The Mike Hosking Breakfast

One day out from the Australian Election and Labor seems to have it in the bag. 

If the polling stacks up, Anthony Albanese will remain Prime Minister and Peter Dutton will once again be relegated to opposition.  

There’s been criticism across the ditch that the coalition’s campaign has been full of U-turns and back tracks – undermining their credibility. 

Australian Political Commentator Bruce Hawker told Mike Hoski...

An unshakable insistence from Indian Panthers boss Parveen Batish that their indefinite ban from the National Basketball League won't be permanent. 

The first year team were handed an immediate ban mid-season following serious allegations of payment issues and player unrest. 

The Panthers can return to the NBL if they meet various conditions set by the league's commission. 

When asked if has been asked if their catal...

Declining stats for Auckland's Eden Park, as the number of major events coming to this country reduce. 

Revenue fell from $44.3 million in 2023 to $29.7 million in 2024 and major event attendance fell from 881 thousand to 540 thousand. 

Eden Park CEO Nick Sautner told Mike Hosking one of the factors to blame is the lack of seed funding. 

He says there’s been limited funds available from Auckland Unlimited and the cen...

David Seymour's calling for fat to be cut from multiple areas of government. 

The Act Party leader wants a limit on the number of ministers – with no ministers outside of Cabinet, and no associate ministers other than in Finance. 

He wants 30 total government agencies, down from 41. 

Executive Director of business think tank New Zealand Initiative, Oliver Hartwich told Mike Hosking the current model doesn't make sens...

The Drug Foundation says the country barely invests anything into helping and supporting people with meth-addiction.  

Discharges from public hospitals suggest meth-use has increased four-fold over the past decade. 

Wastewater testing last year showed a doubling in meth use.  

Drug Foundation Chief Executive Sarah Helm told Mike Hosking a lot more could be done, especially with knowledge from new research.  

She...

The Health Minister is standing by the current pay offer to senior doctors. 

Thousands of planned procedures have been delayed following yesterday's strike action, while Health New Zealand is applying to the Employment Relations Authority for urgent facilitation. 

Union members have told Newstalk ZB their pay rates aren't keeping up with the private sector or with Australia. 

But Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking the pa...

Elite sports are not a cheap field to enter. 

19-year-old Liam Sceats is on a journey to make it as a professional motorsport driver, aiming to achieve his dream of competing in IndyCar.  

He’s currently competition in Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports – and it’ll cost him $1.2 million USD to compete in all 12 rounds. 

Sceats currently has a three event deal, but will need to secure more funding to take it all the way to...

Regulars will know school and I were never really that close. 

It was a means to an end, and the end couldn’t come soon enough. The means was the skills required to get out into the world and get on with it. 

One of the things it did help with was economics. I found it genuinely interesting and did quite well in it. 

They taught me compounding interest. If you don’t know about compounding interest, you don’t know abo...

House prices are set to rise as businesses report less confidence  

With two further cuts expected to the OCR, ANZ is now expecting a 4.5% lift as opposed to 6%. 

Business confidence has also taken a tumble, with just 49% expecting improvements in the year ahead – down 9 points.  

ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Mike Hosking the data was taken amid tariffs hitting the markets, impacting business confidence, i...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 1st of May, the Aratere ferry is being retired – the only rail-enabled ferry in KiwiRail’s fleet.  

Financial literacy will now be taught at schools in Years 1-10.  

And Indy NXT driver Liam Sceats details just what young drivers have to go through to get the funding for a single season of driving at the top level. 

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show ...

Another big win for New Zealand Rugby in the wake of the messy end to a major sponsorship agreement. 

Vehicle manufacturer Toyota has reportedly signed a multi-million dollar agreement to put its name on the All Blacks training kit – partly replacing INEOS. 

The agreement is also believed to include the provision of vehicles for players and management who don’t have existing contracts with previous vehicle partner, Ford.&...

Another Government curriculum refresh is aiming to give school kids more grasp of money management. 

The Education Minister's making financial literacy a compulsory topic for Years 1 to 10. 

The Government's teaming up with financial organisations, banks, and charities for lessons on investment and taxes. 

Banqer CEO Simon Brown told Mike Hosking that on an international level, we don’t stack up too badly, but there’...

The Ruapehu District could be in for an economic boom with new skifield ownership. 

The Department of Conservation's approved a 10 year concession for Whakapapa Holdings to operate the Whakapapa side of Mount Ruapehu. 

An agreement for the Turoa side was struck last year, following a lengthy bidding war, with numerous Government bailouts. 

Mayor Weston Kirton told Mike Hosking it’s a critical milestone in securing th...

KiwiRail admits it may be helping out its competition by reducing its Interislander fleet to two.  

Aratere will be retired when demolition begins on its decaying dock in Picton late this year or early next, to add infrastructure for new ships. 

Two new ferries are due in 2029. 

KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy told Mike Hosking some passengers may opt now to travel with Bluebridge.  

He says capacity is spr...

Over 4000 medical procedures are on hold today while 5000 senior doctors strike for better working conditions. 

This comes after eight months of failed negotiations with Health New Zealand. 

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says it's not going to fill workforce gaps without major improvements to pay and conditions. 

Health NZ Chief Clinical Officer Doctor Richard Sullivan told Mike Hosking waitlist tim...

In her seemingly never-ending ability to surprise, Tory Whanau fronts on the local Newstalk ZB morning show in her beleaguered capital yesterday and scores herself a 9/10. 

If she had come from comedy I could have seen the joke she was making. 

But she doesn’t come from comedy, which is not to say her reign hasn’t been comedic. 

She is the Meghan Markle of local body politics - so self-absorbed and she doesn’t appear...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 30th of April, Mark Carney is the new Canadian Prime Minister, and the Government is reversing Labour's 2020 decision allowing prisoners to vote. 

Former Finance Minister Steven Joyce is on to discuss how Nicola could deliver a Budget with everything we need, while cutting over a billion dollars from the operating allowance. 

Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell ta...

There will be further cuts to Government agency spending, to be diverted into priority areas. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed a $1.3 billion operating allowance – plummeting from the $2.4 billion estimate. 

Willis says they've reviewed funding line-by-line. 

National’s Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking they have to cut spending as the reality is the country went from $58 billion of debt in 2017 to $175 billio...