The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Change could be coming to the rules around New Zealand's elections. Justice Minister Kris Faafoi's announced a review of the electoral law that will include discussing the voting age. The independent panel will also assess other election rules - with changes planned before next year's election. The independent panel chair Deborah Hart told Mike Hosking it's a good idea to look at the rules. She sa...

A concern our Foreign Affairs Minister isn't doing her job properly. Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has had no direct contract with the New Zealand ambassador or our embassy in Russia during the Ukraine crisis. She says such talks are usually headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Neither has Mahuta made contact with New Zealand diplomats in the Solomon Islands since its Chin...

The almost universal review card of the Prime Minister's much-hyped first trade trip was that it ended up light on detail. It was to Singapore and Japan, where we got a visa adjustment that allowed 300 instead of 200 people with certain skills into the country. Whether any of them come is another matter, of course, as raised by the Employers and Manufacturers Association yesterday. There were a co...

Brendon Hartley, formerly of Formula 1 and now competing in the World Endurance Championship, is about to head to Europe for the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hartley is no stranger to the race, having taken the title in 2017 and 2020 as well as a runner-up placing in 2021. Brendon Hartley joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plant-based milk is skyrocketing in popularity, and looks set to overtake cow's milk in Australian cafes. Oat milk is top of the list, rising from 0.2 percent to 20 percent of the plant based milk market, and still climbing. Otis Oat Milk co-founder Chris Wilkie told Mike Hosking says in New Zealand it started out in cafes, but it's now the fastest growing product on supermarket shelves. He says t...

Star player Chanel Harris-Tavita is the latest to step away from the Warriors. Prop Matt Lodge cut ties with the club last week, while Harris-Tavita will see out the season before taking some time away from the game. Questions have been raised as to whether this another indication of trouble within the club, and what can be done about the culture. Former Kiwis captain and league commentator Richie...

A six month safety camera trial that detects mobile phone usage starts in Auckland today. Three cameras have been installed - two on a State Highway, and one on a local road.   They capture all vehicles and detect drivers whose hands aren't on the steering wheel and might be using a mobile. Because there's no police involvement drivers won’t be getting a ticket. Waka Kotahi's Kane Patena says step...

Seismic global events have left the milk market on shaky ground. Rabobank's latest Dairy Seasonal Outlook forecasts a farmgate milk price of $9 per kilogram of milk solids for the 2022 to 2023 dairy season. But it says farmers need to control costs and manage their risks, thanks to an uncertain outlook. Senior agricultural analyst Emma Higgins says ongoing lockdowns in China, where about 45 percen...

Former Defence Minister Ron Mark says New Zealand's been late to the party in helping Ukraine. We're sending a further 30 defence personnel to the UK, to train Ukrainian forces on a specific type of light gun. Ron Mark has been on the ground in Ukraine and says despite the odds the people have an iron will. He told Mike Hosking the international community will judge us in the years to come. Mark s...

It's still too soon to tell how many international students will come here to study. Fewer than 10 percent of five thousand spaces set aside for them have been filled. Immigration New Zealand has told our newsroom 431 visas have been approved. Otago University International Director Jason Cushen says told Mike Hosking he's not surprised by the number. “The border exception process requires a numbe...

The saving grace, they say, as we plummet towards who knows where economically, is that we all have jobs.  Growth might be slow or non-existent, the cost of living may well be going through the roof, the debt may be piling up, and the mood may be sour, but we all have jobs. It's a global phenomenon. As bad as it is, or might yet be, we are in work.  But you might have noticed Netflix laid some peo...

After three solid rounds at the PGA Championship, Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox went backwards in the final round to slip outside the top 50 in his opening major of the year.  Following three even par rounds of 70, Fox went into the final round in a share of 23rd place but a seven-over 77 saw him drift down the leaderboard at Southern Hills.  Fox had two bogeys on the front nine and a further five dropped...

Monkeypox cases may fizzle out, as they have in the past.  The virus, which is endemic in parts of Africa, has been detected in at least 14 other countries including the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.  It spreads through skin-to-skin contact, but isn't as contagious as the likes of Covid-19. Otago University Professor of Biochemistry Kurt Krause told Mike Hosking usually, the virus goes away af...

A nationwide emergency mobile test has been deemed a success.   Millions of mobile phones across the country buzzed loudly after receiving an alert last night  National Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Anthony Frith told Mike Hosking the alert was successfully transmitted to every part of New Zealand that has cellphone reception.   He says a report came back from telecommunication companie...

We live in hope.  This from former Prime Minister Helen Clark on whether there'll be any change to the 501 deportation policy, with the arrival of a new Australian Prime Minister.  Anthony Albanese will be sworn in today.  Clark told Mike Hosking the 501 policy is pretty tough on people who've effectively lived their whole lives in Australia.  She says they hold a New Zealand birth certificate, bu...

Fears New Zealand's cost of living crisis is stopping international skilled workers from joining our job market.   A survey by Beyond Recruitment has found about 66 percent of businesses say it's harder to keep staff than last year, and 55 percent notice a rise in employees changing jobs  It comes after Seek data, released last week, shows some salaries have risen by a third in a year, and the num...

The Prime Minister leaves this evening on a trade trip to the United States.   Jacinda Ardern will travel to multiple cities, meet with politicians and tech executives and appear on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  She'll also deliver the Harvard commencement speech.  NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small says hopefully a White House visit can happen.   But he says even if that doesn't...

Votes in the Australian election are continuing to be counted, with Anthony Albanese set to be sworn in as Prime Minister today. As things stand, Labor's one seat short and needs 76 to form a majority government. Australian Correspondent Murray Olds told Mike Hosking the Coalition has 57 seats, with the moderate wing of the Liberal Party in the inner city seats, largely swept away... He says that'...

I want Scott Morrison to win tomorrow, because I am a big believer in reward for effort. It’s a funny thing, human nature. Australians are down in the dumps at the moment, and it’s similar to here. Confidence is low and cost of living is an issue. We are way worse off than them but they don't care, that's why the brain drain isn't coming our way. When what you have isn't as good as what you had, y...

At the end of each week, Mike takes you through the big ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.   The Queen: 9/10 "Nowhere to be seen for weeks, not at the opening of Parliament, and then bang. Horse show, Jubilee event, got given a horse by the president of Azerbaijan. "Looking sprightly well and happy, almost as though it was part of a plan."     Finland and Sweden: 8/10 "The iro...

The Aussies go to the polls tomorrow and a veteran Australian broadcaster says Scott Morrison is sunk. Alan Jones told the Daily Mail Morrison is a handbrake and has no hope. He was the only commentator to correctly tip Morrison as the winner in the last election against Bill Shorten. This time, Alan says it's Albanese’s game. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After extensive pressure on drug-buying agency Pharmac, and a major review of its operations, Budget 2022 has provided a big cash injection. Pharmac's medicines budget has received its biggest boost in history with $191 million allocated over two years to make more medicines and other health treatments available. Health Minister Andrew Little said some of the new money would be for new medicines a...

Finance Minister Grant Robertson is defending his cost-of-living Budget package from criticism it is too short-term and narrow, saying long-term or widespread relief would only stoke inflation further. Robertson delivered his fifth Budget yesterday – the first since 2020 in which Covid-19 was not the dominant feature but which addressed one of the hangovers of Covid-19 – rising inflation. It inclu...

There are concerns there's a risk we become a mouse on an exercise wheel. One of the key parts of the Budget is a billion dollar cost-of-living package, which includes $350 dollars for people who earn less than $70, 000 per year, and don't get the Winter Energy Payment. Economist Cameron Bagrie told Mike Hosking as inflation goes up, and if we start spending more on the other side to compensate, t...

There was some sobering economic reality at my place yesterday. My street had a truck vacuum in it, sucking all the crap out of the drains, so there was the obligatory 800 metres of cones and two stop go people. Stop/go people have had a 28 percent wage rise on average this past year. I know this because I told you yesterday - the Seek job ad numbers tell us the 28 percent has taken them to about...