The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Staffing shortages are causing headaches for Auckland firefighters. The Professional Firefighters Union says last weekend there were 23 gaps in coverage for the Auckland region. The union's Auckland secretary, Martin Campbell told Mike Hosking it's not a new problem. He says there's been a lack of planning for hiring career firefighters in the past 10 to 15 years. Fire and Emergency says there is...

Vaccine fatigue is thought to be the reason for a slow uptake in this year's flu jab roll out. Ministry of Health figures show 736,000 vaccines have been administered so far - fewer than 15 percent of the population. Only one in five people are eligible for a free flu jab. General Practice New Zealand Chair Jeff Lowe told Mike Hosking it's just as important to get vaccinated for the flu, as it is...

Whether The Warehouse dip their toes back into the supermarket game properly may well be an insight into the reality of the supermarket game in this country. And whether or not the Commerce Commission was ever really needed to provide the report they did into the sector. There was much upset from those who believed we are getting ripped off when the Commission didn’t appear to find any of it. They...

Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong have been flying the New Zealand flag high in Formula Two this season, with Lawson fourth and Armstrong seventh after four races. The pair joined Mike Hosking to give an update on the season so far and what the future holds. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chloe Gong is a Kiwi author who has topped the New York Times bestseller list with her novels since she was a teenager. Her most notable work is These Violent Delights, and the sequel Our Violent Ends. Now she has a spin-off duology out to those two books, called Foul Lady Fortune. Chloe Gong joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Omicron, staffing and supply chain issues are stalling economic momentum. New research from Infometrics shows economic activity has picked up slightly in the first three months of this year. However, the shortage of workers and materials is proving a hindrance. But Infometrics Economist Brad Olsen told Mike Hosking when you factor in Auckland's period in lockdown, there's almost no growth at all....

A lot of details around the Government's emissions reduction plan still remain a mystery. It includes a goal to have 30 percent of people driving zero emission cars by 2035. Climate Change Minister James Shaw says the car replacement scheme would apply to those near the minimum wage,  but he hasn't given an exact number. He told Mike Hosking the Government is been forced to play catch up. Shaw say...

New Zealand school kids with autism are almost three times as likely to be stood down or suspended compared to those without autism. The research by Otago University shows out one out of 20 autistic children are stood down or suspended, compared to the usual one in fifty. Dane Dougan, CEO of Autism NZ joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are hopes this will be the last investigation into Cycling New Zealand. A long-awaited inquiry into the organisation, which follows the death of Olivia Podmore last year, found its high-performance system prioritises medals over wellbeing. It's also found athletes have a fear of reprisals for raising issues with coaches and management. High Performance New Zealand Chief Executive Raelene Cas...

Winston Peters is ruling out a run in next month's Tauranga by-election. Nominations close at midday in the race to replace National MP Simon Bridges, with the final candidates confirmed at 4pm. The New Zealand First Leader had been tipped to stand. But he told Mike Hosking he nor his party will be standing, and thinks the whole by-election is a waste of taxpayer money. "At a time when we've got s...

Andrew Saville and Guy Heveldt joined Mike Hosking to talk the passing of Andrew Symonds, Brendon McCullum's new England gig, the weekend's Super Rugby, the Cycling New Zealand report, and the Warriors' game of two halves against the Rabbitohs. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are making last-ditch efforts ahead of Australia's election this coming Saturday. Recent polls show Morrison's Liberal-National coalition will likely lose to Labor. Morrison yesterday announced a housing policy aimed at boosting homeownership. Australia correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking more than a million people have already voted. “That means that an...

Ashley Bloomfield was back Friday to spook you again, just like the good old days. The trouble for the Government's fear campaign is it's over. It’s a bust. It's the evolution, or the anatomy, of a campaign that for a while was highly successful. A lot of us believed the fear and the predictions. A lot of us hung on every word of the epidemiologists as they became household names and seemed to hav...

The agriculture sector is looking for support in today's Emission Reduction Plan.  Dairy NZ Chief Executive Tim Mackle told Mike Hosking a lot of technology is being created to make farming greener. “Unsurprisingly, a lot of the candidates we’ve been working on, we’ve just got to move faster on them. I’m an optimist on this, I think we can do it.” Meanwhile, Victoria University lecturer Adrian Mac...

It's still not clear why Liverpool fans took aim at Prince William at the FA Cup Final. Boos rang out around Wembley Stadium as the Duke of Cambridge, who's president of the Football Association, was introduced to Chelsea and Liverpool players before kick-off. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Mike Hosking it's a shameful and unacceptable thing to do. “It’s been broken bound into whether...

The 18-year-old suspected of opening fire at a Buffalo supermarket Saturday told authorities he was targeting the Black community, according to an official familiar with the investigation. The alleged gunman made very disturbing statements describing his motive and state of mind following his arrest, the official said. The statements were clear and filled with hate toward the Black community. Inve...

The Government's move to enforce collective bargaining under its Fair Pay legislation could breach international labour law.   Collective bargaining would be made compulsory under the proposals.  And while the UN's International Labour Organisation promotes the practice it does not enforce it.  BusinessNZ Chief Kirk Hope told Mike Hosking the move could put New Zealand on a list of the world's wor...

An Auckland mayoral candidate is throwing his support behind congestion charging. It's expected it will be included in the Government's Emission Reduction Plan being released today. Efeso Collins says the Government needs to prove a charge will reduce emissions and be equitable. He told Mike Hosking it's much better than the regional fuel tax. “Why I voted against the regional fuel tax in the firs...

A sports sociologist says too often athletes with concerns are bullied or silenced. The findings of an enquiry into Cycling New Zealand will be released this afternoon. It follows the suspected suicide of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore last August. Waikato University's Holly Thorpe told Mike Hosking athletes need to feel safe about speaking up. “The abuses of power from coaches and athletes, often...

District Health Boards aim to restart pay talks this week. Allied health workers including dental therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists and anaesthetic technicians have walked off the job. Emergency care is still available. An 11th-hour offer by the DHBs to stop the strike was turned down and labelled as a kick in the guts by the Public Service Association. Health Minister Andrew Little told...

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.   The Immigration Reset: 4/10 "Because it's driven by the overarching view that less is more. In the case of a country so short of skills, it simply isn't true."   Simon Henry: 2/10 "Made the list last week as dick of the week. Amazingly, he is back for more with that two-line ap...

Bit of reading you might be interested in if you follow the Australian election campaign.   It's a piece about Clive Palmer and how he will do well in Victoria; look up "Palmer's People" in the Sydney Morning Herald. You may see a trend or two that could play out here next year. Meantime, in Australia, although it isn't over, it looks like the tide has gone out on the Australian government. The ti...

As high new numbers of workplace bullying are revealed, questions are being asked as to whether the issue is we can't actually deal with the sheer volume of the problem. Workplace say about 10 percent of the workforce, roughly 300,000 people, deal with harassment every year, while 10 percent of that group, roughly 30,000 deal with the next level which is considered workplace bullying. Worksafe say...

There has been a lot of pettiness in politics in recent weeks – with some suggesting it is a sign of a government under pressure. Just recently we have had the situation with Mark Mitchell and Poto Williams which culminated in Mitchell not being allowed to sit at Williams’ table at Copperfield’s, the Parliament cafeteria that's considered neutral ground. Then yesterday it was revealed Gerry Brownl...

A defibrillator initiative by the New Zealand Rugby Foundation is already paying dividends. Back in 2019 former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew had a cardiac arrest and would have died if there hadn't been a defibrillator nearby. Since the incident the foundation has been working on getting a defibrillator on the sidelines of every rugby club in the country. And it's already paying off, with a Taran...