The Mike Hosking Breakfast

In the nine months since September, the number of families in emergency housing has dropped by 57%, from 3100 to 1300. According to Ministry of Social Development, this creates a saving of half a million dollars every day. Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka tells Mike Hosking the change has been achieved by ensuring all avenues are explored before placing people into emergency housing. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Voting has started in the US election and a new national NBC poll has Kamala Harris ahead of Trump by 5 points. US correspondent Richard Arnold tells Mike Hosking this is a clear reversal of the same polling when Biden was on the card. While Harris has accepted a date for the second debate, Trump continues to indicate he will not take part. Meanwhile, a mass shooting in a popular nightlife area of Birmingham, Alabama has left four people dead and at least 17 injured. Plus, the baseball world is buzzing as Shoehei Ohtani has made history as the first player ever to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An aging workforce is resulting in shortages in sectors vital to New Zealand’s economic development. New Zealand’s Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics sectors need an extra 40,000 workers by 2028. The Workforce Development Council is launching a campaign to get boots on the ground. Workforce Development Council CEO Phil Alexander-Crawford tells Mike Hosking New Zealand has a unique opportunity with our growing Pacific community and that immigration is important for filling work shortages like this. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 20th of September, Finance Minister Nicola Willis attempts to turn our economy around as we stare down the barrel of another recession. Penny Simmonds spoke to AUT about their race-based ranking system to send professors to overseas conferences. So did she get to the bottom of it and stop it? Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson talk Dubai chocolate bars and Luke Combs coming back to the country, 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.

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. The economy: 4/10 Between the GDP and the current account, it’s a bad week of data. You could argue the upside is it might be the worst of it. It might be better from here on in. Whining unions: 3/10 This week it was relief teachers. Name me the last time unions said something, anything, positive. The race edict: 8/10 Because doing stuff, handing stuff out, based on nothing more than race is racist. The All Blacks: 7/10 Australia comes at just the right time. What we need off two losses is someone pretty useless. Australia - come on in. Liam Lawson: 9/10 If the word is accurate, by the time the weekend is out we will have our next full-time driver in F1. Federated Farmers: 125/10 That’s a birthday worth celebrating and of all the advocacy groups, I think they could be close to being my favourite. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years – a significant political boost for the Harris campaign. Rates have gone down by 0.5% to about 4.8%, a far bigger rate than economists had predicted. Policymakers expect the rate to fall another 0.5% this year and go down to around 3% by the end of 2026. US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that Donald Trump is complaining about the impact it will have for Harris’ campaign, calling the move by the Federal Reserve “sheer politics”. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What I would like out of the Philip Polkinghorne trial is access to the jury. This country has an archaic and sheltered view of certain aspects of justice. If you believe justice has to be seen to be done, it behoves us to fully understand the process. I have had virtually no interest in the trial. I have no real overarching interest in crime generally. I got fascinated by the David Bain business, but Polkinghorne has passed me by. He either did it or he didn’t. The jury is working that out as we speak. I have noticed a change this time and it confirms that my lack of interest in matters makes me part of a very, very small minority. It's the blogging that has gone on from court from the digital media. A criticism I have always had about media coverage of court is mainly they are cherry pickers and mainly formats, particularly in news bulletins, never gives fair insight into the day's proceedings. This time it has been no different. TV seems to have come and gone. On a slow day it's covered, on a busy one it's not. Having been in court enough times over the years, the tricky part is how slowly it all moves and therefore it is easy for media to miss a lot of detail, not to mention subtlety and nuance. If you can't cover it properly, don’t. The digital operators have been able to give you all the blow-by-blow detail you could ever want and from my inquires, it has been absorbed vociferously by most of the population. But back to the jury. In America you get to talk to them. Why not here? Surely in a trial of this detail and interest, knowing what they thought or didn’t think and what they made out as critical or of no consequence is not only fascinating, but vital to understanding as to how we got to where we are about to get. Seeing open justice work and getting the detail from those closest to it is good. Surely you can't argue that wouldn't improve the process, therefore our understanding? How, possibly, is that a bad thing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will Jordan’s move to All Blacks fullback has been short lived. Jordan shifts back to the right wing for Saturday afternoon’s Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney, with Beauden Barrett restored to fullback and Caleb Clarke on the left wing. It’s the same back three that started in Johannesburg against the Springboks, before Barrett switched to the bench for Cape Town. Coach Scott Robertson says they believe it’s best for this week with Clarke now fit again. Jordan told Mike Hosking that while Australia is not South Africa, they all know how important the Bledisloe Cup is, and losing that certainly provides plenty of fear. He said that it’s about maintaining or even lifting their intensity from over in South Africa, and making sure they put Australia on the back foot from the start. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back once more to Wrap the Week that was alongside Mike Hosking. They discussed Producer Sam’s recent purchases of Dubai chocolate bars, vacuum cleaners, and Luke Combs’ upcoming return to New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Law Association says changing the threshold for the right to a jury trial doesn't make sense. Currently a defendant can choose between a jury or a judge-alone trial in cases where the maximum penalty is two or more years in jail. The Government's seeking feedback on increasing this to three, five, or seven years, saying jury trials drive court delays. Law Association Vice-President Julie-Anne Kincade told Mike Hosking that right now in Auckland District Court you'll get a jury-trial faster than a judge alone trial. She says they need to be careful about using a blunt tool to try solve the problem. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A million dollar boost is on its way towards methane vaccine research. Scientists are wanting to develop antibodies that reduce methane emissions from animals. AgriZeroNZ and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre are providing $13.5 million to Lucidome Bio to develop the treatment. AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee told Mike Hosking they're on a path to eventually get there. He says they've also invested in a UK company, which has already proven it's possible. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in the wake of the latest economic figures. Latest Stats NZ figures reveal the GDP contracted by 0.2% in the three months to June In the March quarter, 0.1% growth was recorded. Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking we're still very much in clean-up mode, but the important indicators look good. She says inflation is forecast to come under control and interest rates continue to fall. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tertiary Education Minister says AUT has good rationale behind its policy to give Māori and Pasifika staff extra points in choosing staff to attend overseas conferences. AUT says there's a critical shortage of those academic staff in the sector, and the policy helps address that. The Government's directed the public service to allocate services on need, not race. Minister Penny Simmonds told Mike Hosking the university has a high proportion of Māori and Pasifika students, and their proportionality of staff isn't as high. She says they're also trying to build up the research capability of Māori and Pasifika staff. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The good news is confidence in our economy is improving. It has been a decent week: farmers confidence is up and markedly, our confidence is up a bit —still overall pessimistic, but up nevertheless— and last week we saw business confidence rise a bit. Then come the newest numbers, our current account. It’s a mess. We are a mess. In essence we buy more from the world than we sell it, and given we are in the business of selling stuff, that doesn’t make us a very good business. Glass half full, the figure we got yesterday is stable as a percentage of GDP. But the percentage of GDP is hopeless, that's the worry. This by the way is for the June quarter. In actual number terms it widened by $269 million. It's all part of the wider picture we will get later today on the actual GDP, which we mentioned earlier has almost certainly gone backwards for the same period. So, join the 2 bits together. You have an economy going backwards, driven in part by the fact that we buy more stuff than we sell. Think about that scenario in your own life. You make a living selling stuff, but you still buy more things. They cost more than what you make, you are sinking. That's the story of this country. Our net investment liability position —another good comparison we can make with our own lives, note the words net liability— was $205 billion, which is 49.7 % of GDP. That is over $6 billion more than it was in the last quarter. It’s getting worse, we are more liable. You don’t in life want to liable, you don’t in life want a deficit. In really simple terms, in the deals that involve NZ and the world, we have more liabilities than we have assets. As I say most of us don’t run our lives that way, and yet we seem happy to watch our country being run that way. It has become very clear this week from the Tory Whanau revelations that we have people in decision making positions who have no idea how to turn a dollar, spend a dollar, value a dollar, or run anything that resembles an economy of any sort or size. The numbers don’t lie. The numbers aren't good but they can't be a surprise given the sort of people who have been in charge. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The automotive sector is hoping to take industry-training out of Government hands. The Motor Industry Training Organisation supports on-job learning in sectors like automotive, logistics, and road transport. But the Motor Trade Association says under Government control, it has become detached from the industry. Chief Executive Lee Marshall wants a transition to being industry owned and led. He says the sector is undergoing rapid change, and the training isn't keeping pace. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He may have stepped back from his iconic series, but that doesn’t mean Lee Child has put his pen down. Since his announcement last year that he was passing the character of Jack Reacher over into his brother’s hands, he’s been credited in the latest novel ‘In Too Deep’, which is being released in October. But before that Child has released another project of his own, an action-packed short story collection called ‘Safe Enough: And Other Stories’. He told Mike Hosking that they’re stories he’s written over the course of his career, and since stepping back from Reacher, someone suggested he make a collection. “They were kind of secret projects of mine that I would do anything I wanted,” Child said. “And I'm very interested to see what other people think of them.” The oldest story was written twenty years ago, back in 2004, with the others all falling somewhere in between then and the present. “I have no idea what people will think. I hope they like them, but we shall find out.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 19th of September, the Fed dropped by half a point, so what will happen with our GDP today? David Seymour says charter schools will have performance requirements, and they'll lose their status if they don't keep up. He gives ZB the exclusive. Author extraordinaire Lee Child is back to talk to Mike about his new short stories venture. 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.

Organisers of a Rotorua charity garage sale are considering canning it altogether after a burglary. A car, trailer, and small donated items were allegedly stolen from the sale's storage area at Ngongotaha Railway Park over the weekend. Small electronic goods were discovered missing from the containers. Ray White Rotorua co-owner Tim O'Sullivan told Mike Hosking he suspects this wasn't opportunistic. He says they did all the right things in terms of how they broke in, and the yard was locked up, but it didn't deter them. Police say a 27-year-old man has been charged with the burglary and is due in court tomorrow. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's GDP figures are expected to show the economy weakened in the second quarter of this year. Analysts are forecasting a contraction between 0.1 and 0.5%. The first quarter of 2024 showed just 0.2% growth. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold told Mike Hosking June was the weakest month they've seen in a while. He says they expect it to have gone backwards again in Q3, but it will be a finely balanced thing – they're forecasting minus 0.2. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A second wave of explosions have hit Lebanon a day after pagers used by Hezbollah detonated. At least 12 people are dead from the pager attacks, while 14 have been killed from exploding walkie talkies today. Thousands are injured, and Hezbollah believes Israel is responsible. Auckland University international relations professor Stephen Hoadley told Mike Hosking some academics believe the attacks are illegal under international law. Hoadley disagrees. He says this is war, as the target were Hezbollah fighters, who are pledged to destroy Israel. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's announced attendance, achievement, and financial targets for charter schools. The schools must meet the targets or risk interventions, including possibly having their contract ended. Associate Education Minister David Seymour told Mike Hosking Charter Schools have the same goals as state schools, such as 95% getting NCEA level two and 80% regularly attending. He says the difference is they're putting in hard minimums for Charter Schools, and if they don't achieve them, they'll be shut down. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25,000 more people need to be hired if the Government wants to achieve its infrastructure goals. Officials have warned Minister Chris Bishop he'll need to significantly boost the civil engineering and construction workforce by more than 50%. It's also warning the Government hasn't funded $200 billion worth of its transport promises. Fraser May of Civil Contractors New Zealand told Mike Hosking a lot will need to be done to get the sector ready for the projects. He says it follows a tough time in the sector, where many have down-scaling when they should've been up-scaling. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's only when you read the full detail in the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll that you start to get a feel for where the Government currently sits. Firstly, the poll is for corporate clients and reportage is usually limited to a few basic numbers, i.e. National up or down a point and added together that means “x” number of seats in the house. The full report has the gold and everyone in corporate New Zealand will be seeing that this current Government is on somewhat of a roll. Here is the really worrying thing for the opposition parties; these numbers are produced at a time the economy is still rubbish and it's entirely possible we are still in a recession. So, the things for Labour, especially, to worry about: 1. The coalition have 67 seats, which is an easy majority. 2. Every single issue, bar one, they are more trusted on. In areas like the economy and spending, the Government wins by a mile, so much that the gap is embarrassing. The only area Labour claim victory is poverty and even then it's by a single point. 3. The right way/wrong way tracker has turned in spectacular fashion since the election. Many argue this is the true indication of Government support. If you get the country going right, you're in every time. 4. The Labour leader's popularity has tanked. The favourable/unfavourable numbers have cratered. Chris Hipkins isn't liked, isn't backed and is, as they say in America, under water. Now, fair is fair, it's just a poll, not an election But get some steam into the economy, get a growing level of confidence as the Reserve Bank cuts rates and people start to spend and feel good again, get some real growth into proceedings and it's at that point any Government of the day starts to feel like they are re-electable. We have seen this past week the seeds, the shoots of progress; the crime stats, the increasingly determined action around the Treaty, the reportage of schools talking of a change of culture after a phone ban. These are small, but tangible, wins. If by the end of next year the economy is back, and the rest of the tangibles are falling into place, an opposition will have very little left in which to enter election year with. And Chris Hipkins won't just be under water, he will be out of a job. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has pleaded not guilty to a list of sex trafficking charges. The 54-year-old was arrested in Manhattan by federal agents yesterday, following a year in which his career was derailed by several lawsuits accusing him of physical and sexual abuse. New York Attorney Damien Williams alleges Combs created and ran a "criminal enterprise” through his business empire. He says he ran sex performances, which he called 'freak offs', for days at a time. US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that prosecutors are opposing bail for Combs, but his lawyers have submitted a note to the judge saying that he’s never evaded, avoided, eluded, or run from a challenge in his life. He said they’re offering an extensive bail package has been offered, including a $50 million bond, the passports of his daughters and mother, the equity of his home and his mother’s place in Florida, and home detention with GPS monitoring. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justice is set to be served to nearly every member of the Comancheros motorcycle gang, but that won't be the end of New Zealand's drug trade. A three year police operation has resulted in 137 charges being laid. Canterbury University sociology professor Jarrod Gilbert says it's decimated the Comancheros, and sends a message that any high profile organised crime group has a large target on their back. But he says we can't expect this to significantly disrupt drug trade long term - as supply will just move to meet demand and the void will be filled. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s an increasing demand for growers in Canterbury. A reliable water supply and cheaper land than Marlborough and Hawke's Bay are attracting horticulture suppliers to the region. Vegetables NZ chair John Murphy says it's great to see things like Rockit apples grown in South Canterbury. He told Mike Hosking it will help achieve the goal of doubling export values, and new opportunities mean fresh produce can continue to be supplied to New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 18th of September, the police have dealt a huge, potentially fatal, blow to the Comancheros gang. Our kids aren't anywhere near as resilient as they used to be. So how do we fix it? Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen join for Politics Wednesday and discuss whether Nicole McKee is a thorn in the side for the Government. 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.

There’s support from across the political aisle over a Police crackdown on the Comancheros gang. Nearly every member of the gang is facing criminal charges, showing the scale of operation to take out the Comancheros. Speaking to Mike Hosking, Police Minister Mark Mitchell is applauding Police efforts, and says it's outstanding Policing. Labour's Police spokesperson Ginny Andersen says they're also pleased to see the violence targeted. She says it's great to see the gang's misery peddle shut down by the force. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are concerns over young New Zealanders' ability to handle adversity. New figures show more than 21% of 15 to 24 year olds face psychological struggles. It's prompted calls for more to be done to build resilience in children, starting at early childhood centres through to high schools. Dr Felicia Low is behind the report and told Mike Hosking the numbers are deeply troubling. She says we know young people aren't doing well, and we have to act on it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand doesn’t seem to be the only country with a looming shortage of teachers. The Teaching Council's highlighting data that shows the number of students graduating as teachers has dropped by more than a third. Half as many people are signing up to become teachers as there were in 2010. Secondary Principals Association President Vaughan Couillault told Mike Hosking he's been hearing similar reports overseas. He says he's been told in Australia and the United Kingdom, exactly the same thing's happening. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Synlait could be going from the cream of the crop to skimming the edge of survival. Shareholders of the dairy processor are gathering at its Dunsandel site today to vote on a proposed $218 million capital raise. Board chair George Adams told Mike Hosking his confidence is high, and it would allow Synlait to move forward from the de-leveraging. He says they'll then focus on drawing their farmers back and delivering good business. If voted down, Synlait has warned it will end up in some sort of insolvency process. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The most telling part of the release of the draft of our critical minerals list is that we have never as a country developed a comprehensive picture of our mineral needs and weaknesses. The obvious question is: why not? Part of a strong resilient economy is when you do things yourself. As a small country we can't do everything because we don’t have domestic heft. We don’t have a natural domestic market for a lot of large-scale operations. So, in some cases where we do things at scale, we sell it offshore. We are quite good at some of it, and farming would be an example. But it is why we don't make cars. When we did it didn’t work financially so we are better off bringing them in. But one of the great economic quandaries we have is a thing called a current account deficit. This shows we buy more stuff from the world than we sell to it. That's not good. We could mine more than we do. The fact that there are 35 minerals on the list, and by the way, the list doesn’t include coal or gold, means we have a lot of minerals. Are we taking full advantage? Obviously not. Could we? Why not? Because a lot of people get angsty about mining. But as the miners will tell you, it's an increasingly sophisticated industry that cleans up after itself in a completely different way from the old days. Here is the simple truth - the world needs minerals. We need minerals the same way we need power to turn the lights on and our current predicament around generation and supply is all the evidence you need to know we should be prioritising jobs and costs of living over the ideology of renewables and conservation land. Those opposed are often opposed no matter what. They aren't for turning. They think a fern and snail beats a job and power and that’s just the way they are. They are allowed to be obsessed, but they shouldn't dictate economic travel. Minerals are an income stream, a job stream, and a sensible, viable answer to a lot of economic problems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 17th of September, the Government’s crime targets of 2030 are going backwards, but some tougher sentences hope to make up for that. Mike has uncovered a scandal at AUT, and he puts it to the Prime Minister as part of the weekly catch-up. Ryan Fox talks the year on the PGA Tour and if he's going back next year, provided he qualifies. 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.

Questions are arising over the BBC's handling of disgraced broadcaster Huw Edwards' child abuse images case. The former news anchor has been given a suspended six-month sentence for soliciting indecent images of children. UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking the BBC still paid Edwards his salary after being arrested and has now asked for it to be paid back. He says there's a view the BBC protects those it values from public scrutiny. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You don’t have to be a professional golfer to know it’s an expensive sport. New Zealand’s highest-ranked men’s golfer, Ryan Fox, has lifted the lid on the pressures he’s faced this year dealing with a hip injury while working to retain his PGA Tour card for 2025. Despite the financial challenges, Fox emphasises that money isn’t the be-all and end-all of his career. It’s been a tough year for Fox after two very lucrative years in which he made $11 million. Over that period he had three DP World Tour wins, five runners-up placings, two thirds and three top-10 finishes. On the DP Tour alone, Fox brought home $6m and $5.4m in 2022 and 2023 respectively but has just $735,574 in prize money this year (plus $1,845,332 on the PGA Tour). Asked whether the difference impacted him psychologically, Fox told The Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB that money wasn’t the goal. “I don’t play golf for the money and I’m in a pretty good place in that sense. “You do think about it if you miss a few cuts in a row. It is a pretty expensive way to make a living if you’re not making money – golf’s pretty brutal that if you miss the cut, you don’t make anything. In the US, it’s probably been in excess of six or $7000 a week spent to do it and, if you’re not making money, it does get expensive quickly. “I know I’m good enough to compete and at some point it’s going to turn around … This year I’ve still had a couple of really good results and covered myself quite easily in the US. Obviously, the last couple of years have been very good [in regards to prize money]. It’s still been a good experience and I’m not worried too much about the money side of things. It’s more about trying to compete and trying to win tournaments.” This week Fox is defending his 2023 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club. Fox remarkably recovered from a triple bogey seven on the third hole after starting two shots off the lead in the final round, but then went eight-under including six birdies on the back nine to claim a one-shot victory. Currently ranked 106th on the FedEx Cup standings – the top 125 retain their card – Fox said the past year had been tough. “I’ve done a lot of travel the last couple of years. The US has been difficult this year in that respect,” he said. “I think we spent 30 weeks travelling out of a suitcase with no base, 20 of those weeks are with the family and two young kids. So there was definitely a fair bit of a grind in there but I still get to do what I love for a living. We’ve had some great experiences … I got to play on the PGA tour. That’s been a dream of mine for a long time. I certainly wouldn’t swap any of the experiences I’ve had the last couple of years being able to do that.” Last week, Fox told the Herald he has been dealing with a hip injury for most of the year which he hadn’t given much thought to, but recently learned the extent of the issue. “I got some testing done on that when I was at home and there’s potentially some stuff I need to sort out with that at the end of the year as well,” Fox said of his injury. “So, it’s a little bit about managing that going forward with the schedule. Once I get back to the States and if I get the job done pretty quickly, then I’ve got to figure out if I’m going back to Europe [or] if I’m coming home and getting the hip sorted; there’s a fair bit to sort out there, but I certainly can’t make it any worse than it is. I’ve just got to manage it; manage the workload a little bit on it, that’s about it. It’s nothing too serious, so it’s a little bit flexible at the end of the year, let’s put it that way.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A dismal picture is being painted of our tamariki's health, with more being hospitalised for preventable diseases. A new Cure Kids report reveals unacceptably high hospitalisation rates for respiratory, skin and rheumatic conditions, mental health issues, and dental diseases. It finds Māori and Pasifika children and those from lower income households are disproportionately affected. Chief executive Frances Soutter says we need to address social factors like child poverty and create more equitable access to health and nutrition. She says we need intentional collaborative action to shift these statistics. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister is making no apologies for curtailing the civil rights of gang members. Documents show Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith initially rejected a police request to ban gang patches in the homes of repeat offenders, but then changed his mind. That's despite objections from his own ministry, Te Puni Kokiri, and the Privacy Commissioner. Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking he's not concerned about gang members losing their rights. He says gang members make up one quarter of one percent of the population, but are responsible for almost a fifth of serious violent crimes and homicides and almost a quarter of all firearms offences. He’s reminding all judges the Government is in charge, as it looks to crack down on sentencing laws. Reforms to legislation is being introduced in Parliament this week. New aggravating factors are also being introduced, to include adults exploiting children by aiding or abetting their offending, and for posting criminal activity on social media. Luxon told Hosking the decision of courts will reflect the intentions of Parliament, not judges. He says they can have their say on the legislation during the Select Committee process. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first quarterly report on public service targets shows rates of people victimised have risen by 30 thousand people to the end of June. The government's goal is to reduce that by 20 thousand within the next six years. It's bringing sentencing law reforms to Parliament this week to reduce discounts and add aggravating factors. Crime Prevention Group President Sunny Kaushal told Mike Hosking these reforms and others in the works will make an impact. He believes it'll bring accountability and the consequences that's been missing for years. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Airport says it's had no shortage of interest in its $1.4 billion capital raise. It will use the money to drive down debt and upgrade the airport, runway, and other infrastructure dating back to the 1960s. The upgrade is expected to take about five years to complete. Auckland Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui told Mike Hosking the capital raise had been signalled to the market. She says there's been a very positive response from institutional investors and will start seeking retail investors today. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a Government has to issue an email directive the way they did on Friday over race, there is something profoundly wrong with the country. Essentially it says the public service, whether on health, education, justice, welfare etc. - can not act on race. It says they can't see race as an individual entitlement that allows services, or money, or support to be a determining criteria. This is part of the coalition agreement - as directed by ACT and New Zealand First. National Party supporters might want to ask why they didn’t have it as part of their criteria as well. The idea that one race trumps another is absurd, unfair and leads nowhere good, especially if you are after good race relations and harmonious existence. The Māori Party called it anti-Māori, which shows their level of ignorance, unless the Māori Party argues Māori deserve things no one else gets, and I don’t think even they would be that extreme. We are all equal. I have never been able to ascertain why that concept is so hard to grasp. The fact it's taken the Government this long to issue the edict must also be of concern. David Seymour suggested it's been complex. Has it? How? What we also need to be concerned about, as we saw last week in Hawkes' Bay, is pushback. For a so-called colour blind public service, we have nothing of the sort. You can't hand out health care based on race, and yet that was exactly what they were doing. You can't unilaterally invent Māori seats at council level - and yet councils are threatening lawyers in a local body version of a tantrum. In the meantime, the Waitangi Tribunal continues to pump out findings like confetti. Race unfairly dealt with cripples countries. We have enough to worry about these days without something that really is so simple to administer. We are all equal. We all have equal access to everything, whether it be democracy, health, education or welfare. Needs, not race. How hard can it be? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's growing concern from educational experts as more teachers are leaving Australian schools. Over in New South Wales, PE and science teachers have been called in to plug the gaps left behind by maths teachers. Australia correspondent Murray Olds says many educators feel like 'cannon fodder' amid poor pay and lack of respect from students and parents. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Saville and Guy Heveldt joined Mike Hosking to discuss the Formula One results, the changes to Super Rugby and David Nyika's upcoming fight. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A win for Waikato, with international flights set to return from next year. Jetstar's launching new routes from Hamilton to Sydney and the Gold Coast in June. The city's been without trans-Tasman flights since 2012. Hamilton Airport CEO Mark Morgan says the announcement's significant for the region's future. "It places some credibility back into the mighty Waikato - and just positions us for opportunities that we would not have been able to consider without this current opportunity." Jetstar's also launched a new route from Dunedin to the Gold Coast - the first international flights out of Otago since 2020. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's proposing new criteria to define who's a contractor and who's an employee. 'Contractors' will need to have signed a contract, stating they're an independent contractor. They must be able to subcontract out any set hours, they can't be prevented from working for other people, and they can't be fired for not taking on extra tasks. Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden says the Government is looking to change the law next year. "Most of this has been built through case law over time, so it's not actually clear enough in the law how individual contract arrangements work." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New Zealand electric vehicle market has run out of charge. New Motor Industry Association data shows just one in eleven new vehicle sales are electric, compared to last year where it was one in every four. Imported Motor Vehicle Industry chief executive Greig Epps says it's left many importers with excess stock. However, he says hybrid sales, on the other hand, continue to stay strong. "43 to 45 percent of the used imports that we're bringing in this year have been hybrids. Hybrids are a really solid technology." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland police believe the extra exposure in the city centre is making a difference. New data shows a 22 percent drop in in serious assaults in the CBD in the first seven months of the year, compared to the same time last year. Police Minister Mark Mitchell's putting it down to a collaborative approach between officers and agencies to get people the support they need. Police Association spokesperson Murray Fenton says the feedback from visitors and locals is refreshing. "It's really exciting, because our international visitors are coming up to us on the streets, our local people, our business people, our retailers - we're getting support from so many types of people." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Education Minister's backing her changes for relief teachers, despite criticism. Erica Stanford's loosening up the Limited Authority to Teach rules to address shortages - including covering their costs and allowing experts who aren’t qualified teachers and previously registered teachers to work as relievers. PPTA President Chris Abercrombie says the change will flood classrooms with unregistered relievers. Stanford says she was surprised there was opposition. "There are a whole bunch of incredible teachers out there - they don't forget how to teach. And actually, when we've got a real need right now, we've got Orewa College and other colleges rostering home kids - that's the alternative." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US officials have revealed more about the latest attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump. A man has been detained after shots were fired at one of Trump's golf courses at Palm Beach in Florida. US correspondent Richard Arnold says investigations are underway into the incident. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Respiratory diseases costs the country more than $8 billion each year. New research has found more Kiwis are suffering than previously thought, with around one million people affected by the disease annually. Asthma and Respiratory Foundation Chief Executive Letitia Harding says the financial burden is huge. "We base all of this on our prescriptions, our hospitalisations, time off work, school days lost - because then you have parents who take time off as well - a lot of factors go into this." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 16th of September, the unions are in a stoush with the Education Minister over bringing unregistered teachers back into the classroom to fill gaps so Erica Stanford is on to explain her side. Throughout the show we give you the latest information on what the FBI are calling an attempted assassination on Donald Trump at his golf course. Guy Heveldt and Andrew Saville cover off the F1, the changes to Super Rugby and David Nyika's upcoming fight. 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.