The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Support for the Government's move to change rigid insulation standards.  It's expected building code insulation requirements will be relaxed by year's end in a bid to cut construction costs.  The Government's called the changes "common sense", with building costs rising more than 40% since 2019.  Building Industry Federation CEO Julien Leys told Mike Hosking the current 'one size fits all' approach isn't working.  He says the rules force people to use an exact amount of insulation, meaning it's expensive and over the top.  The Government's also looking to make the Far North a separate 'climate zone', stating the region’s warmer climate allows for a more tailored approach.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I feel there should be a rule, and the rule is around balance.  Part of the media's demise is its unfairness in coverage, the latest example of which is the school lunch programme.  We have a smattering of coverage. When I say smattering, I have found two things.  One is by Radio NZ, who have the same stats as story number two by the Herald.  Radio NZ, once they produced the stats, clearly couldn't help themselves, given it was good news, so they went and found a miserable principal to moan some more about the lunch programme.  Their moan was, given the previous moaning didn’t work and things aren't going back to the way they were, they must have given up.  By the way these are the numbers: 99%+ delivered each day, complaints down by 92% and students positive feedback through the roof.  The Herald's story contained the term 3 testing news: new meals, with students in the trial posting 73% positive feedback.  By any standards these numbers are a success story. Where there was trouble at the start, the trouble has been fixed.  So, to fairness. Very little the Government did this year got more media spotlight than school lunches. The TV news in particular went to town on it, night after night, after night, melting plastic, burnt kids, shots of mush, finger pointing, union representatives and delivery delays. It was a feeding frenzy, and the media were in, boots and all.  So where are they now?  Apart from two stories, where are they now? We have stats and detail, we have a fix, we have happy kids and, do remember, the reason for it all in the first place, we have money saved and a lot of it.  And not just money saved, but more kids actually getting fed.  So as an exercise we are doing more with less and the recipients are happy.  So where are the stories? Where is the balance? Where is the fairness?  The rule should be minute for minute, column inch for column inch. If you loved the pile on, you have to be back to present the end result.  You have to do the right thing. You have to provide the other side, the balance and the outcome. If you don’t then the charge of bias sticks.  You look like an attention seeking, clickbait warrior and your pleas for the value of journalism fall flat. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The scorching heatwave sweeping Europe has claimed lives.  Six people have died as temperatures top 40C, with three deaths in Italy, two in Spain, and one in France.  In parts of Italy, admissions to emergency units has risen by 15-20%, with a majority of patients being elderly.  Italy Correspondent Jo McKenna told Mike Hosking that the government is issuing alerts saying that those working in construction or working outdoors should be out of the sun between 12:30 and 4pm.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand’s property values are ticking back up again.  New data from Cotality has revealed a 0.2% national increase in June, reversing the 0.1% falls that came in April and May.  The medium house price remains around the $815,000 mark, with Tauranga and Christchurch both increasing by 0.6%.  Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Mike Hosking property values are fairly flat when averaged out over a few months.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There won’t be many in the world who would argue that Jason Aldean’s not a country music superstar.  He moved up to Nashville at age 21, and after signing and being dropped by a couple of agencies, he got picked up by Broken Bow Records, launching his debut single and album in 2005.  From there the rest is history – 30 number 1 country singles, almost 20 billion streams, 20 million albums sold, multiple platinum records, as well as being named ACM’s Artist of the Decade, among other things.  It’s all culminated in his ‘Full Throttle Tour’ going international, and Aldean will be making his way to our shores early next year.  He told Mike Hosking the music industry is a tough business to break into.  “We’ve been around for twenty years, so it’s been a good ride, but it’s definitely a tough business,” Aldean said.  “Not for the faint of heart, for sure.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 3rd of July, ACT and NZ First have shut down the proposal for a publicly funded body to cost election policies.  Remember when the previous Government gave Proceeds of Crime funds back to the Mongrel Mob for a meth program? This Government is changing it so that can never happen again.    Country music superstar Jason Aldean is heading to our shores and with Mike’s love of the genre, we had to get him on for a chat.   Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government hopes to further separate itself from its predecessor with new changes to the Proceeds of Crime Fund.    The latest round of funding has granted three programmes a collective $5 million to address youth offending and meth harm.    Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says recent changes mean there's a clear and consistent assessment for new initiatives.    She told Mike Hosking they want to ensure the projects are workable as opposed to throwing taxpayer money at the sky and hoping for results.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nine-year fight to create a publicly funded election policy-costing unit has come to an end.  Act and New Zealand First have shot down Finance Minister Nicola Willis's proposal to create one.  Metiria Turei, then-Green Party co-leader, first proposed the idea in 2016.  Former Finance Minister Steven Joyce told Mike Hosking Willis's proposal was different from those that have come before.  He says to cost individual policies at the request of parties would have dealt with a problem that happens when you're in Opposition.  Joyce says that's when you don't have access to the information.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A clear message from the Government: New Zealand can't succeed if Auckland doesn't succeed.  The Government's agreed to negotiate with Auckland Council on a 10-year deal to boost housing, infrastructure, and economic growth in our largest city.  It's also agreed to negotiate similar deals with Western Bay of Plenty and Central Otago.  Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking the deal will align local and central government on up-zoning, rapid transit, and innovation precincts.  He says Auckland is New Zealand's main international city and is a big driver of economic growth around the country.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A watchful eye is on the $41 million allocated to upskill staff working in youth care homes.  Minister for Children Karen Chhour has announced the boost, which aims to improve support to kids in care.  It follows a review of Oranga Tamariki in 2023 that found parts of the workforce relatively unskilled.  Chief Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad told Mike Hosking she'll be watching how the money's used to ensure good outcomes for young people.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's only the start of Wednesday so let's be honest we've only had two days of news, and we already have two stories around power.  The first was Transpower saying we need to find more avenues of power generation and we need to do that quickly, because until all the promised transition stuff comes online, we are going to be short of capacity.  No kidding.  They said we have a lot of promises on renewables, but the delivery isn't happening all that quickly.  No kidding.  The second was Genesis saying they are looking at what they call a fast-start generation plant at Huntly.  Hasn’t Huntly become quite the “thing”? A while back Huntly was the ugly girlfriend of the power generation family.  Poor, old, ugly, fat Huntly. That was when promises around wind and sun were flying and the future was renewable, and we would all save the planet.  What a gargantuan cock-up that turned out to be. Now for at least the third winter in a row the industry is falling over itself to tell us what's not right, what's not delivered and drumming up new ideas that, dare I suggest, should have been drummed up a long time ago.  As regards Huntly gas and coal, could I ask why is it now that they are dreaming up these ideas?  The coal pile, by the way, has never been larger, but gas and coal take 12 hours to get going. In short, fast start, it says what it does, and you turn it on like a light.  Can I ask why is it now that all the power companies are cooperating around Huntly to keep it going for years to come?  Why is it we wait until we are broken to actually find a few solutions?  When Jacinda made her captain's call to kill the gas industry, why did no one in power go “hold on, we aren't ready"?  Why are so few proactive? Why is so little preventative planning done?  Why do we have winters of angst around rainfall and businesses cutting production and Methanex selling their power to others?  Why is it we wait until we don’t have it to think of what to do about getting it back?  NZ Inc, eh? Very 1986.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US President is facing questions over health coverage cuts in his tax and spending bill, which just passed the Senate  The casting vote of Vice-President JD Vance was needed, but it still needs House approval before it can be signed by Donald Trump by July 4th.  The Congressional Budget Office says 11.8 million people could lose health coverage if it becomes law.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that Trump originally said they wouldn’t touch Medicaid, which has turned out to be a lie.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Kiwi start up has been going gangbusters across the ditch.  Medsalv remanufactures single-use medical products, cleaning and disinfecting them so they can be safely reused.  After eight years in business, their products have been approved by Pharmac for use in New Zealand.  CEO Oliver Hunt told Mike Hosking it's been done in America for a while, but they’re really bringing it to the rest of the world, Australia and New Zealand in particular, now.   The range of products they can remanufacture is pretty substantial, he says, and they can clean products up to 14 times at a significantly lower cost than the original products.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime is at the forefront this Politics Wednesday, with multiple new measures and harsher punishments being announced.  Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen joined Mike Hosking to discuss the new developments, along with the other major stories of the week thus far.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 2nd of July, we've got the retail crime crackdown promised at the start of the week. Will it work, or does it look better on paper?  Jaffas have been 86'd, along with the likes of snifters, tangy fruits, and smarties. Could someone else come onboard and save our iconic sweet?  Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell debate whether youth MPs are being repressed, the various crime announcements, and whether Mike should be a patron for a police college wing on Politics Wednesday.  Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consents keep dropping but the energy in the building sector may be beginning to turn.  Stats NZ figures show new home consents fell 3.8% in the year to May and plunged 8.6% for multi-unit dwellings.  Stats NZ says it's levelling off, but NZIER's latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion shows only 3% of building firms expect conditions to improve, down from 6% three months ago.  But Combined Building Supplies Co-Op CEO Carl Taylor told Mike Hosking that building consent data is only a small part of the industry, and as a whole, it’s starting to feel better across the board.  He says that some stats are normally three or four months behind, and instead they track what their members are spending across their merchants, which has seen a 10% increase on the previous month.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A slew of justice announcements this week.   The Government's rolling out harsher punishments for theft and new fines for shoplifting – including a proposed infringement fee of up to $1000, based on item value.  Maximum penalties for shoplifting less than $2000 will be one year behind bars, and seven if worth more than that.  They also made coward punching a specific offence, which could carry a life sentence if fatal.  Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking all of their measures are to send the clear message that if you commit a crime, there will be consequences.  He says their primary goal is to reduce the number of victims of crime, which they’re making good progress on.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The end of an era for one of our most iconic sweets.  Levin confectioner RJ's has discontinued production of Jaffas, due to poor sales.  The orange-coated balls of chocolate were previously produced by Cadbury in Dunedin and have been on our shelves for almost a century.  Mike Hutcheson, former Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi, told Mike Hosking that a competitor would pick up Jaffas in a heartbeat.  He says it’s not just a sweet, it’s a symbol, and it’s possible to turn it around and make Jaffas a brand that means something.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The company overseeing the new infrastructure and ferries for Cook Strait is confident it can deliver by 2029.  Winston Peters has announced agreements to build and modernise ports in Wellington and Picton for the arrival of new Interislander ferries.  Ferry Holdings Chair Chris Mackenzie says there will be robust discussions between KiwiRail, Ferry Holdings, and ports on delivering the project.  He's feeling positive, despite New Zealand's track record with infrastructure.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The shakeup to shoplifting laws continues to be seen as a good first step among retailers, but the boss of Briscoes and Rebel Sport believes the devil will be in the detail.   Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith's unveiled the latest crackdown proposals, including speeding ticket-like infringements, and up to seven years prison time for theft more than $2000.      Briscoe Group Managing Director Rod Duke told Mike Hosking it's a terrific start and guesses there will be enforcement guidance to come.   He's hoping there will be consequences embedded in the legislation but given it could be a year in the making, they will have to wait to see what happens.  Duke also believes they’ll need to be strengthened down the line - the latest proposals may only deter some, as he says there are very experienced thieves around.  He says losing the money is catastrophic, but the bigger issue is the fact staff are abused, injured, and threatened in these situations.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Records have been set in Spain and Portugal as extreme heat continues to roast Europe.   Temperatures at or above 38C are expected through the week, rolling eastward to encompass France, Italy, and eventually portions of Eastern Europe.   A record number of heat alerts are in place across France, with 16 regions on red alert, and 68 others on orange alert.  Europe Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking while heatwaves aren’t uncommon in summer, there’s never been temperatures this high, this early.  She says Monday was the hottest June day in France ever, and it’s only going to get worse by Tuesday lunchtime.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helicopters are such an Auckland issue.  I love helicopters. I have flown in a lot of helicopters.  Our place is on a flight path north. People who go to the Bay of Islands and to the flash golf courses north of Auckland fly over our place.  On a sunny Saturday they start 6.30am-ish in summer. On a still day you hear them coming maybe 30 seconds before you might see them.  Because I like them, I have never understood the Waiheke moaners who can't stand them and want them banned on their island.  To me a helicopter is full of people going places, i.e. tourists and golfers. These are people we like and want.  If you haven't followed the story, Ali Williams, once an All Black, and Anna Mowbray, part of the Zuru clan, are a couple and they have a house in Westmere, which is an inner-city suburb in Auckland. They applied to land their chopper at their place.  Cue the horror.  Far too much money and time has been spent on this – over 1400 submissions. That’s right, 1400. And what was mad about it was a number of submissions submitted that they had no view.  You can't make this up. The number of people who are clearly bored out of their minds is unreal.  Many a submission against their use of a chopper in suburbia came from people who don’t even live in Auckland. Not only were they not close to the landing pad, but they're not even in the same city, i.e. it's got nothing to do with you.  Lawyers, council staff, submissions, hearings, and Lord knows how many hours and dollars and, as you will have heard, Williams and Mowbray win. They can land at their place two times a day for no more than 10 times a month.  There is nothing, said the Commissioners, untoward, unacceptable, or significantly out of character with helicopter noise, which I think is fair enough.  But two questions;  1) How many got exercised out of petty jealousy, i.e. rich folks doing stuff we don’t like?  2) How unpopular does it make them? And do they care?  There is of course the precedent now. Suburbia and choppers are no big deal.  Very Auckland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been a dream couple of months for Ryan Fox.  In May, the Kiwi golfer won the Myrtle Beach Classic, claiming his first PGA Tour win.   From there he made the cut for the PGA Championship, won his second Tour event at the Canadian Open, before making the cut for the US Open.   He’ll soon be heading to the UK for the Scottish Open and Open Championship, taking a week’s break ahead of the tournament.  “It’s been a crazy couple of months,” Fox told Mike Hosking.  “Going from trying to figure out where we’re gonna play gold, or where I was going to play golf next year, where we’re going to live as a family, to, yeah, being on the PGA Tour for a few more years now, and having a couple of wins and playing my way into the big events.”   He says he’s still trying to come to terms with it all, but it’s what he’s always dreamed of doing.  “It’s pretty cool.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 1st of July, we've got a new police college opening in Auckland today – is it a case of build it and they will come?  What is it about helicopters that gets us so exercised? Mike has some thoughts on Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray's helipad getting approval.  We haven't caught up with Ryan Fox since his success on the PGA Tour, so we catch him before he jets off to the UK for the Open Championship.    Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new start up that could drastically reduce your power bill will soon be available in homes.  Designed to replace the current switchboards, Basis Smart Panels aim to provide Kiwis with greater control over their electricity consumption.  With over 7,500 orders already contracted, the company plans to install 50,000 panels in the next 24 months.  Co-Founder Danny Purcell told Mike Hosking the panel provides full visibility as to how electricity is consumed in your house, which customers can use save money and make their homes safer.  He says the panel pays for itself fairly quickly, and they expect the payback period to be around 15-18 months for the average customer.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Action to attract crucial international investment.  Invest New Zealand is up and running, a government organisation that'll work with global investors to create jobs, boost innovation, and lift productivity.  It's been given $85 million over four years to cement itself.  Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges told Mike Hosking that our settings were suboptimal, and we’re now getting better ones.  He says that they’re not world leading, but they are being made with impeccable timing, as they’re being made as the world’s increasingly turning to custard.  Bridges says there’s real enthusiasm for this in New Zealand, as new residents investing in businesses and startups will have a real flow on effect on the economy.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Deputy Prime Minister believes the Government would be better off with the part-privatisation of Interislander ferries.  A Treasury paper presented to Cabinet by the Minister for Rail, Winston Peters, says the Government can consider private investment to reduce costs.  David Seymour agrees with the idea and says the Government has been far too relaxed with capital.  He told Mike Hosking the Government is not a good operator of commercial enterprises, and there's no shortage of evidence for that.  Seymour says you have to balance the books, and at the moment the Government owns too many underperforming assets.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A charitable trust is commending tougher sentences for people throwing coward punches.  The Government's new specific offence for striking a distracted victim could carry a sentence of life imprisonment if fatal.   Walk Without Fear has been pushing for changes after MMA fighter Liufau Vake was killed by a single coward punch in 2021.   Board Member Mike Angove told Mike Hosking the charges need to be in conjunction with education that starts at a school level.  He says that no one argues against the lethality of attacking someone with a knife or a gun, but people are unaware that hitting someone who’s unaware can result in permanent damage or a lethal outcome.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Positive signs when it comes to consumer arrears, but some businesses are still doing it tough.  The latest Centrix data for June shows the number of people behind on payments is down on last year, for the fifth consecutive month in a row.  At the same time company liquidations have risen 27% year-on-year.  Chief Operating Officer Monika Lacey says that's partly due to increased enforcement, after a softer approach from credit providers during Covid.  She says Inland Revenue is among those businesses which is now taking a normal approach again, and that's having an impact.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a belief Auckland's new Police training centre will make recruitment more accessible.  The new space on the Massey University campus includes multiple classrooms, along with gym and recreation areas.  Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told Mike Hosking over the years some people have steered away from a career in Police because they couldn't go to Porirua for training.  He says it's about creating more opportunities for those who might find Porirua for 20 weeks a challenge.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a world of pressing problems one of the bigger, longer term ones is due a good looking at because if we don’t, when we get there we will want to shoot ourselves. IRD has been looking at the cost of stuff and where that money comes from. The trouble, and this is not new, is we have more older people needing more money and fewer younger people to work to raise the money to pay the bills. This is more than Super. It's health. It's pretty much everything. Currently 16% of the population is over 65-years-old. By 2060 it will be a quarter. The IRD conclusion is that people will likely have to pay more tax. Really? Is that it? Well, no. Somewhere in the advice they mutter something like "we could always cut costs". Bingo! Give those people a prize. And why that idea is not top of the pile of ideas, I don’t know. Because here is what I do know. Most of the money to pay for all this comes from you and me. Personal tax is over 50% of Government income, its 52%. Companies pay 17%. GST is 25%. A lot of GST is us as well. In fact our top tax rate is 39cents. Add GST on to that you are at 54%. Add the bits and pieces on top - the ACC, the road user charges - and top income earners will be parting with 56-57% of everything they earn. And the IRD advice is we will need more please. So how much more? And at what point does it become ruinous? At what point do the young, bright things move offshore? The ones of course that haven't already. So let's take stock. We are highly taxed. Remember at the other end we have no tax free component in income. We are a low wage economy. We have a massive savings issue with KiwiSaver at an average of $30,000-ish and a fiscal cliff in a bunch of years where the main idea is we will bleed you some more. Spot the red flag. So, what to do? And how urgently do we do it? Ideas please.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 30th of June, we've got some good retail crime changes coming to a store near you and the Government's Retail Crime Advisory Group spokesperson Sunny Kaushal is on the show. The Prime Minister has some questions to answer around Whanau Ora, Section 127b and NATO spending. Andrew Saville and Jason Pine talk Liam Lawson's best ever F1 result, the Warriors' loss and how the All Blacks will go in their first test against France. Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister is introducing new laws focused on protecting first responders and prison officers.  Luxon told Mike Hosking that no ambulance driver, firefighter or police officer should face aggression and assault while trying to help people.   Also in discussion is the new IKEA store, which has faced trouble during the planning phase.   Luxon said that he has more concerns about the planning than IKEA do, and blames the struggles on ‘Māorification’.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The deadline for rental properties to meet the Healthy Homes deadline is less than 24 hours away, and some properties are still not up to scratch. Betta Group CEO Matt Mason told Mike Hosking that although many proactive landlords have made the required changes, some have left it to the last minute. He says audits will be carried out and fines will be issued in the coming months to help enforce these regulation changes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paramedics are giving the Government a thumbs up, as it moves to crack down on assaults towards first responders and prison officers.  It's proposing higher penalties, with five years maximum imprisonment for assault with intent to injure, and a seven year maximum for injuring with intent.  St John Ambulance Operations Manager Stu Cockburn told Mike Hosking this is a step in the right direction. LISTEN HERESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's excitement over expected changes to the way authorities deal with retail crime.  Newstalk ZB understands Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith will be confirming shoplifting policy changes this week, relating to Retail Crime Ministerial Advisory Group recommendations.  Group Chair Sunny Kaushal told Mike Hosking that the announcements are ones retailers across the country have been screaming out for.  Kaushal says offenders believe police won't respond and the courts will let them go, so they're working to stop this sense of impunity.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The One Roof Velocity house value index has revealed a drop in property value across the country.  Major cities like Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton have all experienced drops. However, more rural areas such as Southland, Canterbury and Northland have all seen a rise.  CEO of real estate at Velocity Helen O’Sullivan told Mike Hosking that although the prices have dropped, the real estate market is still healthy.  She said ‘Volumes are a key indicator, and we’re seeing those pick up’  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A friend of ours opened a new business last week.  It was a soft opening and will be full steam ahead by the school holidays.  So far he is going gangbusters. There's a lot of local support and it looks like a good news story.  He is however, if you believe the headlines that have been supplied by his industry association, in very dark and difficult days.  They don’t look difficult at his place.  The GDP figures came out as we were away on the long weekend - up 0.8% for Q1.  The Reserve Bank thought it would be 0.4%. Most banks thought it would be 0.7%. The reality was better than everyone thought.  Nick Tuffley, the ASB's head man on economics, also on Thursday told us he still had growth in the second quarter just gone, April, May and June. He had us 0.3-0.4% up.  Other commentary last week from manufacturing and services said we had hit a brick wall. If Nick is right there is no brick wall, the same way Q1 was not 0.4%, it was 0.8%.  The point is this: is it possible we are in such a funk we don’t want to see reality?  You know what else I read? Australia, the repository of so many disillusioned New Zealanders, is now losing more people than it has since Covid. A mass exodus is on.  People are bailing out of Australia, healthcare is chronically bad, you can't get seen, the Government is sinking in debt, house prices have spiked past an average of a million everywhere, there are more people than ever since records began and people are working multiple jobs just to make ends meet.  This is Australia, the golden answer for the miserable Kiwi looking for better.  Maybe better is here? Maybe in a turbulent, troubled world the Land of the Long White Cloud is actually coming right and people like our mate and his new business sees it.  And a lot of what's in front of us is attitude. Is there trouble in some areas? Yes.  Are there issues still unresolved? Yes.  But do we have growth and prospect? Yes.  Do the numbers back that up? Indeed they do!  Maybe the grass is in fact nice and just as green here. You just got to want to see it.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.    Trump: 7/10  All in all, 5% defence spending at NATO, a ceasefire that holds, and talks with Iran next week. It's not bad.    Rob Penney: 8/10  From last year to this. That's one of sports great stories, and I assume involves tremendous amounts of well-deserved satisfaction.    Whanau Ora and Tama Iti and Moana Pasifika: 2/10  Central Government yet again missing the politically triggering stuff they promised to address.    David Seymour: 7/10  As Acting Prime Minister in the house and in media, he is a very solid, considered set of hands with good wit to go with it.    Golden visas: 8/10  That is practical thinking, making tangible difference. 189 applications and $800million worth of business - let's go NZ!    Wealth and the pension: 2/10  Bum note of the week. Targeting those who actually worked hard to save to help in retirement should never be used as a punishment. And the Retirement Commissioner might like to ask herself whether she understands her job.    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've got more ageism, this time in education.  Unions are "concerned" as more teachers work past retirement age.  This in part is the trouble with unions.  1) They aren't keen on work to start with,  2) They are bogged down in old fashioned rules and views of the world.  What is retirement and how do you know you are past it?  They refer of course to Super and this tired, old business of thinking that when Super kicks in you must check out.  Obviously, the world has changed and is changing, just not that quickly in union land.  At 64-years-old if you're loving teaching, somehow chronologically at 65-years-old that desire and love of pursuit needs to be shelved, as you wander off collecting your retirement income and presumably filling your days with bowls and walks.  8000 people teaching are 65-years-old or over. That’s double what it used to be 10 years ago.  But then a lot is different to what it was 10 years ago.  Beyond the numbers, does anyone ask any questions?  Like, are they doing it because they have to, as opposed to want to? Bit of a difference I would have thought.  Most importantly for teaching, given the unions insist on the mad-cap business of time in the classroom being the measure for income, are these oldies any good?  Could they be better given their experience and institutional knowledge than the 21-year-old just into the classroom and looking for all the world out of her depth?  In sex education in 6th form at Linwood High in the late 1980's, we were 16 and 17-years-old and the teacher might have been 20-years-old. She looked like she wanted to die as the diagrams of the you-know-what's came out.  As you can tell the memory is seared in my mind 40 years later.  New isn't always best. Young doesn’t always trump older and passion and skill above all else is what should drive presence in the workplace or classroom.  Are you good? Do you like what you do? Are you making a difference?  If the answer is yes, then at what point would you be remotely interested in age, far less be concerned? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The week has come to an end and so Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are joining Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week once more.  Tim is injured again, winding up on ACC after taking a tumble off the footpath, plus, Mike's made a new musical discovery.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Treaty Negotiations Minister admits people are losing patience on a Ngāpuhi settlement, but says they want it to last.  New Zealand First is launching a Bill, proposing a one-and-done treaty settlement for the largest iwi, rather than multiple hapu settlements.  Paul Goldsmith says that although he sympathises with the desire for a faster resolution, if you want an enduring settlement, you need people to be prepared to settle.  He told Mike Hosking that the settlement has to have the support of around 200,000 to 300,000 people, which has been the challenge in the past.  Goldsmith says that they have a good plan now, and they’re making good progress on the work that’s currently underway.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Education Minister is hitting back against claims she’s trying to entrench co-governance into education.  Hobson’s Pledge is claiming that the Education and Training Amendment Bill No.2 includes a section, put there by Stanford, that will force every school board to reflect “local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and te ao Māori” in their policies, plans, and classroom teaching.  Erica Stanford refutes these claims, saying that 127 was an already existing Treaty clause.  She told Mike Hosking that section is not the only clause in the Education Act to reference the Treaty, which is why there needs to be a proper review into whether or not they need to be there.  Standford says there are legitimate questions to be answered, which is why they’re looking into the act, but she did not add them in herself.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 27th of June, it's accountability Friday! Paul Goldsmith, Tama Potaka, and Erica Stanford have questions to answer about scandals, non-scandals, and accusations.  After the unfortunate passing of Takutai Tarsh Kemp, what is the process going forward in filling her seat?  Tim and Katie talk Tim's latest injury and Mike's best musical discovery of the week as they Wrap the Week.    Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A vast change to what's been promised for Auckland City Rail Link's opening capacity.   In 2022, it was reported 27 thousand peak passengers would be using the rail line from opening day next year.  That's now gone down to 19 thousand passengers an hour at peak times.  AT Public Transport Director Stacey van der Putten told Mike Hosking the 27 thousand figure merged a few different elements including design capacity, timetabling, and patronage.  She points out that 19,000 is still a significant increase on current numbers, as it’s still a 50% increase in patronage.  Van der Putten told Hosking it will take some effort to rebuild confidence in the rail network after the prolonged disruption, but there’s plenty of enthusiasm for the new line.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of interest is expected in the by-election to fill the seat left empty by the death of Takutai Tarsh Kemp.  The 50-year-old Te Pāti Māori MP died yesterday.  Otago University law expert Andrew Geddis told Mike Hosking the Tamaki Makaurau seat was won by just 42 votes in 2023 and will be very tightly contested again.  The complicating factor this time is likely to be sympathy, he says, suspecting that Te Pāti Māori will likely run strongly on a kind of legacy argument.   The by-election could clash with local body elections.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns are being raised around the use of taxpayer money to fund Moana Pasifika.  Our newsroom's revealed the Super Rugby franchise received some $8 million in taxpayer loans, grants, and funding.  The Pasifika Medical Association —which took over ownership of the team last year— has received funding from Whānau Ora contracts.  Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka told Mike Hosking there's some uncertainty about how that Whānau Ora money was spent.  He wants to know it's being used for proper purpose and has asked for an explanation ASAP.  LISTEN ABOVE  Note: The original story from the NZ Herald has been updated to clarify that Whanau Ora funds flowed to the Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust, and the current owner of the Trust and the team, Pasifika Medical Association, has emphasised that no Whānau Ora funds have been used to fund the Moana Pasifika professional rugby team. The Herald has removed from the story the contention that Whānau Ora funds were directly used for the professional team in the fiscal years 22/23 and 23/24.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the "we can't get out of our own way" file comes the question, as posed this week by the Retirement Commissioner, as to whether people who have money in the bank should get the pension.  The first part that is wrong with that is I thought we had decided many a decade ago, rightly or wrongly, that Super is an entitlement.  Its trigger, rightly or wrongly, is age, therefore the other criteria you might like to add to the equation like height, weight, job, brain power or savings, are null and void because age is what does it.  So are we changing that, are we? Because that is the inference in the question.  The inference is also this sneering socialist bend some people have around success.  "Don’t be too successful" is the message, and that’s what savings generally are. You had a plan, you worked hard, and you put a few dollars aside.  Interestingly the numbers are depressing. This is where the question came from.  There are 33,000 over the age of 65 who earn between $100-200k a year. There are 9,000 who earn more than $200k.  That’s not a lot of people. It shows you how poorly paid we are, how bad at saving we are and how expensive life is to stop you saving. A whole bunch of stuff leads us to not being a very well-off sort of country.  I have said this many times – I'm not fussed. I didn’t join KiwiSaver and I'm not relying on a pension.  Why? Because when I started work in 1982 it was very well established that the pension may or may not be around at all, so why take the risk? And in 1982, on the minimum wage as I was, I had 45 years to get my act together and do something about it.  The problem with keeping on asking these questions is it messes with people and their intentions.  Governments have been bad enough already with their constant changing of the rules and their contributions, the last thing we need is thought bubbles on what should be a long term, leave it alone, get out of the way, understanding among us all that the pension is our society's recognition of a life's work.  Change the age if you want. But penalising success is the opposite of what we want to promote. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand has taken home the Gold at the Oscars for wines.  Craggy Range’s Martinborough Pinot Noir took home Best in Show at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards.  This makes it in the 0.3% of all wines in the world.  Chief Winemaker at Craggy Range Ben Tombs told Mike Hosking they knew there was something pretty special coming out of the 2024 vintage.  He says it shows the kind of provenance unique to Martinborough, and winning the award is an incredibly achievement.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you hear the name ‘James May’, it’s likely you think of cars, Top Gear, and The Grand Tour, but much like his co-stars, May has plenty of other projects.  He owns his own pub and gin line, and has done countless shows visiting other countries, rebuilding toys and machines, and exploring life’s questions.  May’s now onto his next journey – a live theatre performance that brings the stories of explorers to the stage.  It’s called ‘Explorers: The Age of Discovery’, and May’s bringing it to Kiwi audiences in August.  It’s been quite a busy year for May – something he told Mike Hosking was quite unintentional.  “This year was going to be my, what I called a ‘dry run at retirement’, to see how much I liked it,” he revealed.  “But I’ve ended up doing a live tour, a couple of TV shows, various other odds and ends – it's actually the busiest year I’ve had for probably a decade, in terms of demands on my time.”  “But maybe that’s a good thing,” he said. “Maybe if I was left to my own devices, I’d sit in the garden and rot.”   Despite his vast experience in the entertainment industry, May isn’t terribly experienced with live performances.  “We used to do Top Gear Live and then Clarkson, Hammond & May Live, but there were three of us doing it, plus our stunt driving team and various other circus performers,” he explained.  “This one is quite intimidating because it just me."  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.