The Mike Hosking Breakfast

More Aussies are hopping over the ditch following a tourism campaign.   Since the 'Everyone Must Go' campaign, almost eight thousand extra Australian visitors have come to New Zealand.   It's estimated those tourists spent about $22 million.   Tourism Minister Louise Upston told Mike Hosking there's plenty more room for growth.  She says about four million Australians are considering a trip, so we need to get in their face more.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you reckon happened at the big butter meeting?  Willis and Hurrell. Nicola and Miles.  Is it a meeting that took on a hopeless amount of hype, or was it a sign that at times this Government, and Willis in particular, say stuff that makes them look like they are on to it when perhaps they're not?  The reality is these two meet regularly. Fonterra plays an outsized roll in our economy and therefore it would be odd if they didn’t meet.  But Nicola has this penchant for saying stuff that might lead you to believe she could produce an Uzi out of her handbag and blitz the room.  She has the banks, who she keeps telling us are people we should not be locked in a dark room with.  She has the supermarkets who, in her Clouseau-type way, suggests she has been ferreting about the isles and has found dastardly deeds.  Jacinda had the same predilection when she told us the petrol companies were "fleecing us".  It's all good stuff for headlines and attention. It's very good guy/bad guy, and if hot air were rocket fuel she could have flown to the moon and back six times.  But is your butter any more affordable?  Of course not, and in that is the problem – not with the price, but with Nicola.  Wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was a scandal, or a rip-off, or some highway robbery? Wouldn’t it be awesome if she could tie a butter producer to a chair and waterboard them until they screamed out "yes, yes, yes it's true, the real price is only $3.76 not $8.50".  Sadly, it isn't going to happen.  Presumably, as if she needed it, Miles worked her through the calculations at last night's meeting.  We pay the global price for butter, the irony being in this case that’s actually good news because dairy in general is booming and we need something to boom.  What we would like to do versus what we have to do, for good reason, are two separate things. That's why butter is the price it is.  The real question for Nicola is how many meetings, threats and finger waggles does she have to produce for no change before someone calls her out for being a lot of mouth and not a lot of trouser?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fallout over the Epstein files appears to have ground Capitol Hill to a halt.   CNN reports Speaker Mike Johnson closed proceedings for August recess a day earlier than planned, ahead of votes around the release of the files.   US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that Johnson says the whole issue should be allowed to cool down, saying they’ve been ‘clear and transparent’.  However, Arnold says, this is not the view of the MAGA faithful, with Republican activist Marjorie Taylor Green saying “if there is no justice and no accountability, people are going to get sick of it”.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Halfway through the week, Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen are back with Mike Hosking to discuss the biggest political stories thus far.  Labour MP Camilla Bellich’s member’s bill, the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill, has passed its second reading. But why do we want to talk about salaries?   Nicola Willis has met with Fonterra over the cost of butter – has anything come of it yet?  And how intense will the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election be?  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 23rd of July, red meat continues to go gangbusters, but we could be doing better, and the industry has some warnings.  Lester Levy is moving from the Health NZ Commissioner to the new board chair, and gives us an exclusive on what he has, and hasn't, achieved.  Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen discuss pay transparency, the butter meeting between Nicola Willis and Fonterra, and the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election on Politics Wednesday.    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.

Retailers across the country are surprisingly optimistic in the face of ongoing economic challenges.  The latest Retail NZ report reveals nearly 70% of retailers are confident their business will survive the next year, up from 57% for the same period last year.  This comes despite 62% of retailers failing to meet sales targets for the same period.   Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young told Mike Hosking that optimism is stronger in the provinces and rural areas than it is in major cities like Auckland and Wellington.  She says that the success the rural sector is experiencing is putting funds back into the local economies, which is creating more buoyancy.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don’t expect lower levies as a result of ACC’s “accounting change”.  The Government has approved a change that reduces the amount of money the insurer would need to pay out in claims by $7 billion.  It would see the risk margin reduced from 12.7% to zero, shaving down the outstanding claims liability, which is used to calculate how much it may have to pay out in the years to come.   ACC lawyer and researcher Warren Forster told Mike Hosking in effect, there will be no real change to how it operates in peoples’ lives.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health New Zealand is moving into its next chapter after a year under a commissioner.  The board's making a return today, with outgoing commissioner Lester Levy taking up the role as chairman for the next 12 months.   Levy told Mike Hosking that although the agency's reached a turning point, the challenge isn't over.   He says they need to involve clinicians and those on the ground in decisions and provide modern tools to the workforce.    But Levy says the organisation's financially on track and has a very stable platform to move forward.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky TV's purchase of TV3 could lead to a change in sports viewing, but not for a while.   Sky New Zealand Chief Executive Sophie Moloney says for the next 12 months programming on TV3 will stay largely the same.    She says she expects TVNZ to put up a good fight for free-to-air rights for different sports, including rugby.   Moloney told Mike Hosking they'd also like to try to acquire them.   She says it will ultimately be up to New Zealand Rugby.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The red meat sector remains positive despite significant trade barriers.   The Meat Industry Association and Beef + Lamb New Zealand have revealed non-tariff trade barriers are costing the industry an estimated $1.5 billion every year.  MIA Chair Nathan Guy told Mike Hosking they've lost an estimated billion dollars of stock in the last three years.   He says it's unfortunate but the demand's still incredibly strong, so they're in good shape.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.