The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Government has begun looking for possible areas for cutbacks for next year's Budget.  Associate Finance Minister David Seymour said he hopes the Government can equal or exceed the savings achieved in its first two Budgets.  He says the Government's trying to reduce its spending from about 35% of GDP to about 31%.  Seymour told Mike Hosking it's an ongoing process of "looking behind the couch" for savings.  He says it's a matter of every year, every Budget, finding things that the Government would never have started and stopping them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the gang numbers grow police say they're keeping a better check on their behaviour.  Gang numbers have climbed past 10 thousand, up from 9,270 in 2023.   Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Basham says since the Gang Act was passed, they've launched more than nine thousand charges against gang members.   He told Mike Hosking they have a laser focus on gangs.   Basham says part of the increase could be attributed to police keeping a closer eye on them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you want to get a bit angsty about the voting changes, the one everyone seems to have missed is the one about how it's being changed because we are so hopeless.  On the “disenfranchised” side of the equation, I have little, if any, time for it.  An election is held every three years. Between the last one and the next one that’s a lot of days to, at some point, stick your name down for another crack.  The fact you can't rock up on the day is only going to “disenfranchise” you if you are a bit disorganised.  Everyone loves a conspiracy theory so a few jumped on the old "it will favour the right" line. It won't.  But here is the bigger question: why can't you enrol on the day? Because we can't cope.  Why can't we cope? Because we are a small island backwater with a technological mentality to go with it.  I asked Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith last week why we aren't like the Germans. The German elections have their results as the polls close. Watch them next time, it's awesome.  We don’t, he said, because they're efficient. Why aren't we efficient? He laughed, as well he might.  Elections, technologically, are the thing time forgot. Years back we talked of phones and votes and electronic registration. None of it has happened and none of it will.  We can't conduct a Census properly, we make a marae a polling station where the CEO is also the candidate and we still have rules being changed around food and drink, despite the fact that got first raised as an issue 100 years ago when they called it treating.  We have mail votes at local body elections, despite the fact no one uses mail, so the post office is besides themselves.  Our rules around political donations are constantly tinkered with.  Elections just appear a bit hard for us. It's true there are issues elsewhere - we don’t seem to have the waiting times many do, we are corruption free, and participation is high.  But the fact you can't execute a fairly simple and logical idea like same-day registration does remind you that when it comes to modern day efficiency, it's not a “disenfranchising” scandal that did us in.  It's the gliding-on nature of how we run things. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Looks like the decision to go full steam ahead and focus on music has been the right one for Joel Shadbolt and L.A.B.  In the time since he stepped back from teaching, the band’s won awards, released new albums, and has just released their summer schedule that will see them tour both New Zealand and Australia.  They’ll be performing alongside Stan Walker and Corrella for three shows in Auckland, Tauranga, and the Gold Coast.  Shadbolt told Mike Hosking they’ve toured with Walker a few times now, and he’s a great addition to their summer line up.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The video game sector continues to impress.  One of the biggest players in our sector has recorded another stellar year, reporting $105 million in revenue for the year to September 2024, up from $83.4 million the previous year.   Grinding Gear Games, out of West Auckland, is behind the multiplayer online fantasy game Path of Exile.  Managing Director Jonathan Rogers told Mike Hosking they’re probably doing better than average, having nailed their formula.  Path of Exile is a service game, which is designed to be continuously updated over a longer period of time, which he says creates reoccurring revenue and an ongoing draw for players.  Rogers says that people will play until they have their fill and go on to do something else, before a new release pulls them back in again.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 29th of July, the Government is getting rid of surcharges when you pay by card. Consumers love it, businesses aren't a fan.    Board members’ pay is going up by up to 80% in some instances, with ministers justifying it by saying it's about finding the best people.  Joel Shadbolt of L.A.B fame is back on the show to talk their newly announced summer schedule and his career growth since leaving teaching behind and going full time as a musician.  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.

Another instance of violence on our sports fields.  A brawl broke out between parents and students during the rugby match between Auckland Grammar and De La Salle College.  The match was called off, with eight police officers needed to break up the chaos.  Former Springbok and Kings College Rugby 7s coach Kevin Putt told Mike Hosking while all-out brawls aren’t common, they see intolerance and volatility in the crowds nearly every week.  He says that we’re living in a much more intolerant and volatile society, and even if another person tries to shut down abuse and poor behaviour, it can instead result in it escalating.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Commerce Minister says he's disappointed in businesses who say they will pass on the cost of surcharge scrapping.   Most in-store surcharges on card payments will be banned, with the changes set to kick in next May.   Scott Simpson says this is a win for consumers.   He told Mike Hosking they've also taken action on the fees banks charge businesses.   Simpson says those rates will be lower following regulation that will kick in at the end of the year.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are fears that retailers will wear the cost of scrapping payment surcharges.   The Government will ban the added fees for most in-store card payments, including paywave.   Hospitality NZ Head of Advocacy Sam MacKinnon says ultimately customers were always allowed to avoid the surcharges by paying in a less convenient way.   He told Mike Hosking more work needs to be done on the issue.   McKinnon says it's actually about the fees banks charge to accept payment.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More money's discreetly finding its way into the pockets of public sector board members.   A quietly released Cabinet document reveals governance board chairs could now be paid more than $160 thousand.   Annual fees had previously been capped at about $90 thousand.   Public Service Minister Judith Collins told Mike Hosking these people are often responsible for large sums of money and assets.   She says if we want good people to reform the public service and get Crown entities humming, we have to pay for it.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.