The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Alan Davies is a well-known funnyman. 

He’s best known for starring in Jonathan Creek and for his permanent spot on QI, as well as his nearly 40 years of stand-up comedy. 

Davies has had a busy career, and in amongst it all he’s written two memoirs, Just Ignore Him, released in 2020, and White Male Stand-Up, released just this month. 

In both the memoir and his latest stand-up performances, Davies covers his extensiv...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 16th of September, the state of our economy took another hit with the 18th straight month of contractions in our services sector. Q2 GDP numbers on Thursday will be fascinating. 

Yet again we are looking at Eden Park and whether more concerts could be held there. Can we just get on and do something about it? 

Alan Davies of Jonathan's Creek and QI fame is on for ...

The Gisborne forestry industry wants to manage expectations when it comes to cleaning up slash.  

One company is appealing the district council's order, which would force it to prevent all woody debris from leaving a forestry block.  

Samnic Forest Management says it would likely go bankrupt if the order were to go ahead.  

Forest Owners Association Chief Executive Elizabeth Heeg told Mike Hosking there must be a com...

Wētā Workshop has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Saudi Arabian princess. 

The agreement is part of five new commercial partnerships signed by Kiwi and Saudi businesses, valued at $100 million. 

Creative organisation Rukun was founded by Princess Noura Al Saud and will work with Wētā to help grow Saudi Arabia's creative economy. 

Wētā Workshop co-CEO and COO David Wilks told Mike Hosking they’ve increasin...

Our largest sector is continuing to do it tough. 

Latest data from BNZ and Business NZ shows our services sector —which makes up almost three quarters of the economy— has contracted for the 18th consecutive month. 

Our manufacturing sector is also back in contraction after a period of growth. 

Business NZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich told Mike Hosking we're still seeing a tale of two economies. 

She says the p...

A new Government paper suggests gas demand could outpace supply before the turn of the decade.  

The briefing from Resources Minister Shane Jones delivers a strong warning for the coming years.  

It says, unless the country finds new gas or alternative power generation, there won't be enough gas from 2029.  

Jones told Mike Hosking there will be some available, but it will be snapped up by industrial companies.  ...

Claims the current Eden Park rules are comical.  

The Government's looking at settings including the number of concerts held at the Auckland stadium and their duration.  

RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says there will be a four to six week investigation period.  

He told Mike Hosking he won't be making a pre-emptive decision on what needs to change.  

Bishop says even though he's publicly stated that the rules...

There's an expectation farmer confidence will stay high as long as commodity prices stay up. 

The latest Rabobank survey's found farmers' faith in the broader agricultural economy is at its second highest level in the last decade, up to 46%. 

51% expect it to improve in the year ahead. 

DairyNZ Board Member Jacqueline Rowarth told Mike Hosking the sector's cautiously positive, as trade may change at any time. 

B...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 15th of September, we've got a $70m package to secure major events here. Is it enough? And what does it get us?

The Prime Minister is in to talk the Pacific Islands Forum, why a protest can block SH1 and when we are getting an Indian trade deal.

Jason Pine and Andrew Saville talk the disappointing week of sport for Warriors and All Blacks fans - and the good news if you...

Noeline Taurua isn't the first coach to be badly treated.

But she might be the most successful and well regarded.

Sport is a funny thing, especially nowadays where it seems to want to walk a line between being successful and being modern, or dare I suggest the word "woke"?

Last week when reports of players feeling unsafe emerged I didn’t even know what they meant by that.

"Unsafe" is something that might happen in the dark, in an a...

The All Blacks lost 43-10 to the Springboks in Wellington on Saturday night. 

It is the biggest defeat the All Blacks have suffered in a test match. 

Former All Blacks player Sir John Kirwan told Mike Hosking that the All Blacks need to have a look at their play and seriously review how the match unfolded 

‘Normally we go away saying, OK, we can fix that up we'd be right, but I think this one is a little bit more ser...

Cabinet discussions are continuing over whether New Zealand will recognise the State of Palestine.

A number of countries have said they'll recognise Palestine next week at a UN meeting.

Chris Luxon says recognition is a complex issue and that there's a range of views to consider, and the Government will make its own decision on whether recognition is appropriate.

The Prime Minister told Mike Hosking an announcement on the matter, w...

Excitement over the Government's change in event funding, with its newly announced $70million tourism package. 

It includes $40million to secure large-scale international events from next year and a ten-million-dollar fund to support existing events. 

Eccles Entertainment Founder Brent Eccles [eck ils] says the main change is now concerts can access major event funding, which will have a huge impact. 

He says in the ...

New data from Corrections,  reveals more than 3,000 gang members and associates make up the just over 10,000 sentenced and remand prisoners.

It equates to about a third of the country's estimated gang population. 

Corrections Association President Floyd du Plessis says the chances of rehabilitation for these inmates is low. 

He says it needs to be possible for prisons to separate people,  based on their intentio...

The fallout from Charlie Kirk’s death continues as politicians, commentators and celebrities weigh-in on the situation. 

The likes of Stephen King, Ted Cruz and President Trump have all commented on the situation – with King and Cruz butting heads on twitter.  

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that the investigation into the killing is ongoing.  

He said that only the roommate of the suspected shoote...

Hasn’t working from home become funny? 

Seek have produced a thing called Money Matters, and they look at work-life balance. 

Actually, hasn’t that become a thing as well – work-life balance. I can't place it exactly, but it seems like a Covid thing. The world changed and so did we. 

Working hard is now so last year, or so last decade. We all long for work-life balance with a good sprinkling of mental health days.&nb...

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 cathedral: 7/10 

If I wasn’t from Christchurch, I doubt I'd be gripped, but that thing is in such desperate need of being sorted so a new plan is most welcome. 

The by-election: 3/10 

A bust on every level, but mostly for the lack of interest in basic democracy. 

...

My uplifting story of the week involves charter schools. 

Charter schools are the little idea that could. Or maybe they are the big game-changing idea that could. 

We heard this week of the first public school wanting to explore the charter route. 

It's in Northland and it's being driven by the realisation that what they currently do doesn’t work for their kids. 

And that is the genesis of the charter school thi...