The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Another case of a Kiwi punching above his weight.  Hailing from Christchurch, 20 year old motorsport driver Jacob Douglas is currently competing in the USF Pro 2000 Circuit over in the States.  He’s on the road to IndyCar, and has just wrapped up the season, finishing 5th overall and securing a win and eight podiums.  At age 16 Douglas made the move to America in order to chase his...

Hamilton's first domestic jet service in 25 years will connect thousands of people to Christchurch every year.  Air New Zealand's Airbus A320 service will operate alongside two smaller planes, to be deployed to other parts of the regional network.  From today the 171-seat domestic jet will leave Christchurch at 3pm five days a week and return from Hamilton just after 5pm.  Waikato C...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 18th of September, we look at the predictions of how bad Q2 was economically , and whether this is the worst of it.   Some extraordinary new numbers when it comes to youth crime that shows the Government is starting to get the issue under control.  Young motorsport driver Jacob Douglas details his path to IndyCar and why he mov...

Top musicians are taking their music off Spotify and leaving the platform behind – but why?  Kiwi musicians like Tiki Taane and The Bats have joined overseas acts like Deerhoof and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in boycotting the platform, accusing it of exploitation, poor royalties, and subsidising big international acts.  As it stands, each stream earns an artist around one-twent...

The vast majority of New Zealand's foreign tourist levy is being held on to by the Government.  Budget documents show up to $139 million is being banked from the International Visitor Levy for Crown spending.  This year's budget allocated $55 million a year to spending in conservation and $35 million to new spending in tourism from a pot of almost $230 million.  Minister of Conserva...

The Children's Minister is attributing a reduction in youth reoffending to boot camps, even though they haven't started yet.   The Government says serious and persistent young offending has dropped by more than 14% since June 2023.   Northland experienced the greatest decrease at 40%.   Minister Karen Chhour told Mike Hosking there have been significant developments.   She says...

Frustration from farmers over Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a nitrate emergency.  It voted —nine to seven— for the declaration after groundwater testing found levels of the chemical increasing in the majority of monitored sites.  Federated Farmers Vice President Colin Hurst told Mike Hosking solving this problem can take a number of years, but farmers have been working on...

Many are predicting a fall in GDP for quarter two.   Stats NZ will release the figures later this morning, just before 11am.  The Reserve Bank expects a 0.3% drop while bank economists are more pessimistic.   Westpac Senior Economist Michael Gordon told Mike Hosking there are worrying trends.   He says the construction sector is still in a downturn, while manufacturing has seen...

If it's any help to those chained to Nicola Willis' office, there is a decent piece I read yesterday asking whether Israel was heading towards a South Africa moment.  In an interview this week, Netanyahu seemed to accept some sort of isolation was a price his country was, and is, paying for as a result of the war.  But none of that has been brought about by people chaining themselves to...

The 22-year-old charged with allegedly killing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has made his first appearance in court.  Tyler Robinson is facing seven charges including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.  Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University last week.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that prosec...

Things have been heating up in the political sphere, so Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen joined Mike Hosking to delve into the latest developments.  They discussed the decision to close Auckland’s Harbour Bridge for a protest, before the wind changed the plans, free speech and the right to protest, and the latest in the situation with Te Pati Māori and the tricky spot Labour seems to be in.&n...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 17th of September, data reveals the chance of going to prison is at an all-time high , but only 15% of criminals are going behind bars.  The Black Caps’ new coach is in for a word ahead of the 20th anniversary of T20s and our series against Australia. Keen sports fans will know that the first ever T20 was played between NZ and Aust...

New Zealand’s creative sector has much more impact on the economy than commonly believed.  The sector is now the country’s fourth-largest export industry, worth $13 billion a year and supporting 100,000 jobs.   It’s also more productive than agriculture, with each worker generating $346,000 a year compared to $317,000.  Toi Mai Workforce Development Council CEO Claire Robinson told...

A chance for the Black Caps to build depth and experience in the Chappell-Hadlee T20 series against Australia at home.  The 14-man squad's been depowered by injury.  Regular skipper Mitchell Santner, Will O'Rourke, Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne are sidelined, while Kane Williamson's unavailable.  Coach Rob Walter told Mike Hosking it’s all part of the bu...

Food prices are continuing to rise, with a 5% increase in the year to August.  Dairy continues to be the main driver, with the price of milk rising 16%, cheese 26%, and butter 32%.   Meat, poultry, and fish followed behind, up 8.1% annually.  Fonterra Co-operative Council Chair John Stevenson told Mike Hosking what they see is a pretty clear correlation between current prices and gl...

The Government wants to see more careers in the aviation sector take off.   It's launched the first ever aviation strategy which is designed to future proof the sector, and promote tourism and economic growth.   Associate Transport Minister James Meager says he wants to make it quicker and easier for people to train while keeping standards high.   He told Mike Hosking there are some...

New data shows hospitals were, on average, 587 nurses short every shift last year.  A Nurses Organisation Infometrics report analysed Te Whatu Ora data from 1.69 million shifts from 2022 to 2024 in 59 public hospitals.  Last year saw a slight improvement on 2023, when the shortage averaged 684 nurses per shift.  Former Health New Zealand Chair Rob Campbell told Mike Hosking it confi...

More than seven thousand people have been sent to prison following a conviction.  Ministry of Justice data shows the proportion of convicted charges leading to prison sentences has reached an all-time high at 27%.  People convicted of robbery, sexual offences, and homicides have the highest imprisonment rates.  Criminal defence lawyer Steve Cullen told Mike Hosking it's worrying to...

I see the plan.  Labour is sweating the current Māori Party meltdown, so they have rolled out Willie Jackson, who claims Takuta Ferris is handing political extremists ammunition to paint the Māori Party as too weird to ever do business with Labour.  There are several problems with the plan.  Firstly, post the by-election Willie has no credibility.  Willie couldn’t win a raffle,...

Alan Davies is a well-known funnyman.  He’s best known for starring in Jonathan Creek and for his permanent spot on QI , as well as his nearly 40 years of stand-up comedy.  Davies has had a busy career, and in amongst it all he’s written two memoirs, Just Ignore Him , released in 2020, and White Male Stand-Up , released just this month.  In both the memoir and his latest stand-up pe...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 16th of September, the state of our economy took another hit with the 18th straight month of contractions in our services sector. Q2 GDP numbers on Thursday will be fascinating.  Yet again we are looking at Eden Park and whether more concerts could be held there. Can we just get on and do something about it?  Alan Davies of Jona...

The Gisborne forestry industry wants to manage expectations when it comes to cleaning up slash.   One company is appealing the district council's order, which would force it to prevent all woody debris from leaving a forestry block.   Samnic Forest Management says it would likely go bankrupt if the order were to go ahead.   Forest Owners Association Chief Executive Elizabeth Heeg to...

Wētā Workshop has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Saudi Arabian princess.  The agreement is part of five new commercial partnerships signed by Kiwi and Saudi businesses, valued at $100 million.  Creative organisation Rukun was founded by HRH Princess Noura bint Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and will work with Wētā to help grow Saudi Arabia's creative economy.  Wēt...

Our largest sector is continuing to do it tough.  Latest data from BNZ and Business NZ shows our services sector —which makes up almost three quarters of the economy— has contracted for the 18th consecutive month.  Our manufacturing sector is also back in contraction after a period of growth.  Business NZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich told Mike Hosking we're still seeing a tale of...

A new Government paper suggests gas demand could outpace supply before the turn of the decade.   The briefing from Resources Minister Shane Jones delivers a strong warning for the coming years.   It says, unless the country finds new gas or alternative power generation, there won't be enough gas from 2029.   Jones told Mike Hosking there will be some available, but it will be snappe...