The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Moana Pasifika are downplaying their dependence on outgoing skipper Ardie Savea. 

He will miss Super Rugby next year to take up a sabbatical in Japan, before making a 2027 return. 

Savea is signed with NZR through to the end of the 2027 World Cup in Australia and will end up spending half of that cycle playing in Japan. 

Franchise boss Debbie Sorensen told Mike Hosking that Savea’s contribution might look inordinate,...

Mark Mitchell's hoping to broaden relations with China in his role of Minister for Ethnic Communities. 

He's in the Chinese economic capital of Shanghai with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. 

Mitchell's meeting with the Kiwi business delegation today to plan out what they want to achieve. 

He told Mike Hosking trade, food, and education are on the agenda. 

Mitchell says they're all ambassadors for New Zealand, ...

The Government's having another crack at mental health, allocating $36 million to suicide prevention. 

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey's unveiled a five-year approach for addressing high suicide rates.  

The new Suicide Prevention Plan includes strengthening the workforce, targeting higher-risk populations, and improving community care.  

But Mental Health Foundation CEO Shaun Robinson told Mike Hosking they remai...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday the 18th of June, our food prices are on the way back up. Is it seasonal or is something happening behind the scenes? 

Our health stats are slowly trending in the right direction, and Health Minister Simeon Brown also answers the question as to why surgeries in public hospitals don't happen past 4pm. 

Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell talk Mark's lengthy trip ov...

The Government is delivering an increased number of elective procedures to try to meet patient wait time targets. 

More than 84% of cancer patients are starting treatment within 31 days – 1% more than last year. 

Health Minister Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking they want that up to 90% by 2030, and are working to speed up treatments. 

He says they've swiftly outsourced nine thousand 500 electives to the private sector ...

It's being suggested the pricey cost of our food baskets is great for the economy but bad for our wallets. 

Food inflation has risen 4.4% annually, the highest in 18 months. 

Meat, poultry and fish had the biggest increases, while butter, milk and cheese drove grocery prices. 

Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin told Mike Hosking increases in foods like Kiwifruit and butter is fantastic for New Zealand's economy, ...

It's being suggested small businesses are finding it tougher to get loans than big businesses, despite being a safer option. 

The latest data shows the compound annual growth rate of bank lending has slowed from 6% to 1.5% since 2013. 

Small Business NZ Founder Phil Wicks told Mike Hosking most banks are making business hard. 

He says lending to someone with skin in the game should be more attractive to banks. 

...

President Donald Trump's recent social media posts hint at major escalations in the Iran and Israel conflict.  

Israel and Iran continue to trade strikes, with at least 224 Iranians and 24 Israelis killed since hostilities began after Israel's initial attack on Friday. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking Trump's posts mean we could be on a brink of a rapid shift in the American role in the Iran and Israel c...

The Vocational Minister's hopeful students will flood back to polytechs after the model is de-centralised. 

Staff-to-student ratios are still lower than they were in 2016, despite staff numbers being slashed by 8.2%. 

Penny Simmonds says low ratios signal financial trouble. 

She told Mike Hosking student numbers have dropped by 11,000 since Te Pukenga was established in 2020. 

Simmonds says the Government's work...

Last week when Shaun Johnson was in the studio, we were discussing retirement. 

Not mine, but that’s of growing fascination to me these days. 

When do you know? If you aren't getting cancelled, or run out of town, or falling apart, how do you know? 

John Key famously had nothing left in the tank. 

Johnson was explaining it was important for him to go out when he decided, not when he was dropped. The TV stuff he ...

Ian Foster was one of the more polarising All Blacks coaches in recent memory. 

He took the helm after the superb record of Sir Steve Hansen, and during his time there were constant discussions surrounding his job security. 

During his tenure he had a win rate of 70% and lost New Zealand the number one world ranking, but at the same time, he won 4 Bledisloe Cups, 4 Freedom Cups, and 3 Rugby Championships, as well as comin...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 17th of June, we have good news around the number of families moved out of emergency housing and where they've gone. Small hint - it's not to cars or the streets. 

At 23 years old, Nico Porteous has decided he wants to retire from the Olympics, at the peak of his prime. He joined the show to delve into his decision.  

Former All Blacks coach Ian Foster has a new ...

A growing number of New Zealanders perceive China as a threat.  

A new report from the Asia New Zealand Foundation surveyed 2,300 locals between November and December, with an additional poll in March.  

It shows New Zealanders' perception of China as a threat rose from 28% to 40% over four months. 

Jason Young, Director of Victoria University’s NZ-China Research Centre, told Mike Hosking the big jump in threat perce...

Nico Porteous is walking away from competitive free skiing, retiring at age 23. 

The Kiwi Olympian has admitted his 2022 Olympic gold and 2018 bronze in the freeski halfpipe have contributed to his decision. 

He told Mike Hosking he set out with a number of goals when beginning his career at age 12, and he’s now achieved those goals.  

“I feel as if the ‘more, more, more’ mentality can often lead to doing damage or l...

Israel’s operation against Iran is expected to "take weeks, not days", as tension escalates between the countries. 

224 Iranians and 24 Israelis have been killed since hostilities began after Israel's initial attack on Friday. 

Features editor at Jewish News Syndicate, Steve Linde told Mike Hosking Israel has a few days to try to end this, before they alienate the world and go too far.  

He says Israeli Prime Minster...

The Government's confident it's getting on top of youth vaping, with more rules coming in today. 

New rules come in today including stricter advertising restrictions for vape retailers and a ban on disposable vapes. 

It's in an effort to clamp down on youth vaping, with around 10% of teenagers currently regular vapers. 

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello told Mike Hosking she believes we'll see further declines...

The Government's work to tackle emergency housing appears to be paying off.

Only about 500 families remain in emergency housing after one year of the Government's Priority One policy. 

It bumps families to the top of the social housing waiting list if they have dependent children and have spent more than 12 weeks in emergency housing.  

Almost a thousand families with more than two thousand children have been moved from e...

As much as we tried to celebrate last week's excellent economic numbers regarding the food and fibre, the bullishness of Fieldays, the boost in elective surgery and the boom in teacher numbers, what you can't ignore is the manufacturing read for April.

It hit a brick wall.

It fell over six points and is below the 50 point expansionary mark.

A couple of key things about that - while services and sentiment and spending figures have b...