The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A Northland mayor isn't hiding his frustration, with the blunder that forced Northland into an 11-day Covid lockdown last October. The Government accused the two women who sparked the lockdown of using false travel documents to get across the Northland border, allegedly to be sex workers within the gang scene. But documents obtained by our newsroom show the women weren't sex workers, had no gang l...

Calls for the Government to review tax brackets amid rising inflation. New Zealand’s marginal tax rate system means higher rates of tax are applied as someone earns more income. Stats NZ data shows median weekly earnings increased 8.8 percent in the year to the June quarter, the biggest jump since records began. Deloitte partner Robyn Walker told Mike Hosking it needs some tweaking at the lower en...

The Government needs the polytech redundancies like a hole in the head. 230 jobs look set to be going from AUT. Education in this country is a mess. From the earliest days until your last, the system is shambolic, the kids who leave are under-educated and aren't able to read or write to an acceptable level. With subjects like maths and science we've slipped down the international ladder. And we ha...

The Nick Kyrgios train keeps on rolling. His rackets aren't surviving his US Open Games but he is, knocking out world number one Daniil  Medvedev to go through to the quarter finals of the slam. It now has bookies calling Kyrgios the favourite. Tennis commentator Craig Gabriel joined Mike Hosking to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's fair to say Bret McKenzie has been one our most successful entertainment exports. We all know it started with the Flight of the Conchords in the 2000s with Jermaine Clement. That got Hollywood’s attention and led to him serving as music supervisor to The Muppets movies in 2011 and 2014. His song Man or Muppet earned him the Oscar for best original song. Now he's back with his solo album debut...

There has been delight at falling gun crime in Wairoa. It's had 15 firearms incidents between August last year and July this year, which is down from 35 for the previous period. Mayor Craig Little says open lines of communication with gangs in the town has helped that decrease. He told Mike Hosking more cops on the beat has also helped. Little says they used to struggle with police numbers which l...

Tough times for universities are forcing them to look at their balance sheet. Around 230 staff face redundancy at AUT, despite the university having a $12 million surplus last year. Universities New Zealand Executive Director Chris Whelan says inflation has hit the sector hard. He told Mike Hosking the lack of international students is also causing dramas.  Whelan says it will take a while to retu...

Banks are apparently starting to come down on property investors when it comes to their levels of debt. Rising interest rates and rents not increasing at the same pace has banks taking the hard line, which could involve getting investors to sell a property or being told to pay down debt when they voluntarily sell rather than pocketing the profits. Property Investors’ Federation president Andrew Ki...

Liz Truss has been elected as the Conservative Party's new leader, the party announced Monday, and she will take office Tuesday as Britain's new prime minister to steer the country through an acute cost-of-living crisis. Theresa May's former advisor Chris Wilkins told Mike Hosking Liz Truss has been underestimated so many times in her career. “People have sort of written her off and thought that a...

The Government's crackdown on criminal assets is following in the footsteps of other countries. It's unveiled new laws intended to confiscate ill-gotten gains from crime, gang members and their associates. The changes will allow assets to be seized from a person associated with organised crime, if Police suspect they're criminally funded. Criminal lawyer Steve Cullen told Mike Hosking similar rule...

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has put petrol retailers on notice as the government prepares to hike petrol prices by 22 cents a litre at the end of September over “misleading or anti-competitive conduct”. As motorists prepare for the reintroduction of the full fuel excise on September 29 after a six month reprieve, Dr Chalmers has warned the consumer watchdog the ACCC will “ramp up its activities”. The w...

NASA’s new moon rocket sprang another dangerous fuel leak Saturday, forcing launch controllers to call off their second attempt this week to send a crew capsule into lunar orbit with test dummies. The inaugural flight is now off for weeks, if not months. The previous try on Monday at launching the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA, was also troubl...

Andrew Saville and Guy Heveldt joined Mike Hosking to discuss the All Blacks' emphatic victory over Argentina, the Warriors' last game disaster, stadium architecture, Serena Williams' retirement and a potential promotion for Liam Lawson. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could it be they have finally got the message? We are not just going to Green; it isn't even a thing. Because, it appears, the whole mad Traffic Light System is going altogether. As always, it's a game of tease and wait, no comment, hints, and more no comments. When they finally sit down to work out Covid settings, whenever that is, given they officially only say a "couple of weeks”, but they have...

A call for an open mind on housing density rules as Auckland Council and the Government clash. Newstalk ZB understands the Government is concerned about the council's moves to protect character villas. Ministers think it's being overzealous in its use of character protection in the inner suburbs.  Greater Auckland transport spokesperson Matt Lowrie told Mike Hosking there's not enough talk about t...

Seasonal sickness is seeing a drop in numbers at Tauranga's AIMS games. The week-long sporting event for 11 to 13-year-olds has been canned for the past three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is going ahead this week. AIMS Games Tournament Director Kelly Schischka told Mike Hosking at their peak they had around 11,500 attendees. “We’re at sort of 10,840-odd this year. Schools have been real...

Scientists have used artificial intelligence to map out how our predator-free dream can be realised – finding that smarter use of current tools could bring us much closer to the 2050 goal. But they've also confirmed what conservationists have long warned: these won't be enough to completely rid the country of possums, rats and stoats estimated to kill some 26 million native birds every year. The j...

Fears the thousands leaving ED each month are just the tip of the iceberg. New figures show more than 4000 people left hospital without being seen during the month of May due to wait times.  Northcare Medical Director Peter Boot told Mike Hosking the real number's probably much higher. He says people are going to ED with primary care needs because their GPs are full. “All of these people with gene...

The Government will today announce steps to make it easier for police to stop gangs and criminal groups hiding their assets to avoid seizure laws – and to stop criminals using KiwiSaver to shelter cash obtained through crime. The NZ Herald understands the changes to the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act outlined today will allow police to target those with links to gang and organised crime figures...

Recognition of the changing nature of families post-pandemic. Fletcher Building's introducing a Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Policy, giving parents the option to choose whether Mum or Dad receives the 26 weeks full pay maternity leave. Diversity Works Chief Executive Maretha Smit told Mike Hosking it was going to happen anyway, but Covid may have sped it up. She says Covid showed it was necessary...

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.   Marama Davidson: 3/10 "No bills, three cabinet papers, eight press releases and all that chocolate. What a bench mark..."   The Cost of Living payment cock up: 3/10 "If you're going to roll out a haphazard idea, don’t do it in three parts. It's three times the pain."   The Audi...

I feel bad that Sir Ray Avery is leaving New Zealand. He is far from the only one; the stats tell you the embarrassing story which is that we currently have more people leaving than arriving. You wonder when that will actually stop, when do more people arrive and who are those people? Most of the people leaving right now are the younger ones and we can only hope that some of those will be back. Ra...

So it's an unchanged starting 15 for the All Blacks this Saturday, as they look to bounce back from yet another historic loss to the pumas in Christchurch last week. Lock Sam Whitelock joined the Mike Hosking Breakfast. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions are being raised about what the consequences will be for those who break a university ban on student staff relationships. The capital's Victoria University is the first in the country to outline a standalone policy, which sets out behaviour standards between students and the staff responsible for them. Employment law specialist Jennifer Mills told Mike Hosking the rule is legal, but stil...

Very proud, but some serious imposter syndrome at play for Miranda Harcourt. She's been named Supreme Winner at last night's Kea Awards in Auckland. They recognise those who have demonstrated unique power of Kiwi connection and used it to benefit Aotearoa. The actor, director and performance coach told Mike Hosking she was in awe of the other winners. Harcourt told Mike Hosking as the evening prog...