The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A tourism boss says we should reconsider Sir John Key's 2009 idea of making trans-Tasman travel domestic. In 2009, the then Prime Minister floated the idea of passport-free travel between Australia and New Zealand. But the idea was shut down with Australia's changing of prime ministers and a tightening of their border. Haka Tourism Group general manager Eve Lawrence told Mike Hosking it will not j...

The green light could be given to get rid of the traffic light framework. Our newsroom understands Cabinet will be deciding on a recommendation to scrap the framework altogether, rather than tweaking the settings or moving to green. If it goes ahead, it will come into effect as soon as next Wednesday. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford told Mike Hosking he supports axing it, including getting...

National is promising a Covid-19 inquiry if it's elected. The Northland region was plunged into level three last year after women who travelled there returned positive Covid-19 results. Now officials have admitted they issued travel permits in error. National Party Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop says his party would have an inquiry started within the first 100 days of taking over. He told Mike...

We have the headline "A beauty buffs guide to Sydney. Where to stay, shop and spoil yourself." There are a lot of those headlines about these days. That's despite the fact Auckland Airport refuses to look like it's open and despite the fact international travel is only at 50 percent of pre pandemic levels. The travel industry is working hard to get us on a plane and off somewhere. But I can only i...

National is calling on the Government to apologise over the 11-day Covid lockdown last October. The Government blamed the lockdown on the two women using false travel documents to cross the Northland border and there had been suggestions the women were doing sex work for the gang scene. But documents obtained by our newsroom reveal the women weren't sex workers, had no gang links, and had correct...

Gilbert Mata woke up excited Tuesday for the first day of school since a gunman's bullet tore through his leg three months ago in a fourth grade classroom in Uvalde. The 10-year-old has healed from his physical wounds, but burning smells still remind him of gunfire and the sight of many police officers recalls the day in May that an assailant killed 19 of his classmates and two teachers. On a morn...

The White Lady is a food truck in Auckland that has been operating for 74 years. Back in June/July they were battling with Auckland Council who told them to get their license renewed they must make changes so that there was less litter, less drunk people around the truck and that their cooking fumes didn't drift to other businesses. They believed they complied with all that and now the complaint h...

A claim Rotorua's emergency motel system is sapping the Government's credibility. A TVNZ report has revealed poor conditions for tenants and allegations of intimidation and abuse of power from charity Visions of a Helping Hand. Victoria University political analyst Bryce Edwards says it's an issue the Government hasn't addressed and the Mayor hasn't been vocal enough about. He told Mike Hosking th...

The first of New Zealand Rugby’s Silver Lake money is about to be dished out. Yesterday applications opened for clubs all around the country to get a slice of $7.5 million. It will see more than 450 clubs get between $10-40,000, with an expected focus on upgrading club facilities to make them community hubs again. North Harbour Rugby chairman Gerard van Ttilborg joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE S...

Questions have been asked as to whether the Government's package will make a difference when it comes to youth crime. They announced their $53 million Better Pathways package, with a focus on children under 14. $23 million of it will go towards a programme that gives "wraparound support" to youths at risk of, or already involved in, organised crime. There's also $23 million for supporting teenager...

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...