The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The battle of the bank BS is back. BNZ, who announced their profit last week, talked of the strong competition out there. But I note their margin went up, up, 6 points to 2.43%. So if there is so much competition, how come the margin is up? Then came the claim from the Reserve Bank among others that the big banks are being tardy when it comes to passing on the Reserve Bank cuts to us punters. Smaller banks are sharper. SBS claims they have hoovered up almost 6000 new customers as changing banks has become easier. Remember SBS last week put out their 3.99% money, limited to certain people, but a market leader nevertheless. Now tied into all of this is the retail bank's long held argument that the margin is higher because they need the cushion, because the Reserve Bank makes them store away too much money for troubled times. But, those rules are changing and changing in the retail bank's favour. In other words;  less money required therefore, in theory, it should mean smaller margins. You can also put in there the simple truth that has always been in play - there is nothing stopping us shopping around. We have a good number of retail banks and they do do deals. I know because I've done deals. Some banks will shave decent margins to get your business. The trouble is a lot of us are too lazy to try and moaning is easier than hustling. So who is right? Are the retail banks tardy? Is it a major issue? Is Nicola Willis right when she says things, and by "things" we mean rules, need to change? I of course have long argued that Willis is too much hype and it's not all that bad. But I'm increasingly moving towards accepting I'm wrong. As the Reserve Bank points out as wholesale rates drop the margins have risen, and on latest numbers, keep rising. Maybe, God forbid, Adrian Orr was right when he used to come on this programme and lambaste the banks for making too many excuses. What I do know is the conditions are increasingly right, either through wholesale rates or the changes to reserve rules, for us to see the margins fall and for the cuts to be passed through in full, and faster. And the longer that takes to happen the more we need to see the big banks as a problem and bad actors in the economy.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 10th of November, the Government has announced a new plan to combat meth that involves Police, Customs, the GCSB and NZDF. The Prime Minister is in to talk the India FTA, meth and Transmission Gully. Jason Pine and Andrew Saville discuss the F1, the All Blacks, Kiwis and the local derby in the A-league. 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.

Jason Pine and Andrew Saville join Mike Hosking this morning to discuss the weekend's sports. On the table today: The All Blacks fended off an impressive comeback from Scotland to secure a win in Edinburgh.  Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix had a fiery game that saw on-pitch brawls and red cards issued. And Liam Lawson finished 7th in the Brazilian GP after a successful one-stop strategy.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon says India and New Zealand are continuing to get closer to reaching a free trade agreement. Trade Minister Todd McClay hosted Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Auckland last week for a fifth round of talks on an FTA. The Prime Minister says it's been good to see Goyal coming here when he's so in-demand around the world. Luxon told Mike Hosking that McClay will head to India this week for further talks. He says they're making good progress, with some negotiations, but they're committed to getting the deal done. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trade talks with the Cook Islands have reached a standstill once again. The Government has been suspended payments to the Cook Islands after they made deals with China without notifying NZ - a move that broke the 2021 agreement.  However, International relations expert Stephen Hoadley said that suspending payments will only move them closer to China.  "I think it just opens the door for China to walk in further and have more influence." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Border control is concentrating it's efforts on tackling organised crime.  They said that the progress so far, in collaboration with international partners, has shown positive results - with over 900kgs of meth bound for NZ seized. However, there is still a significant threat. Customs' Deputy Chief Executive of Operations, Jamie Bamford told Mike Hosking that 'what we're facing is scale and an aggressive, well funded, agile, organised crime.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's soaring methamphetamine problem be won't taken down through one approach. The Government's new action plan is eyeing up importation, distribution and demand - as consumption doubles to nearly 1,500 kilos last year. It's also launching a prevention campaign - and allocating 30-million-dollars for community support services. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking that meth is a scourge on society. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many businesses that limped through the pandemic are now going under. Insolvency practitioners have been reporting a sharp rise in the number of insolvencies since mid-2022. Smaller retail, hospitality, construction, transport and manufacturing operators are failing far more now,  than they were before the pandemic. BWA Insolvency Founder Bryan Williams told Mike Hosking that many have burned through assets to survive. He says almost every file that comes across his desk is a business that has almost no assets remaining, and has been using all its assets to survive. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ACC vs union work from home legal case is a good one and it became even better after the Westpac dispute in Australia last week.  There are two bits to these sorts of cases. One was the specific, as in what's in a contract, what's the wording, what have you agreed to and what haven't you agreed to.  Then you've got the moral question; the big picture, the team spirit and the attitude.  Work from home is a symptom of all that is wrong with productivity and very few do productivity as poorly as this country.  Covid wrecked the workplace. It allowed for work from home to be invented.  Not literally, but generally for a period it was all you could do.  From that moment a seed was planted, and the seed has grown into a mindset.  Over a remarkably short period of time the idea became a habit, a right and, for some, the norm.  Not just that, but so entrenched did it become in the minds of some that what was once not even an idea became something to be outraged about if the spectre of it ending was even uttered.  Even though you have spent the vast majority of your working life going to the office.  No one jumps on a get-out-of-jail card quicker than a union.  I don’t know what was, and wasn’t, said at the ACC. But what I do know is work from home has become a gargantuan piss take.  Don’t get me wrong – you save on the commute, the cost of parking, and you don't have to worry about hoping the bus is on time.  It all makes sense from a selfish point of view.  The Australian case even had the woman moving miles from town so she could drop her kid off at the special school they had selected.  Westpac said that was a lifestyle choice, which unquestionably it was, but tough luck said the court and the woman won.  So maybe ACC are onto a hiding to nothing. Let's see.  But specifics aside, work is a quid pro quo and taking the mickey, which is what work from home is now that you aren't locked down, isn't a balanced relationship.  It’s a material shift, born of necessity, and then abused. 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.    NZ Inc.: 7/10  A good week. Building consents, credit demand, house listings – up, up and up.    Noeline Taurua: 6/10  Spoke for the first time, but in a way where the knots you are tied up in get in the way of the words.    SCOTUS: 2/10  It went about as badly as you might have expected, unless you thought an argument about being a megalomaniac with uncontrollable powers was going to fly.    Sir David Beckham: 8/10  He is a story of inspiration and lovely with it. I'm a fanboy.    New York: 2/10  Mamdani is likeable and slick. But so was Jacinda.    Transmission Gully: 2/10  How can a new road need $32 million worth of repairs, unless you didn’t do it properly in the first place? Which then leads to the question - why didn’t you do it properly in the first place?    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.