The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A major milestone for ZB, as the station celebrates its centenary on Sunday. 

It’s grown from fragile beginnings filled with government regulations and restrictions on broadcasting hours into the commercial juggernaut of today. 

Leighton Smith spent 33 years behind the ZB mic, hosting the weekday morning programme until his retirement in 2018.  

He joined Mike Hosking to reminisce on the years he spent on the s...

New Zealand's professional netball ranks could be about to undergo the biggest shake-up in a generation. 

A private investor described as "a high net-worth family with sporting links" is in talks to take over the ANZ Premiership licence. 

Any new model would see a franchise league established for the 2028 season, not next year. 

Former Netball New Zealand chair Don Mackinnon says the move is timely in the current spo...

Politicians are being urged to pay more attention to our exercise workforce as a way of easing health system demand. 

ExerciseNZ's proposing all parties consider compulsory registration for exercise professionals, removing the fringe benefit tax from employer-supported exercise, and using exercise professionals to help with ACC rehabilitation.  

CEO Richard Beddie says they also want any future government to make one-hour...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 6th of August, we look at the unemployment rate – is 5.6% the peak? 

Paul Goldsmith is reviewing the Justice Department after another four employees were found to be on paid leave while facing criminal charges or misconduct investigations – one for more than 25 weeks. 

Newstalk ZB legend Leighton Smith reminisces on the past with ZB set to turn 100 o...

The Employers and Manufacturers Association says businesses are forging ahead despite a sluggish economy. 

The unemployment rate rose to 5.6% in June – the highest level in 11 years. 

Economists point to the war in Iran as one factor behind the rise, creating uncertainty and making businesses cautious about hiring. 

EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald told Mike Hosking he’s hopeful we’ve reached the ...

David Seymour says a decision to broaden diabetes medication met his expectations.  

Pharmac's widening access for several medicines for type two diabetes from September, helping to lower blood sugar and reduce kidney complications.  

The Associate Health Minister says more than 30 thousand people will benefit by removing ethnicity from the question.  

Seymour told Mike Hosking he wrote a letter to the board of what ...

Strong returns for sheep and beef farmers could be helping slow the rush to convert farmland into forestry. 

A new Beef + Lamb NZ report shows 30 thousand hectares of farmland was sold for forestry last year – less than half the 2021/22 peak. 

Chair Kate Acland says it's pleasing to see only 1,300 hectares converted in the first three months of this year. 

But she told Mike Hosking that number will probably ris...

A possibility some Ministry of Justice staffers could lose their jobs as a rapid review's launched. 

It comes after former Lotto host Russell Harrison was kept on the payroll for five years after he was arrested on money laundering charges, just days into starting his ministry job in 2021. 

Documents obtained by the Taxpayers Union reveal four other ministry employees are on leave while facing the courts or misconduct inv...

Scoffs at the latest cost-saving measures by Jetstar, as it's set to bring in charges for overhead carry-ons. 

From February, all passengers will be able to bring one small under-seat bag weighing up to 10kg, but they'll have to fork out an extra $23 for any overhead luggage. 

Jetstar says customers were stressing out looking for room in overhead lockers. 

Australian Correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking he isn...

I think we can turn off the alarms and stand down the cavalry. 

The changes to enrolment for this year's election have not turned out to be the cataclysmic disaster the misery merchants claimed it was going to be. 

There are a number of rule changes passed late last year. The most significant one is when you enrol. 

Previously you could enrol on the day. That now is changed to 12 days before election day – in t...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 5th of August, we preview the latest unemployment figures and discuss the now-halted prison massage plan.  

Sarah Kennedy from Calocurb gives us the lowdown on the price of the GLP-1s in this country, access, and how far behind we are the rest of the world. 

And Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell spar on the social media bill, the prison massage plan, and Luxon's...

Donald Trump continues to lash out over the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. 

The US President's turned his attack on Attorney for Washington DC Jeanine Pirro – claiming she choked and folded like an umbrella in moving to drop charges over the pool's restoration.  

After initially charging four people with vandalism, the Justice Department found damage to the $14 million lining instead came from a fla...

Today on Politics Wednesday, Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen joined Mike Hosking to dig into the biggest stories of the week so far. 

Labour has received more details on National’s social media ban bill – how are they feeling about it now? 

They also discussed the now-paused plan to roll Rongoa Māori health services to all prisons, including traditional massages, and Christopher Luxon’s comments to Roto...

A plan's been halted to roll out Rongoa Māori health services to all prisons, including traditional massages. 

Newstalk ZB can reveal the expected $9 million programme would have offered the traditional Māori health services to prisoners across the country. 

It included spiritual work and the holistic healing mirimiri massage. 

ACT’s Todd Stephenson told Mike Hosking it shows how woke and out of touch some part...

Weight loss drugs are reshaping the US retail landscape, but New Zealand is unlikely to see the same boom anytime soon. 

GLP-1 medications are now being sold through major retailers like Costco and Walmart, with some costing as little as $25 a month. 

Here, they can cost more than $400 a month, and have only been available for around a year, compared to five in the US. 

Calocurb CEO Sarah Kennedy told Mike Hosking Am...

Police believe tougher penalties could be the answer to clamping down on shoplifting. 

Official Information Act data shows shoplifting charges hit the highest rate in 15 years, with 36 thousand laid across the 2024/25 year. 

These led to the highest ever number of convictions handed down in the country’s courts. 

Police Association President Steve Watt told Mike Hosking harsher punishments might influence peopl...

Unemployment's expected to increase, but it might not be all bad news for the economy. 

Many economists are expecting unemployment to increase from 5.3% to 5.5%.  

ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner feels volatility due to things like the war in Iran is starting to fade.  

She told Mike Hosking businesses seem to be getting used to uncertainty – they’re realising they can't wait for normal conditions and ...

The Electoral Commission is preparing to turn away voters who aren't enrolled.  

Electoral law changes mean people must enrol to vote by October 25th or miss out.  

Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne says just under 90% of people are enrolled.  

He says 18 to 24-year-olds are enrolled at lower rates.  

Le Quesne told Mike Hosking he wants to see these rates increase. 

He says people should be talking to...

I think the majority of us would agree that the gang patch ban, along with the renewed police attitude to gang activity, has produced a pretty successful answer to what was previously a situation with gangs where they basically ran rampant, ruined a lot of people's lives and produced untold misery in a lot of small-town New Zealand. 

I note as a watcher of Parliamentary Question Time that Minister of Police Mark Mitchell is ve...