The Mike Hosking Breakfast

It’s a conflicting time for the civil contracting sector. 

The Government has been touting a ‘turning point’ for the industry at this week’s conference, promising $6 billion worth of infrastructure projects underway before Christmas. 

However, the latest industry survey results tell a different story, with 73% of respondents saying the lack of work is the most pressing issue. 

Civil Contractors NZ Chief Executive All...

People with unpaid court fines could be at risk of having cars clamped or seized from tonight.  

The Government's trialling number plate scanning technology, which bailiffs can use at police checkpoints to identify fine evaders.  

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking there's more than $100 million in unpaid fines. 

He hopes the trial's effective in clamping lots of cars, because the rest of the country i...

Our palliative care system may be waning as demand grows, prompting a push for action. 

We've fallen from third in the world in palliative care access ten years ago, to 12th place.  

An article in the New Zealand Medical Journal finds we have less than a third of the recommended number of specialists per capita, and many are nearing retirement.  

Author Dr Catherine D’Souza told Mike Hosking that we lack the funding ...

A belief changes to electoral day enrolments addresses slow administrative process and voter slackness.  

The Government's looking to ban prisoner votes, stop free food and entertainment at voting stations, and enforce a 13-day pre-election enrolment rule to vote. 

Otago University Electoral Law Expert Andrew Geddis told Mike Hosking same day enrolments require people to cast 'special votes', which take longer to process....

Nicola Willis is defending her decision to seek answers from Fonterra about its prices. 

The price of butter has almost doubled in the past 14 months because Asia is demanding more, and Europe is producing less. 

Fonterra is ruling out selling butter to New Zealanders at a lower price than it makes overseas. 

But Willis told Mike Hosking she has no regrets about raising the issue with the dairy co-op in the first pla...

The Government are in trouble in a couple of areas: 

1) FamilyBoost. What they said would happen, numbers wise, didn't. 

2) Police recruits. What they said would happen, will not. 

3) The ban on foreign buyers for houses now looks farcical. 

Yesterday's attempt by the NZ Herald to make some Winston Peters' comments look like news was a beat up, because he said the same thing to me two months ago. 

Saying th...

Banks are sounding the alarm over a new kind of subscription trap. 

Instead of a typical ‘forgot to cancel scenario’, businesses are instead selling goods and services that hook customers into reoccurring subscription payments. 

Westpac says it’s stopped nearly 20,000 customers from being fleeced in the past three months, stopping more than $25 million in unwanted charges. 

Massey University banking expert Claire Mat...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 24th of July, for the first time since 2009, rents are on the way back down around the country. 

The Government has directed Sport NZ to axe inclusion principles for transgender people – Sport Minister Mark Mitchell explains the decision.  

Global superstar Ed Sheeran joins us for an exclusive Breakfast chat about bringing his new tour to New Zealand – plus, his...

The Sports Minister's standing up for a coalition-based decision directing Sport New Zealand to remove its community sport trans guidelines.  

The 2022 principles allowed people to play community sports according to their gender identity.  

Sport Minister Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking most fair-minded Kiwis would agree with the move, which honours safety and fairness.  

He says as part of a New Zealand First coalit...

The Government's target of recruiting 500 new police officers has been held up yet again.  

A briefing sent to the Government suggests the two-year goal's been set back, and Police expect it'll be by August next year. 

That's nine months after the original target and two months behind the Police Commissioner's revised deadline. 

They’re now looking at launching a recruitment drive into Australia – the place we’re los...

One of the world’s bestselling artists, Ed Sheeran is one of the most influential artists of his generation. 

He’s sold almost 200 million albums and is one of only a handful of artists on Spotify Billions Club with more than ten tracks with over one billion streams. 

Sheeran last toured New Zealand’s stages back in 2023, and he’s returning three years later, with 2026’s ‘Loop Tour’. 

Despite his global musical succe...

Rising supply and falling demand is pushing down rents. 

New Cotality analysis of MBIE data shows the national median rent dropped 0.3% in the year to May. 

That's the first time the rent has dropped in more than 15 years. 

Aspire Property Management's Managing Director Mike Atkinson told Mike Hosking housing supply is increasing at the same time incomes are falling in real terms. 

He says there's also been a hu...

The Housing Minister believes homelessness data can be hard to analyse as there's no one-size-fits-all description.  

The Government's June Homelessness Insights suggests communities countrywide are facing more pressure, with people living on the streets.  

Councils and support services say rough sleeping's increased everywhere, doubling by some measures over 24 months.  

Minister Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking homel...

More Aussies are hopping over the ditch following a tourism campaign.  

Since the 'Everyone Must Go' campaign, almost eight thousand extra Australian visitors have come to New Zealand.  

It's estimated those tourists spent about $22 million.  

Tourism Minister Louise Upston told Mike Hosking there's plenty more room for growth. 

She says about four million Australians are considering a trip, so we need to get in...

What do you reckon happened at the big butter meeting? 

Willis and Hurrell. Nicola and Miles. 

Is it a meeting that took on a hopeless amount of hype, or was it a sign that at times this Government, and Willis in particular, say stuff that makes them look like they are on to it when perhaps they're not? 

The reality is these two meet regularly. Fonterra plays an outsized roll in our economy and therefore it would be ...

The fallout over the Epstein files appears to have ground Capitol Hill to a halt.  

CNN reports Speaker Mike Johnson closed proceedings for August recess a day earlier than planned, ahead of votes around the release of the files.  

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that Johnson says the whole issue should be allowed to cool down, saying they’ve been ‘clear and transparent’. 

However, Arnold says, this...

Halfway through the week, Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen are back with Mike Hosking to discuss the biggest political stories thus far. 

Labour MP Camilla Bellich’s member’s bill, the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill, has passed its second reading. But why do we want to talk about salaries?  

Nicola Willis has met with Fonterra over the cost of butter – has anything come of it yet?&n...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 23rd of July, red meat continues to go gangbusters, but we could be doing better, and the industry has some warnings. 

Lester Levy is moving from the Health NZ Commissioner to the new board chair, and gives us an exclusive on what he has, and hasn't, achieved. 

Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen discuss pay transparency, the butter meeting between Nicola Willis a...

Retailers across the country are surprisingly optimistic in the face of ongoing economic challenges. 

The latest Retail NZ report reveals nearly 70% of retailers are confident their business will survive the next year, up from 57% for the same period last year. 

This comes despite 62% of retailers failing to meet sales targets for the same period.  

Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young told Mike Hosking that optimism is stron...