The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Despite significant cost of living increases impacting retail, Briscoes have posted a strong second quarter result. Sales for the second quarter rose 3.5 percent to almost $192 million with homeware and sporting goods the strongest performers. It's boosted their first half sales after a less than ideal first quarter, with first half sales up 2.7 percent to almost $370 million. Chief Financial Offi...

James Shaw's future as Green Party co-leader is looking more certain -- but isn't assured -- even though he isn't facing any challengers for the  job. Green Party delegates are set to vote again on whether to re-elect Shaw or to keep nominations open. The Climate Change Minister failed to get the support of 75-percent of delegates at the last vote, due to frustration from the party's more radical...

Increasing competition in the building supplies sector won't necessarily result in cheaper homes. A new Commerce Commission draft report has found there isn't enough competition in the sector, and it's too difficult to get innovative products to market. Registered Master Builders Association chief executive David Kelly says we need to look more broadly. He told Mike Hosking regulatory barriers are...

US basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted this morning in Russia of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison following a politically charged trial that came amid soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine and could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between the two world powers. The 31-year-old Griner, a two-time US Olympic champion and a eight-time all st...

Robert Patrick is known as one of the greatest villain actors of our generation. He first made his name as the iconic T-1000, the main antagonist of Terminator Two: Judgement Day - a role he reprises in other films. Add to that his roles in T he X-Files, The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Walk the Line and Safe House. He's worked with the best - including James Cameron, Clint Eastwood and Demi Moore....

Does a rise in unemployment mean Adrian Orr had a good day? Did he say to himself the rate rises are working, this thing might not be as big a cluster as we had imagined. Or, did he look at those wage increases and freak out and think, ‘My god the cash rate can’t top out at 3.9’? Explain to me how there are more unemployed people, how did that happen? How can you not have a job when there are jobs...

Questions have been asked as to how hard is Immigration NZ making it to get accredited employers work visas across the line. Sean Wood is a carpenter in Tauranga and recently has been travelling the world in search of skilled workers to come work for him. He got his accreditation to hire on May 31st and applied for the INZ job checks for a number of workers on June 20th. These job checks are suppo...

There's been a win in Sydney against council regulations. The Indian Home Diner operates on Oxford Street in Paddington and has become a go to for people coming home from town boozed, as they stop off for butter chicken filled naan rolls. They were doing this for years before the Woollahra Council stepped in and said actually what you're doing is illegal and you can only operate until midnight ins...

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan could become a massive headache for Joe Biden. The US House Speaker's controversial visit has sparked strong condemnation from China, further souring US-China relations. Biden didn't support the trip, but says he respects Pelosi's decision to go. Princeton University international relations expert Aaron L. Friedberg told Mike Hosking the Biden administration has misha...

Insurers say the Government's new strategy for adapting to climate change is a positive start. The new framework outlines priorities for the next six years -- with some coastal homes likely to be abandoned due to sea level rise. However, it's still unclear who's likely to foot the bill for the transition. Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton told Mike Hosking the strategy has a lot of goo...

The reopening of international borders won't be enough to address the worker shortage and rising cost of living. Unemployment has reached 3.3 percent in the June quarter up only slightly from the record low 3.2 percent of the previous two quarters. Overall wages have risen 3.4 percent in the year to June, well below the inflation rate of 7.3 percent. ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Mike Ho...

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

The Ggovernment's cost of living sop, cock up, circus, or whatever you want to call it, now has the potential to turn into a real political crisis. Issue one; they knew those offshore would get the money. So, money was going to people that weren't in the country, which was one of the Government's key criteria. Issue two; their excuse was it was too hard to do it any other way. Issue three; it adde...

Do we need to follow in the footsteps of Australia when it comes to long Covid? The Australian Government are developing a national plan to respond to the effects of long Covid as estimates show about 4 percent of patients experience long term symptoms. Auckland University immunologist and long Covid researcher Anna Brooks joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

The boss of SkyCity says the Sky Tower will continue to stand out, as Auckland's skyline evolves. The iconic landmark is celebrating its 25th birthday today, marking the occasion with ticket discounts and family-friendly entertainment. SkyCity COO Callum Mallett told Mike Hosking it still looks fantastic, even after all the debate around its construction. He says public feedback, particularly arou...

Another report has been added to a growing stack, criticising the Three Waters reforms. New modelling commissioned by the group Communities 4 Local Democracy suggests stripping councils of control of their assets, isn't worth it. It's found councils could fund their water infrastructure for the next 20 years without needing to merge, impose new water charges, or change their debt caps. The group's...

Today could see another historic milestone for the New Zealand economy. Unemployment is expected to fall from its current level of 3.2 percent, which is already the lowest since records began. ANZ is picking a figure as low as 2.8 percent. Eric Crampton, Chief Economist at the New Zealand Initiative, told Mike Hosking the economic situation is becoming more precarious. “In the current circumstance...

There's a major influx of overseas visitors booking tickets to New Zealand. Immigration figures show a 73 percent increase on pre-pandemic numbers. Most are either students or tourists, applying for visas. Malcolm Pacific Immigration Chief Executive David Cooper told Mike Hosking it's great news. He says behind those numbers are wonderful stories of families who haven't seen each other for two and...

The Government admits it did not get its new lending rules right. There'll be further tweaks to consumer lending regulations, including narrowing the expenses considered to exclude discretionary spending. Double counting will also be reduced when it comes to credit contracts. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark told Mike Hosking if you don't get it right, it's important to fix it qu...

What a difference a day makes. 24 hours after the madcap nuttiness of paying out $800 million we don’t have, to people who may or may not reside here, and may or may not need any assistance at all, we then get the idea that we have $10,000 to get a nurse here. The cost-of-living payment is well intentioned, but oh so Labour in its delivery. In other words, it’s the usual wasteful mess dreamed up b...

Time to catch up with one of our favourite emerging Kiwi artists. We first met Harper Finn during the height of Covid after his single Dance Away These Days became quite the hit. His early success saw him take out the breakthrough artist of the year at last year's music awards. Since then he's spent plenty of time in the states and has just released his debut EP Newcomer. And the first single from...

Disbelief from a senior nurse over TV show Shortland Street being used to help recruit health workers. The woman, who we've agreed not to name, says the profession has spent decades trying to conquer misogynistic, sexist and belittling stereotypes. She says she's been a nurse for 30 years and there's not been one day of her career that's felt like a soap opera. Shortland Street Producer Oliver Dri...

Just how is our relationship with China currently? There have been prickly comments from both sides in recent weeks, Ardern during the meeting with Biden from our end, not to mention the encroachment of China into the Pacific. At the ever important China Business Summit yesterday, China's ambassador to New Zealand said we can't take the future of this relationship for granted and they want the Asi...

National's Housing spokesperson is calling the growth in staff numbers at Kainga Ora 'unbelievable'. A leaked briefing obtained by Newstalk ZB reveals the agency plans to hire nearly 500 more full-time staff in the coming year. It's since gone back on that figure, saying it needs 465 staff and almost half will be to fill existing vacancies. Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking it comes at a time when on...

In January farmer confidence was at the lowest level recorded in biannual surveys that Federated Farmers has been running since 2009. Last month's survey found it had dropped even further. More than 1200 farmers from around New Zealand responded to the July survey, Feds said. A net 47.8 per cent of farmers considered current economic conditions to be bad, down 55.6 points from January, when a net...