The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Is it gall, is it cheek, or is it comedic?  The Waitangi Tribunal has been reviewed, and the review recommends it needs more people and more money.  It is strained, says the review. They are of course technically correct. It is strained because the Waitangi Tribunal is busy.  It is busy with “urgent”, and we use that word loosely, numbers of gripes and grievances around the general state and status of Māori, or more accurately, a small selection of Māori who have seen for years and decades now the Tribunal as an almost endless source of respite in their never-ending list of grievances.  This is a classic make-work programme.  Puff your chest out, inflate your sense of self-importance, busy yourself with a myriad of invented tasks and then in the review, guess what? You are overworked and under-resourced.  The Government is going to do something about all this and, unfortunately for people like me, they are not moving nearly fast enough.  As we have said a number of times, the Tribunal is well past its useful life.  The idea that it addressed historic wrongs has come and gone.  Deadlines should have been placed years ago on those wanting to argue their case, with expiry dates on applications and negotiations.  All Governments have failed miserably to this point on the discipline required in that area.  But now it's down to ongoing dabbling in matters of the day that carry no weight and have a growing amount of political agitation about them.  It's simply a jacked-up, grievance mechanism funded by the taxpayer to supply ammo to the gravy-trainers for an ongoing, if not neverending, list of woe.  It takes gall in a broke country with cutbacks all around you to then go and ask for yet more resource.  But then that’s the Tribunal isn't it? Political, wasteful, past its use-by-date and clearly arrogant. 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.    Donald Trump: 1/10  Complete and utter chaotic clown. You don’t treat the world economy like this.    Clowns: 2/10  In order: Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick, Pete Hegseth, and Karoline Leavitt.    The IRD: 6/10  Collected close to a billion dollars in unpaid tax, simply by looking – quite a good concept!    Paul Goldsmith: 6/10  Is it ingenious or worrying when you're asking the Mike Hosking Breakfast for policy ideas?    Wool: 8/10  Wool deserves a break. In pure economic terms I'm not sure this is on the Government to spin the line, far less the yarn. But it's Winston's baby and he's 80-years-old today so, why not?    Andrew Little: 6/10  Is he the answer for Wellington, or a retired politician looking for work?    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 11th of April, the Treaty Principles Bill is dead, so where does David Seymour go now?  And we need to look at how the US’ 145% tariffs on China will impact us.   Tim Wilson and Kate Hawkesby discuss whether Mike would be the perfect host of the Chase as four episodes are being filmed in New Zealand.   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.

New Zealand is finally getting its own version of popular British television quiz show The Chase.  TVNZ has commissioned a four-episode special of The Chase New Zealand to be filmed in Sydney, Australia.  The Host has not yet been announced, and Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson pondered whether Mike would be a good fit as they Wrapped the Week.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Supercars driver Andre Heimgartner is getting behind plans for a Supercars round to take place in Christchurch.  Ruapuna Park's the likely candidate to join Taupo as the only New Zealand events on the calendar next year.  Heimgartner's very familiar with the proposed venue.  He told Mike Hosking it’s great for New Zealand motorsport.  He says they’ve been longing for this for a while, and it’s great that they’ve finally decided to give it to them – plus, it’s great for the South Island fans.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Markets have been losing many of yesterday's historic gains.  US markets climbed steeply after Donald Trump paused higher tariffs on most countries – locking them at 10%.  However, they plunged again after the White House confirmed tariffs on Chinese goods are now at 145%.  Business journalist Peter Lewis told Mike Hosking the up-and-down is likely to continue until investors have certainty about what's happening.  He says while there is a pause, the tariffs haven’t gone away altogether, and that will lead to a lot of volatility in the market.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Chief Children's Commissioner says we're still dropping the ball in providing some of the basics for our young people.   The Government's Child and Youth Strategy report shows improvements in attendance, smoking, drinking, and offending rates.  However material hardship, immunisations, food insecurity, and avoidable hospitalisations have all worsened.   Claire Achmad told Mike Hosking she wants the Government to put a bigger focus on children.  She says around half of children live in benefit dependent households, which doesn't provide enough for children to thrive.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Education Minister's looking to set it in stone what a school's ultimate goal should be.  Erica Stanford's introducing a new Bill requiring boards to have attendance management plans.  It includes amending school board objectives to make educational achievement the ultimate goal.   Stanford told Mike Hosking she wants to make it clear.  She says under the previous government it became very convoluted and it took away from the previous goal of having students achieve.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Act Leader David Seymour doesn't regret spearheading the Treaty Principles Bill.  The widely unpopular bill was voted down by all but its own MPs at its second reading yesterday.   MPs called it racist, divisive, ugly, grubby, and an assault on history and rights.   Seymour told Mike Hosking he's standing up for equal human rights.  He says the Crown has an obligation to uphold all people’s rights, including Māori, and we are all equal before the law.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am conflicted.  In the age of tariffs and free trade and making stuff that the world wants, how is it a Government can then argue that you have to buy wool?  If you are redecorating, or building, or refurbishing a major chunk of your consideration will be around cost.  Can wool outprice what might be your desire for the cheapest product going? No, it can't.  Can wool mount an argument that over time it pays its way? Possibly.  Then we come to the patriotic side. Should we support things that we are good at? I think yes.  If you are a regular, you will know no one loves wool more than me. I'd pay anything to support wool because I'm a natural fibre geek.  Polyester should be a crime and banned.  Funnily enough, I read a report yesterday about the return of fake fur. Fake fur is now so good you can't tell the difference, but it is made out of petrochemicals. So in banning the real thing to save the animals, we have simply set about trashing the Earth some more to quell the demand for fur that never went away.  The demand for cheap flooring is driven solely by price. Wool, for what it lacks in price, makes up for in vibe. It's amazing in both carpets and jerseys.  But is the Government picking winners or is the Government artificially backing one over another, and if they are in that business, where is the line?  Why is it okay to make you buy wool, but at the same time allow any number of new building products into the market to cheapen the price of building a house? Why aren't they making you buy GIB?  It's price one day and quality the next. There is an inconsistency in this.  The wool fan in me says go for it. Wool needs and deserves help. It's been badly treated and if this programme makes a difference, then we can all feel good about it.  But the purist in me says, for a free trader, we favour quality and wool is quality.  But the reason we don’t make a lot of stuff is because we can't make it at a price we want to buy it at, and that is smart, sensible business. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.