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November 25, 2025 • 12 mins

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Wednesday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Come On. It's Only Maths/Reflecting On a Year of OCRs/Trying to Care About Tax/How to Cook a Steak/Kids Steal

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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk, said B.
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Speaker 2 (00:24):
Rewrap there and welcome to the Rewrap for Wednesday. All
the best bets from the mic asking breakfast on Newstalk,
said B in a sillier package, I am bleinhearten today.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Oh it's an OCR day, the OCR days we've had
this year.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Okay, just to keep things really interesting, we're also going
to talk text, and then we're going to discover what
the best way to book steak is, and we'll lament
the way kids come back to your house and steal
all your stuff.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
But before any of that, maths. Why are we more
interested in maths?

Speaker 4 (00:57):
So here's the story, And then the story is the scandal.
As I became increasingly frustrated with the performance of the
New Zealand media or lack of yesterday, so I'm watching
this live stream Prime Minister and the Education Minister, the
redd of School of their announce the results of the nationwide
maths Acceleration trial. If you listened to z B yesterday afternoon,
you would have heard this because we had it. If
you listened to radio in New Zealand, you wouldn't have
heard it. If you listened to stuff, you wouldn't have

(01:17):
heard it. If you listened to the herald or read
the herald, you wouldn't have heard it. If you're watching
the six o'clock news at TV and Z last night,
you wouldn't have heard it. So the results are there's
a twofold result. So it's the nationwide maths Acceleration trial.
This is year seven, seven and eight's fifteen hundred of
them who were more than the year behind in maths.
The intensive model, the in person model. They gained over
a twelve week period. Two years. They advanced up to

(01:39):
two years in the twelve week period. The really important part,
and so you know Union's garb, Well, of course they will.
You have put the experts in with them. What do
you expect The really impressive part. That's impressive enough. The
really impressive part is simply by doing the new curriculum,
i EU do an hour of maths a day, which
is the government policy. You do an hour of maths today.

(02:00):
They gained a year in twelve weeks, one year in
twelve weeks. That by any measure, is roma And not
only is it remarkable, it is also a news story.
Now tell me why there were journalists standing there listening
to the Ministry of Education, the Prime Minister of this
country announced those results, and yet they went back to

(02:20):
their newsrooms and not a story was written, no coverage
was given. If you look briefly on the TV three
news once they waded through yet more boredom around moaning
about teterity because a song was sung to Erica and
that was a song of protest, apparently, so they needed
to tell you about that. But once they did that,
they very briefly mentioned the result. Apart from that, you
heard from no one, not on TV one, not in
the Herald, not on Radio New zealand, not on stuff.

(02:42):
Why not? Why not? You cannot tell me that isn't
a story. You cannot tell me that kids, over a
twelve week period, who advanced one year in one of
the most difficult areas of education, an area that we've
complained about, worried about, moaned about for years, when they
get actual, tangible, real results, you cannot tell me that

(03:02):
isn't news. And yet according to most of the media
in this country, it wasn't. Now that's not over bias.
I don't know what.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Is no quite seriously.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
I mean it's maths. I spent my entire school career
turning up late to maths. I think I may have
told you before. My six form math teacher seemed to
have a policy that if I could come up with
a good excuse for being late, she would let me off.
I once told her I was late because I didn't
get there on time. That wasn't good enough. I had
to pick up rubbish at lunchtime for a week. Rewraps

(03:34):
probably why I don't really understand why we have the
OCR and what it's for.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Reserve Bank counting today one last hurrah for the year.
It has a certain night thing, It's got a certain
anti climax about it doesn't it's probably twenty five points.
Twenty five points is priced in by just about everyone.
I mean, there's a chance at zero and next to
no one says it's fifty. And for metrics, last week,
by the way, had the Q three GDP number at
zero point nine percent, and I'm told the Q two
number is going to be revised up, which means if

(04:01):
you add all that to the Q one number, we're
actually we've actually had a pretty decent year. What are
you mad? How can you say that? You say, well,
don't you the messenger? These are either facts or expert predictions.
Either way, they're on the right side of the equation.
The point being that's the sort of thing the Reserve
Bank looks at. Is inflation in its box? Well, well,
it's a smitch high given it's three percent, so right
at the very top end, but technically still within the

(04:24):
zero to three range. If we cut further, they will ask,
do we risk driving that number a little bit higher
through increased bullishness and spending? Quite possibly. Now, I'm not
personally arguing for a hold, but if you want toss
a few ideas about the place that isn't a bad one.
A case can be made for holding, for saying inflation
is there or thereabouts, and that the economy has got
no shortage of green shoots and twenty six looks okay,

(04:44):
our job is done. The psychological advantage, no matter what
they do, is not to be underestimated either. Is is
this as good as it gets? As low as they go,
then a lot of people are going to start making
decisions run money in mortgages, and a lot of people
have been holding. Of course, they've been in the waiting place,
and as doctor Seuss said, the waiting place is no
place for you. In a funny way, it might also

(05:06):
shake us out of our funk. We're proportionately miserable, not
because of reality, but because it's been so bad and
we need to kick up the backside to get on
with it. Maybe Christian hawksby and does farewell flourish offers
not just the twenty five points, but a bit of
uplifting hyperbole as he steps out the door. They've cut
six times this year. We could end twenty five at
two point twenty five, it started at four point two.

(05:26):
Five shows you what a mess we've dealt with. But
I get the scenes. The page is tuned.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, I really feel like we've given more coverage to
the OCR this year than any other year before. Perhaps
we should tomorrow do a review of all the OCRs
we've had this year, but our favorite ones, our least
favorite ones, the ones that made us laugh and classic
OCR moments.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Maybe it's just.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Every year it feels like that I don't know right
what's going to get you voting next year? And who
will you be voting for?

Speaker 3 (06:01):
Will it?

Speaker 2 (06:02):
Will it be for somebody who's doing taxes?

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Or undoing them.

Speaker 4 (06:06):
What do Rachel Reeves and New zeal Treasury have in common.
They love tax. They are myopic in their view of economies.
Economies always need more money, and tax, according to them,
is the only way to do it. Rachel Reeves tonight
has perhaps the most anticipated budget of a generation. When
I say anticipated, I don't mean in terms of willingness
or excitement. People are dreading what she's going to do.

(06:27):
It has been a long long time since we have
seen the level of fiscal panic that we've seen under
the British Labor Party. They were not going to tax
more until they were but that was a broken promise,
so then they weren't. They've got a hold though. It's
about thirty billion just for the year. That's seventy billion
of our miserable South Pacific pesos. She has to make
some sort of attempt at closing a tax is her
preferred means of collection. Meantime, back here, Treasury writes another

(06:51):
of their doom laden messages to government, muttering about when
not if taxes have to rite. This is all good
news for New Zealand labor. Excuse me, they love tax.
They got the CGT already lined upset to go. I
wouldn't be surprised if there was more where that came from.
Do remember the CGT was but a part of their
wider economic plan to be released at a later date.

(07:11):
At some point we're going to have to work out
more tax. Greater tax is no way to run anything,
for the simple reason we aren't well paid, and too
many people are on what most of the world considers
average incomes, paying ludicrous percentages of what they earn. Already
the top tax rate if you didn't notice thirty nine
cents in this country, thirty nine at GST, at fifteen,
you're at fifty four at acc road user or the

(07:34):
other tax bollocks. Some are close at sixty cents in
the dollar, and Rachel and the Chrisses and the treasuries
that want even more. How about government where the central
or local look at doing less or doing more with less,
or simplifying or not just cost plus accounting everything. If
you know you have an unlimited source of income or overdraft,

(07:56):
there is no end to the damage you can do
through fiscal laziness. New Zealand Inc. And the UK INC
a modern day example.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
I think people vote for tax cats don't they. I
don't know that anybody has ever voted for I mean,
there might be a few socially conscious people who claim
they vote for increased taxes if it can be shown
it is a direct.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Benefit somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
But I think really people prefer tax cats, don't they.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
What do I know? I was late to maths every day, rewrapped.
I'll tell you what I do know. I know how
to cook a steak.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Sammy was out there cooking a steak last night on
his balcony. And it's a good time of you for
Sammy to cook the steak on the balcony because he's
got a table out in the balcony. You can't afford
a table inside. He's got a steak, he's got a
table on the balcony. And the thing that I'm interested
in at the moment, I mean, obviously, Hanson was banned
from the Senate for her burker stunt. But what was
more interesting than that was after the Burker's stunt, she

(08:59):
went back to her office and Barnaby Joyce visited, and
Barnaby Joyce is going to deffect this week, and she
cooked him steak Wagu and they had steak can sell
its Now what does she cook the steak on the
sandwich press? And of course Australia is a gas now
they can you cook Wagu's steak on a sandwich press?

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Does it do a better job than an ear?

Speaker 2 (09:18):
For you?

Speaker 4 (09:18):
It's a very good question. Those are the questions. Those
are the questions, glean, Those are the probing questions. You
won't hear that on Radio New Zealand or TV one
tonight we'll see.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Sam would like to point out, by the way, well
that he can't afford a table. Oh but his apartment's
too small for one. That's the main issue there.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
So what the really is He can't afford the lounge,
so he can't afford the lounge that would fit.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
The t I think by the sounds of things, the
apartment is mostly outside. Yeah, yeah, it's got great outdoor flow.
I don't mean indoor outdoor flow. I just mean it's
only got outdoor flow. I think Sam sort of described
it to me as you open the front door and
you're on the deck. I think wrong with that is
there as long as it's covered.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
Over its a re wrap, it's not too much wind blowing.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Otherwise your outdoor table might fly away, and you have
to go to your pair and place and nick a
new one.

Speaker 4 (10:10):
I received a call. It was a video call from
my wife yesterday, and she was in a different part
of the country. She was in what I loosely called
the country, and she was at our house there and
she had taken our youngest daughter there four reasons best
known to my well, I didn't know at the time
why she had, but basically, our youngest daughter had gone
to raid our property and steal stuff. And she goes,

(10:30):
she's taking this, this and gym. The videophone call is
just going on. I was trying busily to work and
she goes, Now she was taking that Do you like
that rug? I said, love that rug? Oh, that rug's
coming back. She's taken that rug then, and she just
came home with the boot and it was a big truck.
She took up, just a big boot full of stuff.
My question is, when do the kids stop nicking your stuff?
Now this kid's moved out of home, right, when do
the kids stop nicking your stuff?

Speaker 3 (10:52):
They can have my stuff if they leave.

Speaker 4 (10:54):
Well no ours have left.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine. If it means that they
stay away, they can take so well, you're.

Speaker 4 (11:00):
Better than I am, so they can have it. If
they left, they can come back and take whatever they want.
Got a new flat, they say I need a sofa
for the flat, They'll just take your sofa. And you're
saying on the floor.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
That's fine.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
I'll go down to the risk goes Black Friday Sail
and get a bean bag.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
Fair enough.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
In fact, I always work under the assumption that anything
in my house my kids probably will steal at some point,
so I try to have multiple versions of the things
that I like the most. So you know, I've got
two TVs, got several vacuum cleaners, a lot of smart speakers.
Those are the things that matter to me. And like

(11:37):
I say, I've got double ups of some of those things,
just strictly in case of theft by a child, and
by child I mean adults who just have my children.
I am Glen Hart, father of two. Sometimes seems like more.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
I'll see you Beck here again tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
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