The Mike Hosking Breakfast

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.   Groundswell: 6/10 "Part of a growing chorus of New Zealanders who are fed up."   Gaurav Sharma: 6/10 "One of the growing number of New Zealanders who are fed up."   Hamilton West By-Election: 8/10 "I actually like voting, races and contests. This is a particularly juicy one, gi...

Back to the Pfizer "scandal" and the "revelation" that Pfizer admitted it never tested its vaccine to work out whether it stopped transmission of Covid. Like virtually all of these sorts of breathless revelations, the real story is not as simple as it seems. But in simple teams, what is claimed didn't happen. It is not the scandal those who think it is, want it to be. In that is the key to this, l...

The Education Minister has a message for international students: we're open for business. Chris Hipkins will travel to Asia to encourage people from overseas to study in New Zealand. He'll speak at the largest student expo in Korea to promote New Zealand's tertiary institutions, before making similar calls in Singapore and Indonesia. Preliminary data already shows uptake in enrolments, but Hipkins...

Rotorua's new mayor wants the Government help to change negative perceptions people have of the city, due to emergency housing. A report's found visitors are being put off due to safety concerns, causing the city's visitor economy to under-perform compared to the rest of New Zealand. It's cost Rotorua $17 million dollars over three months and if it continues,  the city could lose $92 million in vi...

Imagine your fixed term mortgage rate being upwards of seven percent over the next few years. Well according to ASB we don't have to imagine - it will be a reality. Their latest home loan report says they predict the peak interest rate for fixed term will be between 7-7.5 percent while floating rates could peak at 9 percent - all based on the OCR peaking at 5.25 percent. Chief economist at ASB Nic...

The aviation sector is rebounding a lot better than expected. Auckland Airport has revised its 2023 financial year profit to between $100-130 million, up from $50-100 million. It's due to the high aircraft load factors, meaning how many seats are filled, and the extra flights coming in from early next month. Auckland Airport CEO Carrie Hurihanganui joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio....

The number of people on a main benefit is going down. There are more than 13,000 fewer people on a main benefit compared to this time last year. Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni says the Government's been working hard to get people into employment and off the benefit early. She told Mike Hosking the results are promising. LISTEN ABOVE     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Creative New Zealand having been stung badly for their behaviour this week. Having been embarrassed by an embarrassed Prime Minister who went and usurped them for easy political points, they have "spoken out." This is Shakespeare and the funding they rejected because of the "cannon of imperialism." First point, who speaks like that? The "cannon of imperialism?" What condescending tosh. So the appl...

Dame Valerie Adams is one of our sporting greats. Her record is incredible; a four-time World Champion, two Olympic golds and three-time Commonwealth Games gold medal winner. She was Sportswoman of the Year at the Hallberg’s for seven consecutive years  - and took out three Supreme Awards. Dame Valerie retired earlier this year and is now telling her story with a new documentary More than Gold, wh...

One of the biggest water parks in the country will be able to stay open after "bureaucratic red tape" threatened to close it. Kiwi Water Park in Cromwell was looking at closure because of a traffic issue - the turn off for it was on a 100 km/h road and there was no right hand turning bay which did not please Land Information NZ or Waka Kotahi. So they threatened to close the place because safety w...

A New Zealand researcher says the pandemic has contributed to obesity. Auckland University Professor of Population Nutrition Boyd Swinburn is speaking at the International Congress on Obesity in Melbourne. The average annual weight gain by a New Zealander increased tenfold to 1.4 kilograms during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns. Swinburn says staying at home, exercising less and eating more while fast...

Auckland's new mayor is confident the city's Council Controlled Organisations will do what he tells them to. Wayne Brown has written to the Eke Pānuku development agency, water company Watercare, Auckland Transport, and Ports of Auckland, asking for major changes in priorities. The letters are largely symbolic, as the mayor doesn't have direct power over the organisations' day-to-day operations. B...

The dismissal of an appeal seeking to change the nine month home detention sentence for a teen rapist, is being described as nuanced and complex. Jayden Meyer was convicted of raping four 15-year-old girls and sexually violating a fifth when he was 16. Massey University adjunct professor of law, Chris Gallavin, says the judgement is 128 paragraphs long. He told Mike Hosking the Crown's appeal was...

A new report suggests New Zealand is missing out on billions of dollars as a result of delayed decision-making over infrastructure. The report commissioned by Infrastructure New Zealand suggests it currently takes on average 15 years to deliver major transport links across the country. Meanwhile traffic congestion is costing Aucklanders up to $1.3 billion annually, more than $1,000 a year per adul...

A property development company is taking Kāinga Ora to court, over its refusal to fast track a $4 billion housing development in Papakura. Winton Land is accusing the state housing agency of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour,  by refusing private developers fair access to fast-track powers and paying well above market rate for land. Chief Executive Chris Meehan won't say how much money is bei...

Another sign the Prime Minister has lost any political acumen she may once have had. Her reaction to the Gaurav Sharma resignation was to whine about the cost of a by-election. The vote costs around $1 million. Why she would worry about $1 million is beyond me. She wasn’t worried about the $50 million for consultants on the cycle bridge in Auckland that went nowhere. Just this week, she didn't see...

MPs Megan Woods and Mark Mitchell joined the Mike Hosking Breakfast to wrap the week's political news. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reassurance for the travel industry as the final pandemic travel requirement will be scrapped. The New Zealand Traveller Declaration will no longer be needed to enter the country after the Government announced its winding down most of its Covid-19 powers - including rolling out lockdowns, MIQ and vaccine mandates. Tourism Holdings Chief Executive Grant Webster told Mike Hosking dropping the decele...

Grant Robertson has no regrets about his economic decisions during the Covid pandemic. The inflation rate has dropped only slightly in the September quarter, from the 32-year high recorded in the year to June. The Reserve Bank may now have to hike the Official Cash Rate by 75 basis points next month. The Finance Minister told Mike Hosking while hindsight is a wonderful thing, the Government has ma...

Simon Upton is the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, and he wants the Government to now clearly monitor the money it is spending on the environment and what that actually achieves. He even stated the money they're throwing at the environment is 'short termism', and is lacking in transparency. Dave Frame is a professor of Climate Change with Victoria University of Wellington and he jo...

The Dairy and Business Owners Group is meeting with Chris Hipkins today, as ram raids and thefts continue to plague businesses. Several more Auckland businesses were struck on Monday night, with youths smashing their way into eateries and leaving a trail of damage behind. Group Chair Sunny Kaushal says with the Government’s inaction and failure to stop the crimes, he believes the meeting with the...

Doctors say the Government is trying to put a gloss on a dire situation. A damning review into Middlemore Hospital has found its ED is dysfunctional and overcrowded, with senior doctors calling for a trainee teaching programme to be scrapped due to unsafe conditions. Health Minister Andrew Little says it's been a difficult winter and immigration settings will help solve it. But Resident Doctors' A...

Gaurav Sharma believes there is plenty of support for his new political party. The former Labour MP has announced he is quitting Parliament, sparking a by-election in his Hamilton West seat, in which he'll be standing. Sharma told Mike Hosking he'll be announcing the formation of a new centrist party and its name and policies in due course. He's talking to people who want a party that isn't too ri...

Time to catch up with a household favourite. Mike first met Graham Norton when he cycled into the BBC when we were in London for the Royal Wedding in 2018. Of course, his talk show has simply gone from strength to strength. And now he has new addition to his bibliography with his latest novel, Forever Home. Graham Norton explains the magic of his talk show Graham Norton talks how his writing proce...

Liz Truss' tax cut U-turn might just end up ending her time as Prime Minister prematurely. New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has reversed almost all of her plans to stabilise the economy slightly, but the political damage is starting to take hold. Latest polling shows the Conservatives are trailing Labour by 36 points - the biggest margin in history. UK correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking she only...