The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Shayne Burke survived explosions and gunfire in the Iraq war, and has now survived an attack from a grizzly bear. 

The 35-year-old man from Wyoming, USA, was on his honeymoon when he stumbled across a mother grizzly and her cubs in the Grand Tetons National Park. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that grizzlies are very protective of their cubs, and within an instant Shayne was fig...

It seems to have been a miserable week. 

We all seem miserable this week. 

The boss, who I complained to this week about a bunch of stuff, gaslit me by telling me it’s the time of year everyone gets a bit edgy. 

Smith & Caughey's told us they were done. That was profound that a multi-generational company that has survived wars can't survive downtown Auckland in 2024. 

The health sector is getting a $16 billion boost over the next three budgets. 

It’s part of the Government’s plan to invest in frontline services. 

$12.2 billion of that will go towards primary health care, $31 million is going to increasing security in emergency departments, and $22 million will be used to train 25 more doctors each year. 

Buzz Burrell, Interim Chair of General Pract...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 31st of May, Finance Minister Nicola Willis joined to talk everything to do with the Budget and the tightening of the Government’s purse strings.

How long are you waiting for a doctor's appointment in your town? And does Taupo even have a supermarket? 

Tim Wilson and Kate Hawkesby covered eve...

Rob Nichol has reiterated his disappointment in the NZ Rugby outcome. 

It comes after the provincial unions' Proposal Two won the majority vote in yesterday's Special General Meeting regarding NZR’s governance structure. 

The Players’ Association CEO believes the new model isn’t in the best interests of the game in New Zealand, but rather the best interests of the provinces. 

He told ...

The Finance Minister says the recent culture of spraying the money gun with reckless abandon has come to an end.  

Nicola Willis released the 2024 Budget yesterday, confirming the long-awaited tax cuts and announcing funding for various sectors and industries. 

She confirmed that the tax programme is fully funded by the baseline-savings exercise of rooting out waste in government departments.

A saturated reward scheme market is likely to blame for Flybuys' demise. 

About 90 jobs will be lost when the scheme and its parent company Loyalty NZ close down at the end of the year. 

Members can still earn Flybuys points until October 31 and have until December 31 to redeem them. 

Retail and marketing expert Juanita Neville-Te Rito told Mike Hosking that most partners of the schem...

A former National Government Finance Minister says Nicola Willis did well with what she had.  

The Government's Budget includes changes to tax thresholds for three and a half million people.  

Funded through a suite of scrapped spending initiatives, all workers on more than $14,000 a year will receive between $4 and $40 a fortnight.  

Steven Joyce told Mike Hosking that the Finance Mi...

Tax cuts are expected to be front of mind for many people in today's Budget. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is releasing the 2024 Budget from 2pm today, unveiling the final shape of the promised tax cuts and how the Government plans to pay for them. 

Independent tax expert Geof Nightingale told Mike Hosking that he expects the Government to adjust the thresholds for the first time in 14 years.

The Education sector is hoping today’s Budget will address the staff shortages. 

$53 million was allocated to the training and recruitment of new teachers in a pre-Budget announcement, but NZEI’s Mark Potter said that it’s not going to be enough. 

He told Mike Hosking that they need both staffing and financial support, as well as specialists, therapists, psychologists, and so on to address the desp...

There’s hopes today's Budget will go some way to addressing staff shortages in the health sector. 

The Budget’s release comes amid strike action from both junior doctors and blood workers. 

Sarah Dalton from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists told Mike Hosking that it’ll take an extra $1.8 billion just to keep the health system ticking over as it is. 

She said that they w...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 30th May, a variety of sectors told us their hopes and wishes for today's Budget. 

Assistant police commissioner Mike Johnson joined to discuss how they are going to handle the Te Pati Māori backed protest clogg...

Kiwi Dai Henwood is one of the country’s most prolific comics. 

He's popped up on the screen in a number of programmes including Family Feud, The Project, Dancing with the Stars, and more recently, Taskmaster NZ. 

He went public with his battle against bowel cancer last year, and since then is now the healthiest he’s been in his life, he told Mike Hosking.

Traffic is being disrupted around the country this morning with thousands of people joining motorcades and hikoi against the Government's positions on Māori issues. 

A campaign group named Toitū Te Tiriti (Honour the Treaty) planned a strike today to “demonstrate a unified Aotearoa response to the Government’s assault on tangata whenua [Māori people] and Te Tiriti of Waitangi”. 

Protesters were exp...

New Zealand's population growth is slowing. 

Last year's census data shows that while the population did increase by 300,000 people since the last census five years ago, the rate of growth has slowed considerably. 

But Otago University sociologist Byrndl Hohmann-Marriott told Mike Hosking that it's not a concern. 

She says our population is expected to keep growing for the next 50 yea...

The infrastructure sector wants to see certainty in today's Budget, in the form of a construction "pipeline". 

Upgrades are needed across a majority of the country’s infrastructure, and the sector wants a program that will give a coherent delivery over the coming years. 

Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Mike Hosking that the Government needs to prioritise money in the ri...

Health New Zealand says it's deeply concerned about today's dual strike action from junior doctors and blood workers.  

It's junior doctor's third round of strikes and the beginning of a week of action from Blood Service lab workers.  

Health New Zealand's accusing the unions of scheduling action at the same time, compounding patient impact.  

But Chief People Officer Andrew Slater to...

Condemnation of the Reserve Bank's latest change to mortgage rules. 

The central bank has confirmed it's going ahead with plans to introduce "debt to income" restrictions, preventing home buyers from borrowing more than six times their pre-tax income. 

The changes will be partially offset by the easing of LVR restrictions, to allow for more low-deposit lending. 

But property commentat...