The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Staying the course when things are tough is a skill. I think you either have it or you don’t.

Chris Luxon will not get rolled, but he may quit. That would be a mistake of epic proportions.

What would drive me, if I was him, would be rational thought.

1) This election is not about personality, it's about economic management. On that the Government are tracking well.

2) The internal polling within the National Party is fine. It does ...

A surge in enrolments has Auckland University's campus buzzing.

Total semester one enrolments have topped 47,000, up 8% from the same time last year.

Undergraduate numbers are driving much of the growth rising 10%, which is nearly three thousand more students.

Deputy Vice Chancellor of Education Sarah Young told Mike Hosking that several factors are driving the increase.

She says more students go to university when unemployment is ...

There's been another assurance from Chris Luxon that he isn't going anywhere.

A Taxpayers' Union Curia poll shows National on just 28.4%, behind Labour on 34.4%. This has sparked speculation about Luxon's future as leader.

On Friday, Luxon says told Newstalk ZB he wasn't considering his position. Today, Luxon told Mike Hosking that hasn't changed at all over the weekend.

He says the only future he's been considering is the fut...

Many Fonterra dairy farmers are planning to invest their upcoming capital return back into their farms.

The dairy co-op's been given the green light by regulators to sell its consumer brands to France dairy giant Lactalis for $4.22 billion.

Farmers will get back two-dollars a share, possibly by the middle of next month.

Fonterra Co-operative Council Chair John Stevenson told Mike Hosking that farmers will be trying to make the most...

The conflict in Iran won't just affect petrol. 

Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young says prices in her domain haven't increased yet, but they will soon. 

She says it's been forecast that the conflict could add half a percent to inflation. 

Young told Mike Hosking that it will affect everything that needs to be delivered, whether they be by road, sea or air. 

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Millions of barrels remain stuck behind the blocked the Strait of Hormuz. 

The price of crude oil has increased 35% since last week. 

Generate Investment Specialist Greg Smith told Mike Hosking that only a few ships are being getting through. 

He says Chinese ships are getting through as Iran still needs them for revenue. 

The Commerce Commission says international conflicts will affect prices but it expects ret...

The primary teachers' union is doing my head in. 

This country needs fewer people like them and more people wanting to get on with it, get ahead, dream big, be bold, work harder and generally look at life in a more upbeat way. 

The latest problem for the union is they want facilitated bargaining. I bet they do. 

Unlike just about everyone else union based who has signed a deal, the primary teachers lot think they are...

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 war: 6/10 

As much as you want to give a war a number, this is not World War III, it is not going to last four years. It most likely won't last four weeks. 

Helen Clark: 2/10 

Everything that is wrong with ideological jibber-jabber. From Hipkins to Starmer to Clark, their the...

Where are we at with the war? 

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard makes a very compelling case that this thing is over in four weeks because that’s about when the petrol reserves in America get drained. The Strait is closed, no LNG is getting through, Trump cannot tolerate $100 a barrel and so he will capitulate. 

China can hold out. The Iranians, if they have kept a bunch of attack drones back, can hold out too, then go for some fu...

US President Donald Trump has told a US news outlet he wants to be involved in picking Iran's next leader.  

He's told Axios that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son is a lightweight and unacceptable to him.  

Meanwhile, the death toll in Iran has risen to 1200, multiple Gulf countries are continuing to intercept missiles, and in Azerbaijan, an airport and a school were hit by Iranian drones. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnol...

It seems you really can’t beat locally grown produce. 

Recent numbers show farmers’ markets around the country now support over a thousand food producers – attracting more than 50 thousand shoppers every week. 

Tony Cato, owner of Pirongia Mountain Vegetables, told Mike Hosking that the industry’s been doing nothing but growing. 

They’ve been in the markets for nearly twenty years, he says, and especially after Covid...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 6th of March, will New Zealand pull the trigger on a youth social media ban at the select committee’s recommendation?  

Could New Zealand become a powerhouse when it comes to medicinal cannabis? David Seymour thinks so. 

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson go down memory lane as they Wrap the Week. Well, Mike and Tim do anyway. 

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A new initiative to tackle the ballooning Jobseeker numbers. 

The Ministry of Social Development is pairing with the Chambers of Commerce to form ChamberWorks, in hopes of plugging a gap in the market. 

Data from December shows over 223 thousand people on the benefit, and the programme intends to connect employers with pre-screened, work-ready candidates.  

Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges told Mike Hoskin...

Consumer spending has increased in February, signalling a positive recovery within the retail sector. 

Worldline NZ’s payments network shows spending reached more than $3.6 billion, up 2.2% on February last year. 

The Auckland and Northland regions saw a lift of 2.8% year on year – the most growth the area has seen in a single month in nearly two years. 

Infometrics Principal Economist Nick Brunsdon told Mike Hosking...

David Seymour has explained what we're missing out on by not investing in the medicinal cannabis industry. 

The ACT Leader's looking at further improvements to speed up processing for exports of the plant, which he believes could one day rival the wine industry.  

He's open to improving regulation domestically as well. 

David Seymour told Mike Hosking they want to simplify the process it takes to get a licence. 

The City of Sails is set to be humming this weekend. 

Auckland's hosting a plethora of events, as the Warriors take on the Roosters today, the Blues face the Crusaders tomorrow, and Round the Bays kicks off Sunday. 

The city's newest golf tournament will also run across the weekend. 

New Zealand Events Association General Manager Elaine Linnell told Mike Hosking they’ll be able to see and feel the financial impact of...

There’s confidence a Parliamentary inquiry into online safety is on the right track. 

A Select Committee endorses a social media ban for under 16s and calls for an online regulator and tougher controls on harmful apps and algorithms. 

National's lead MP on the committee, Carl Bates, says some recommendations mirror moves overseas, while others are unique to New Zealand. 

He told Mike Hosking transparency around algor...

Is it 1-1? 

The Prime Minister dug himself a hole over Iran. 

Barbara Edmonds dug herself a hole in the NZ Herald. 

As far as holes go, I regard the Luxon hole as slightly less problematic, given the war is not in our direct purview and there is nothing we can do about it. 

But it does display the ongoing issue the Prime Minister appears to have with many New Zealanders: he doesn’t look like he is confident and ...