The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Hamilton to Auckland passenger rail service could come off the tracks if it becomes too expensive for rate payers.   Waikato Regional Council is writing to the NZTA board to ask for a one-year extension of the service, through to 2027. They want to test full integration with Auckland’s City Rail Link, which opens next year.  Waikato Regional Council Chair Warren Maher told Heather du Plessis-Allan 60% funding through the Land Transport Fund will be vital to keep it going.  He says if it drops back to 51%, they want the review of the trial to go ahead at NZTA's April meeting, and that could be the death nail for Te Huia.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The resignation of Netball New Zealand CEO Jennie Wyllie had to happen.  That's the view of former New Zealand men's netball skipper and commentator Kruze Tangira.   Tangira told Heather du Plessis-Allan he believes the drama around the standing down then reinstatement of head coach Dame Noeline Taurua has plagued the year.  He says it started all the way back in January at the Sydney training camp, and it’s taken until December for there to be a real resolution.  It was unfortunate that Taurua had to lose her job and have her name tarnished in the process, Tangira told du Plessis-Allan, but change needed to happen in order to rebuild the reputation of netball within New Zealand.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A push for the Government to use its powers to begin dismantling Gloriavale.  The Secretary for Education has cancelled the Christian sect school’s licence, forcing it closed from January.   The call comes just a week after former leader Howard Temple was sentenced to more than two years in prison for sex offending.  Leavers' Trust Founder Liz Gregory told Heather du Plessis-Allan she’s now urging the Government to go further, starting with de-registering the community’s charity.  She expects that to be the next step and anticipates it could be shut down before Christmas.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A view school violence is changing, with fewer mass fights, but far more frequent outbursts.  New data shows 12,300 students were disciplined for physical assault this year – up 49% on 2019.  Most incidents involved students attacking other students.  Darfield High School Principal Andy England told Heather du Plessis-Allan increasing neurodiversity in classrooms is likely one factor.  He says devices are also a problem, with social media trends often sparking more organised assaults.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A prediction that 2026 will be a very good year for the economy.   GDP grew 1.1% in the September quarter.   Former Associate Finance Minister Richard Prebble even suspects we could see a turnaround in unemployment, which has ticked up since 2022.   He says Stats NZ data is always backwards looking.   Prebble told Heather du Plessis-Allan job ads are on the up and Seek numbers up 7%.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump has unveiled a new Presidential Walk of Fame in The White House.  It includes portraits of all the previous presidents and corresponding descriptions, written in the style of social media posts.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Heather du Plessis-Allan Trump has helped write some of them.  The one for Joe Biden refers to him as Sleepy Joe, the worst President in the history of America.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The $8 billion Waihi North mine has been given the approval to go for gold, and there could be many millions of ounces out of it.  It's been given the green light through the Government's fast track programme.  The permit secures 350 existing jobs and creates more than 100 new roles.   Oceana Gold Chief Executive Gerard Bond told Heather du Plessis Allan they're investing one billion dollars of capital to get things going.  He says that will be put towards a tunnel to go under the forest park and hundreds of millions will be spent during its operation at well.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Surely that judge throwing out the election result in Auckland has started the clock ticking on postal voting.  This case may not seem a big deal given that it involves just 79 votes, in just one subdivision, in just one relatively small local board election in Auckland.  But the 79 may just be the tip of the iceberg. It may be that hundreds of ballot papers in that subdivision were stolen from letterboxes, filled in and sent in as legit votes.  Now Ken Turner from the Waitakere's is also considering legal options because he reckons something funny happened with 212 votes in his election too.  None of this is a surprise to me because years ago when friends of mine were flatting, as happens, mail turned up for previous tenants.  Some of that mail was voting papers. So my friends filled the papers in and sent them all back in as legitimate votes and no one ever got in trouble for it.  We all know the mail voting system is ripe for being gamed.  But perhaps in our naivety we hadn’t imagined it would go from a bunch of silly flatties to what seems like may have been an orchestrated rigging of an election.  Postal voting should go the way of the horse and cart. It's not the only reason so many of us can’t be bothered with council elections, but it is a significant part of it.  You get the mail, pop it on the counter, forget about it, find it after election day is well past, or find it too hard to remember where to find a post box.  Not only does it make it harder to vote, it also makes it harder to trust the election outcome. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s not a Kiwi summer without Six60, and the county’s highest selling live band is rolling on.   They’ve dropped their latest single, ‘We Made It’, coming in the wake of their bestselling Australian performance at the Sydney Opera House.  They’ll also have the honour of being the first live act to perform at the new One NZ Stadium in Christchurch and are curating a new country and roots music festival, taking place this summer in Matakana.   Lead singer Matiu Walters told Heather du Plessis-Allan it’s just a one-day festival at the moment, but they have plans to grow.  “It’s definitely a tough time for the arts, music, and for everyone really, to be fair,” he said.  “We didn’t, we never want to kind of just, to like, rest on our laurels.”   Over the years they’ve been performing, Six60 has smashed records, being labelled as the country’s first-ever Chart Icon at the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards, and Walters says their drive stems from their desire to do “cool stuff”.  “Our goal was, was always just to write and perform music, and my purpose is to sing and play guitar, and all these things that kind of happened around us,” he told du Plessis-Allan.  “We’re aspirational dudes.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast with Heather du Plessis-Allan Full Show Podcast for Thursday 18th of December, we speak to the new Deputy Police Commissioner and preview the Q3 GDP number.  The Government is saying the road cone hotline's performed as desired, so they’re shutting it down – six months early.   Six60 lead singer Matiu Walters stops by for a chat and performs their new single 'We Made It'.  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.