The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Most stories need a hero, and Gail Parata might fit the role in this netball mess.  Or is it now a scandal?  Gail Parata has resigned as a national netball selector and in doing so has gone out guns blazing and, because of that, has given the rest of us a decent insight into what a shambles the Dame Noeline Taurua story really is.  This thing is now weeks old since she got stood dow...

A few hiccups in the journey towards peace in the Middle East.   Hamas has released the 20 living Israeli hostages and almost 2000 Palestinians have been returned by Israel.  Leaders including Donald Trump have signed the US-brokered peace deal at a summit in Egypt.  However, US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking, despite Trump claiming the war is over, he had no input o...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 15th of October, there’s a new yearly report on the hospitality sector , who have earned record high revenue. So are times better than what’s being reported?  Former Silver Ferns selector Gail Parata explains why she resigned from her role and her disappointment with Netball NZ for the way they’ve handled the Dame Noeline Taurua sa...

Today on Politics Wednesday, Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen joined Mike Hosking to delve into the biggest political stories of the week so far.   Slipping parliamentary standards are back at the forefront, with Speaker Gerry Brownlee planning to crack down on behaviour after yet another incident.   And Te Pati Māori is seemingly melting down from the inside, with allegations regarding...

There's hopes a new online school will help students struggling in a traditional classroom.  Aotearoa Infinite Academy will open in January as the country's first fully online charter school.   Founding Principal Saira Boyle says the timing is right for such learning.  She told Mike Hosking they have access to high quality teachers across the country, and they’re going to make sure...

Revenue in the hospitality sector's reached a new record high, but many operators are seeing profit margins reach a new record low.  Restaurant Association data shows sales have risen 1.4% in the past year.  Tourism regions like Nelson and Queenstown-Lakes are seeing strong growth but central Auckland and Wellington are still doing it tough.  Association Chief Executive Marisa Bidoi...

Promising signs of improvement across the primary education sector.   The Education Review Office has found teachers are seeing more engaged students, and three-quarters of parents report progress since the start of the year.  It follows new data showing more new entrants exceeding phonics expectations.  President of Auckland Primary Principals' Association Lucy Naylor told Mike Hos...

Former Silver Ferns selector Gail Parata has rebuked a lack of due process by Netball New Zealand in standing down coach Dame Noeline Taurua and assistant Debbie Fuller.  The pair have been sidelined after allegations of an unsafe high performance environment, which remain unresolved.  The issues are understood to date back to a Silver Ferns camp in January.  Parata resigned as sele...

A former Speaker of the House is confident attempts to tighten parliamentary standards will be successful. Current speaker Gerry Brownlee's cracking down on behaviour following what he sees as multiple disruptive incidents. The latest saw Te Pati Māori MP Oriini Kaipara's maiden speech go well over time. David Carter told Mike Hosking Brownlee will definitely get the majority support from Parliame...

The Reserve Bank's continuing to change its approach to preventing risky lending.  It's further easing loan-to-value-ratio restrictions, allowing banks to lend more money to low-deposit borrowers.  It follows the roll-out of debt-to-income restrictions last year, restricting how much banks can lend to people who already have a lot of debt relative to their income.  Squirrel Mortgage...

There is some angst in some media circles at the moment over funding for Māori TV news.  A couple of programmes are facing some sort of cut, or cancellation, or realignment because of changes in the way money is handed out from the Māori funding agency.  This is not new. Media in this country post-Covid has gone through a fairly major overhaul with many a casualty and a pile of significa...

A complicated road could lie ahead for Gaza despite world leaders declaring peace in the Middle East. Donald Trump's signed a ceasefire agreement at a summit in Egypt along with the heads of Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar. It follows a prisoner and hostage swap between Israel and Hamas. The EU has effectively been sidelined, France Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking, and is looking at how t...

The UK can’t seem to get enough of New Zealand wine.  Latest data shows Sauvignon Blanc shipments hit a 10 year high – with 13.2 million bottles sent over summer.  Exports are up 21% year on year, New Zealand now commanding around half of the $2.5 billion UK Sauvignon Blanc market, valued at NZ$1.37 billion.  Invivo Co-founder Tim Lightbourne told Mike Hosking there’s been a shift i...

The country's youngest national snooker champion expects to turn professional in a couple of years.  16-year-old Riley James took out the title at the 2025 NZ National Snooker Championships over the weekend.  He told Mike Hosking that going into the tournament, he thought his changes were high.  “I always knew if I was in the right headspace, I play some of the best snooker in the c...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 14th of October, we are seeing real progress, huge progress, in our kids’ learning with the release of the results of structured literacy .  We've got winners across the board – Sauv Blanc in the UK is hitting record marks and 16-year-old Riley James made history as the youngest ever winner of the NZ Snooker Champs.  Speaking of...

Matt Payne has become King of the Mountain in a wet weather shemozzle at the Bathurst 1000.  He has joined the high-octane New Zealand pantheon of Jim and Steven Richards, Greg Murphy, Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin.  The 23-year-old and his co-driver Garth Tander climbed from 18th to take the title in minimal visibility, sneaking into the lead for the first time when James Gol...

The tourism industry is feeling bullish with business heading back towards being on track post-Covid.   Visitor arrivals reached 92% of pre-pandemic numbers for August – up on July's 87%.   Tourism Holdings Chief Executive Grant Webster told Mike Hosking it's the time of year and the success of tourism campaigns working their magic.  He says growing air capacity and visas being sort...

An expert believes there's still a number of Kiwis returning to New Zealand, despite a falling net migration rate.  It's fallen to 10,600 for the year to August 2025.  Overall, Stats NZ figures show migrant arrivals dropped 16% to more than 138 thousand, while departures increased 13% to just under 128 thousand.  Massey University sociologist Paul Spoonley told Mike Hosking it's sti...

The components of a Gaza ceasefire agreement seem to be falling into place.   The heads of the US, Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar have signed off the deal at a summit of world leaders in Egypt.  Hamas has released 20 living Israeli hostages and four of the 28 deceased in exchange for Israel freeing about two thousand Palestinians.   CBS Radio's Steve Linde told Mike Hosking the fact the T...

The Education Minister's confident successful primary school literacy results aren't just low hanging fruit. Results from the new phonics literacy programme show 58% of students are at or above expectations after 20 weeks. More than 40% of students exceeded expectations in Term 3 – more than double the first term. Erica Stanford says they're tracking where they hoped. But she told Mike Hosking thi...

Listen to the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday 13 October. Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have read the latest KPI's for the Government. This is the things they are going to do before the end of the year. "Drag this dump out of the quagmire" would have been my number one, but theirs is introducing new planning legislation to replace the RMA. Which is no bad thing. But introducing stuff isn't the same as ticking stuff off, is it?   And in this list, which is 33 "things" long, is...

Jason Pine and Andrew Saville join Mike Hosking this morning to discuss the weekend's sports. On the table today: The weekend of supercars at Bathurst has concluded in a thrilling wet race that came down to the wire. Canterbury look set to win the NPC, can they be stopped? And Tiger Woods undergoes another back surgery, is it time to hang up the clubs? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Turnout in the weekend's local elections has fallen even further this time around. By the end of Friday, less than 33-percent of Kiwis had cast their vote. Local Government New Zealand President Sam Broughton - who was unseated as Selwyn Mayor - says we should be aiming for much higher turnout. He says general elections get double the turnout and we should expect the same for local elections. Prim...

Outgoing three term Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton says rates increases played a part in his job loss.  Former Councillor Lydia Gliddon has taken the top spot in the country's fastest growing district, unseating the incumbent. She unseated the current Local Government NZ President by more than 13,000 - he was seeking a fourth term. Broughton believes Selwyn's larger than average rates increases c...