The Mike Hosking Breakfast

If a mistake was made during the coalition talks by National it was acquiescing to the NZ First demand that they keep people from offshore buying houses here. 

National had an elegant solution; anything under a couple of million was out of bounds, leaving that market for first home buyers. 

Then, the big end of town was open to the open market. 

Not only was it a mistake, for no real ...

As Dixon, McLaughlan and Armstrong fly the flag well for New Zealand in IndyCar, we've also got van Gisbergen in winning form in NASCAR, and Liam Lawson waiting for his time in F1.  

Closer to home we have the next big superstar, according to a number of analysts in the NZ racing scene.  

His name is Tom Bewley and won this year’s Toyota 86 Championship at only 16 years old.   

This w...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 18th of June, the Government is changing the rules to make it easier to build small dwellings, and public sector CEO's better watch out because performance-based pay is coming. 

In other news, Mike can't understand why you'd buy food on a short domestic fli...

The Finance Minister is warning of tough times ahead. 

NZIER is now forecasting slower than expected economic growth of 0.2% in the year to March this year and 0.6% in the year to March next year. 

Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking that New Zealand has some tough months ahead of it. 

She claims the last government "mismanaged" the economy. 

Willis is also confident the Gov...

There’s a bit of mixed messaging surrounding the granny flat proposal, but it's mostly being received well.  

The Government's new discussion document proposes allowing small structures up to 60 square metres to be built without resource consents.  

It's part of efforts to make it easier and more affordable for families to live the way that suits them.  

Combined Building Supplies Cha...

Performance-based pay is on the horizon for Chief Executives of public sector agencies. 

Departments are moving to another phase of cost-savings after the Budget confirmed spending reductions. 

Finance and Public Service Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed pay boosts will be tied to progress but she's not expecting any bonuses to be paid out for at least a year. 

Infometrics Principa...

The economy could be slowing down more than expected. 

NZIER is revising down its forecasts for annual average GDP growth to 0.2% in the year to March this year and 0.6% in the year to March next year. 

It says high interest rates are continuing to dampen demand. 

But Principal Economist Christina Leung told Mike Hosking that strong migration growth should ensure the economy starts gr...

Was Simon Upton watching the vote in Europe last week?

As an outsized group of young people in places like Germany and Italy voted for the right, if not the far right, and didn’t vote for the Greens, despite the Greens being the alleged “go to” team for the young ones, Upton was speaking at the Environmental Defence Society conference.

If you don't know, Upton is the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Here is what h...

Princess Catherine appears to be happy to be returning to the public eye.

The Princess of Wales has been pictured smiling in a carriage, alongside her three children, for the traditional Trooping the Colour parade.

It's her first public appearance since revealing her cancer battle.

Daily Mirror royal correspondent Russell Myers says the Princess released a statement before the event.

"She was enjoying getting back to some sort ...

The Supreme Court has overturned a ban on a rapid fire gun accessory used in the United States' deadliest mass shooting.

The Court ruled six to three to lift the federal ban on bump stock devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire hundreds of bullets a minute.

It was initially introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 - after 60 people were shot at a Las Vegas music festival.

US Correspondent Richard Arnold says critic...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 17th of June, just what are we going to do about the embarassment of our defence force planes after they broke down, yet again? Defence Minister Judith Collins tries to find the answers.

Do our kids need to learn cursive handwriting? A new report suggests we do it for the first three years of their schooling.

Guy and Sav cover off the Super Rugby playoffs, the Warrior...

Defence Minister Judith Collins says the Government is considering options with the Defence Force planes.

The Prime Minister and his 52-person delegation en route to Japan were stranded in Papua New Guinea after the Defence Force plane blew two fuses.

Chris Luxon's flown commercially to Japan - while Air New Zealand had to divert a flight to pick up the rest of the group in Brisbane.

Collins says the Defence Capability plan will...

A structured literacy advocate says testing needs to be an important part of teaching.

A report by the Ministerial Advisory Group reviewing English and maths learning has recommended annual checkpoint tests for students.

It also recommends children be encouraged to write by hand as much as possible for their first three years at school and handwriting lessons in years four to six.

Lifting Literacy Aotearoa chair Alice Wilson say...

Food inflation has eased to the lowest level since September 2018, according to new data.

A report by Stats NZ says food prices fell 0.2 percent in May on the month before, to be 0.2 percent higher than a year ago - the lowest annual increase in over five years.

Devon Funds Management Head of Retail Greg Smith says this comes as petrol prices are also dropping, but consumers shouldn't get too excited yet.

"They're still more tha...

Prime Minister Chris Luxon aims to spend the next few days in Japan, boosting international business opportunities. 

Japan is the world's fourth largest economy, and New Zealand's fourth largest export destination.

Otago University international relations professor Robert Patman says Japan is potentially a very important economic partner for us.

"We are seeing steadily improving trade with them as part of our arrangement - but o...

The Government's spending plans are set to be examined during Parliament's first-ever Scrutiny Week.

Normal sitting hours have been suspended to allow select committees to call in ministers and their ministries' bosses for questioning about the Budget.

It's hoped to improve on recent Parliaments' lacklustre scrutiny of governments.

Leader of the House Chris Bishop says it's a chance for ministers to front up and explain what the...

A former Health New Zealand chair is sounding the alarm about hospital hardware in need of an upgrade.

New reports confirm thousands of apps, a thousand servers, and a thousand devices around Health New Zealand hospitals are said to be fragile - in a released briefing to the Health Minister.

The briefing states technology can improve care.

Former Health Chair Rob Campbell says people just hope the issue goes away.

"It's too big...