The Mike Hosking Breakfast

New Zealand's largest insurance company has revealed the rising cost of climate change. IAG, the parent company of AMI, State and NZI, ran a Wild Weather Tracker, showing there were more than 13,000 weather-related claims in the past six months - rising 34 percent from last year. It shows 71 percent of New Zealanders agree climate change is a key contributor to wild weather  - but only 40 percent...

The race for Gore's next Mayor may not be over just yet. Tracy Hicks has filed for a re-count, after losing to 23-year-old Ben Bell, who became the youngest mayor in New Zealand's history, with an eight vote margin. Hicks says he's not desperate for mayoralty, and life could be a bit quieter. But he says he's passionate about his community and wants the transition to whatever happens to happen in...

Hopes our new knowledge of vaccines will help to cure cancer - within the next decade. The founders of BioNTech, who collaborated with Pfizer to create New Zealand's most effective Covid vaccine, are working on an injection to target different types of cancer. It should be available before 2030. The jab uses the same mRNA technology as found in the Covid jab, to assist the immune system to fight o...

The Health Minister says the health system can't be completely blamed for a patient death at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital. An independent inquiry was launched after the death of a patient who had left Middlemore's ED after being told it would take hours to be seen. The five-page document released to the Local Democracy Reporting Service describes the hospital as dysfunctional, overcrowded and un...

New inflation figures due out this morning won't show the full picture of rising consumer prices. Stats NZ will release its latest quarterly CPI data shortly before 11am. It's expected to show inflation has eased off slightly, from its once-in-a-generation high of 7.3-percent in the year to June. ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Mike Hosking that's mostly due to a fall in petrol prices, rat...

National says the Government does not need powers to deal with Covid anymore. Documents leaked to Newshub show it's now proposing retaining existing powers - due to expire in May - to 2025. Latest official figures show case numbers are continuing to rise week-on-week. But, National Leader Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking it's time to move on. “Why do we actually need it? Is the big question.” L...

More than 7000 homes and businesses in Victoria’s north could soon be flooded as the state’s historic emergency event continues. Shepparton residents are continuing to be bombarded with flood water, while other areas start the clean up process following last week’s monster deluge. The Goulburn River may peak near 12.1m later on Monday morning, potentially putting 7300 homes and businesses in Shepp...

NATO and Russia are set to separately hold long planned exercises of their nuclear forces at a time of huge tension as Russia continues its war on Ukraine. The Pentagon and the US intelligence community are watching for any unexpected or unusual movements of Moscow's nuclear weapons during Russia's exercise, which is expected to take place before the end of the month, according to several US offic...

Andrew Saville and Guy Heveldt joined Mike Hosking to talk the latest weekend of Rugby World Cup pool games, rugby's financial situation after Worcester and Wasps, the All Whites coaching situation, the MLB Playoffs, and the NFL. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People are avoiding taking holidays from work due to increasing pressure both at home and in the workplace itself. Research by ELMO Software has found 20 percent of workers have accrued more than their annual leave entitlement, but most won't be taking it. About half say they need money due to the cost of living, and a quarter say they have too much work to take time off. Employment specialist Jen...

A lot of people who are eligible for live-saving medication don't know enough about it. Research shows the antiviral tablet Paxlovid reduces the risk of severe Covid infection by over 80 percent. But research commissioned by Pfizer has found people with a higher risk of Covid hospitalisation or death are relatively unaware of the benefits of antivirals. College of GPs Medical Director Bryan Betty...

National says the Government is throwing Police under the bus to deal with ram raids amid a slow rollout of prevention measures. Chris Hipkins told Police in August to move faster on using the $6 million Crime Prevention Fund, so shops can install security measures. At the time only five retailers were taken care of, and a month on just two more have been helped. National Police Spokesperson Mark...

Winston Peters continues to take swings at the Government, with claims co-governance was never a discussion at the coalition table in 2017. The NZ First Leader says scrapping co-governance will be a deal-breaker if he's king-maker after next year's election. He told Mike Hosking Labour Party ministers left him in the dark about co-governance discussions when he was Deputy PM. “He Puapua was ordere...

All eyes are on China as the Communist Party's Congress kicks off. President Xi Jinping is widely expected to receive a third term. He's already called for an acceleration in building a world-class military while defending the country's zero-Covid policy. Otago University's Professor Robert Patman told Mike Hosking there's no doubt the Western World is increasingly worried at China's assertiveness...

Sky-high food prices are being felt in classrooms, with one charity saying it is feeding 10,000 more hungry students compared to the beginning of the year. As children return to school for Term 4 today, children's charity Kidscan said it had fielded calls from principals who were in tears about the hunger and poverty they were seeing among students. "It's the worst we have ever seen it," said chie...

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.   He Waka Eke Noa: 2/10 "How to kill business in one easy lesson. How to suck in a whole sector in in one easy lesson. And how to not sell your vision in one easy lesson."   ACT: 7/10 "Idea of the week with their referendum on co-governance. It keeps the issue alive, keeps Nation...

Is the new mess the new normal? And is that why we put up with it?   I read yesterday about Amsterdam's airport and the complete cluster it has become. Heathrow is already famous for similar shambles. So, when we look at Auckland Airport and its non-function, are we just another example of what's happening all over the place? A large number of companies have left or are leaving Chicago because of...

The new mayor of Gore says age is just number. Ben Bell is 23 and has become the youngest person in New Zealand to be elected mayor. He's squeaked past six-term incumbent Tracy Hicks by eight votes. Bell told Mike Hosking although the role might seem challenging for one so young, he feels that times have changed Ben Bell moved to Gore from Palmerston North 18 months ago. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudi...

It’s no secret food prices are through the roof right now. Latest data from Stats NZ show overall prices rose 8.3 percent in the year to September. Fruit and vegetables were up a massive 16 percent. Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin joined Mike Hosking to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine's Kyiv and Odesa regions with Iranian-made drones and used missiles to strike other areas, Ukrainian officials said as Moscow punished the country for a fourth day after a truck bomb damaged a bridge to the annexed Crimean Peninsula. A strike carried out near Makariv, a small city located 50km west of Kyiv, destroyed critical infrastructure. Throughout the capital r...

Land-based salmon farming continues to sink its hook into the fish market. Mount Cook Alpine Salmon has revealed plans to launch New Zealand's first land-based salmon farm. The $16.7 million  project will either be in the Mackenzie or Waitaki Districts. Chief executive, David Coles, says the consulting firm EY, which monitors the global industry, predicts land-based salmon farming could be an indu...

There is belief we have a big price to pay to get inflation under control, with two years of stunted growth needed to re-balance the economy. Infometrics' latest forecasts have the Official Cash Rate being increased to 4.5 percent early next year - a full percentage point more than what was expected three months ago. It also picks economic growth will slip below two-percent in the second half of 2...

Heavy vehicle driver shortages are so dire that one trucking company is having to fly drivers down to the South Island every week to cover important routes. "We're just scraping through as a nation," said trucking boss Chris Carr, who was out driving goods himself because his company, Carr and Haslam, was so understaffed. His comments follow a letter being sent to Immigration Minister Michael Wood...

Hugh Bonneville has become one of Britain’s, and the world's, most loved actors. Of course, we know him for his starring role in Downton Abbey - but of course he's also known for the Paddington films , Notting Hhill and The Monument's Men. He even had a cameo in the bond film T omorrow Never Dies. Now he's telling his story with his memoir Playing Under the Piano. Hugh Bonneville joined the Mike H...

In general, the Government seem to have got the memo on immigration. Another loosening was announced by Michael Wood yesterday. But I say in general because as we have discovered, this lot are a mixture of incompetent and Machiavellian. So, we have the skilled visa category reopening, about time. The parents visa being adjusted is not as big a deal. And we have "consultation“. Watch that, because...