farmers would need to start paying for emissions, would be pushed back from 2025 to 2030. From 2025, farmers would be able to claim credits for trees planted on farms. Dairy New Zealand Chair Jim van der Poel told Mike Hosking it's definitely better th...

Alarm bells are ringing over the pressures New Zealand's social cohesion is facing. Auckland University think tank, Koi Tu: The Centre for Informed Futures, has released a discussion document highlighting strains within New Zealand society. It says factors such as political, economic and environmental issues alongside increased misinformation are having a negative impact. Co-author of the report,...

Chris Hipkins says it's not his job, to decide how authorities should be dealing with rising gang tension in Ōpōtiki. Gang members have descended on the eastern Bay of Plenty town following the death of Mongrel Mob Barbarians President Steven Rota Taiatini last Friday. Schools have closed and bus services have been cancelled due to safety concerns, and two suspicious house fires have been reported...

Labour is being accused of being too soft on untruly tenants living in Kāinga Ora properties. Three people have been evicted for bad behaviour in the past 18 months, despite 10,000 complaints since the housing agency rolled out tougher termination measures. Litigation lawyer Adina Thorn told Mike Hosking clearly the government has a no eviction policy. “People ring me all over the country; terribl...

An end seems to be in sight to the Ruapehu Alpine Lifts saga. The skifield is in voluntary administration with the Government backing two bidders to take the reins. It's understood it would be split into two skifields; one business running each. Creditors vote next week on whether to liquidate the company, and sell assets to bidders. Mayor Weston Kirton told Mike Hosking there's more to be done, b...

A biotech company say it's about time we reconsider gene modification's role in the country's scientific pursuits. National has promised to ease genetic modification regulations to help with solutions to environmental, agricultural, and health issues. BioTechNZ Executive Director Zahra Champion told Mike Hosking that past anti-GMO conversations caused industry to steer clear of the topic, out of f...

We enter another week, yet another week, of industrial action. Yes, it’s the teachers again. The upside is that the primary sector got themselves sorted last week. So one assumes that although they are separate claims, the broad aim is the same and one hopes a similar sort of outcome can't be far away. The primary deal seems a generous one with the one-off payments, the non-contact time and the la...

A survival expert says the four children who lasted 40 days in an unforgiving Colombian jungle is a testament to human endurance. The siblings aged thirteen, nine, four, and one were found alive after surviving a plane crash, spending weeks living in the Amazon jungle. The children have now been reunited with relatives after the tragedy that killed three adults, including their mother. Survival ex...

The Green Party has revised their tax policy, promising a 2.5% wealth tax, targeting assets worth two-million-dollars, or four-million for couples. The party would remove taxes for earners below 120-thousand-dollars, while lifting the top tax rate to 45%, and corporate taxes to 33%. Green Party co-leader James Shaw told Mike Hosking that the conditions are there for a greater level of support for...

The Green Party's eyeing sweeping changes to our tax system... but not all financial experts are onboard. It's promising a 2.5% wealth tax, targeting assets worth two-million-dollars, or four-million for couples. The party would remove taxes for earners below 120-thousand-dollars, while lifting the top tax rate to 45%, and corporate taxes to 33%. Oliver Shaw Tax Advisory Director, Mike Shaw told M...

The Health Minister's unveiled a new plan to even out the playing field when accessing healthcare treatment around the country. Ayesha Verrall says the 'postcode lottery' —where patients face differences in treatment based on where they live— will be tackled by groups of expert clinicians. Taskforces —representing different specialties— will compare access to treatment in different regions, and ma...

Rory McIlroy is my hero of the week. Watch the Netflix doco-series Full Swing. Rory features in one episode and comes across very well. He said he feels like a sacrificial lamb, which he is. No one has spoken out more strongly for the PGA Tour. No one has been more passionate about defending the sport he loves, for the right reasons. He says in the series that he may well have let it go a bit far...

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 An astonishing week, an astonishing revelation, astonishing behaviour and perhaps the poster boy for all that’s gone wrong with a tired Government.   Jan Tinetti: 2/10 Would have been their headline act if she hadn't been usurped by even more spectacular inco...

Every player in the FIFA Women's World Cup has $49,000 coming their way and the 23 players in the title winning team will each get $447,000. The money comes as a result of FIFA's previous promise to financially reward the 732 players taking part in this years tournament, meaning more than half of FIFA's total prize money fund of $182 million must be paid to the players. Former Football Fern Wendi...

Le Mans is all set to go ahead this weekend. And defending champion Brendon Hartley will be in attendance, looking to add a fourth championship to the list. Brendon Hartley joined the Mike Hosking BReakfast. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may be too early to read too much into the Government's higher than expected deficit. Latest Treasury figures show the Government has recorded a $7 billion deficit for the ten months to April. While that's $2.4 billion lower than the deficit from the same period a year ago, it's $1.3 billion dollars higher than Budget forecasts. New Zealand Initiative Chief Economist Eric Crampton told Mike Hos...

Doctors are saying the Government's proposed five percent funding increase isn't enough. A number of general practice associations have written to Te Whatu Ora Health NZ calling for an increase of at least 14 percent. College of GPs President Samantha Murton told Mike Hosking the funding model was formulised two decades ago, but lots has changed since then. She says that formula doesn't cover the...

Auckland needs a deal. Councillors will be back around the table at 10 this morning - as its budget considerations stretch into a second day. Mayor Wayne Brown raised a proposal mid-way through yesterday's meeting. He suggested selling only a portion  of the council's Auckland Airport shares, alongside higher rates rises and more cuts to Council Controlled Organisations and local boards. Auckland...

Auckland Airport's clapped back at airlines after their claims that increased landing fees could make travel less affordable. Qantas and Air New Zealand have teamed up to publicly oppose the airport's latest plans to double landing fees over the next four years. They say prices are being hiked to fund a largely unnecessary redevelopment. But Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui told Mike Hosking ch...

You could have heard a pin drop at Question Time yesterday. How many times had Michael Wood been asked by the Cabinet Office to sell his Auckland Airport shares? We had thought six times was bad but it turned out to be 12. In a day of questions that saw the Government as decimated as any day I have seen watching these things, Paul Goldsmith of National asked Wood whether it was dishonesty or incom...

If you want a sense of how the UK economy is fearing, and how to get into business, then James Caan is your man. The British-Pakistani entrepreneur went from no degree to starting a recruitment company to becoming one of the most respected and successful entrepreneurs in the UK and a government advisor. He was a former dragon on Dragons' Den and his latest recruitment company, Recruitment Entrepre...

Ōtautahi Christchurch   is making progress in its earthquake and pandemic recovery. Thanks to five major summer sporting events, the local economy has received an injection of close to $3 million. ChristchurchNZ's General Manager of Destination and Attraction Loren Heaphy told Mike Hosking the city has matured from its post-quake status and is picking up momentum. She says they are focused on buil...

Out of the $30 million provided to the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce to help businesses stay open after the cyclone, about $8.8 million of it has been left unspent and is set to be returned to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. There were 1491 grants accepted and paid out, but only about 130 businesses received the full amount of $40,000. Last time Greg Miller joined the Mike H...

Auckland councillors will decide today whether to sell the council's shares in Auckland Airport. Newstalk ZB's Michael Sergel told Kate Hawkesby Mayor Wayne Brown will be seeing the numbers to sell the council's entire 18-percent stake in the airport. It's still unclear if two councillors, Chris Darby and Julie Fairey, who happens to be married to Michael Wood will be voting, after they had to cor...