The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Hopes a Reserve Bank move will translate to better prices for borrowers might be overly optimistic.  It is changing the mix of capital banks are required to hold, aiming to reduce funding costs and freeing up around $5 billion in equity across the sector.   It’s also targeting closing the gap between bigger and smaller banks, making the market more competitive.  Financial Markets and Banking Expert Andrew Body told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the change might result in a couple more chicken dinners for your average borrower, but nothing substantial.   He says the big deal here is competition, which will require political leadership like we’ve seen in housing, education, and health to solve.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government maintains its road cone hotline has been worthwhile.  The pilot, which encouraged the public to report excessive cone use, ends tomorrow, six months ahead of schedule.  Site visits found 86% of work sites were already compliant.  Workplace Relations Minister Brooke Van Velden told Heather du Plessis-Allan the hotline has found there are issues with the traffic management plans councils design.  She says the people on the ground putting the cones out aren't the problem.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newly minted Deputy Police Commissioner Mike Pannett says he's up for the challenge as he starts the job.   His predecessor Jevon McSkimming was given nine months home detention yesterday, for possessing objectionable material.  Pannett told Heather du Plessis-Allan the reputational damage from McSkimming is something police need to take into account.   He says policing is even more complex and dynamic now than it has been in the past, and there’s some big challenges ahead of them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Schools and kura could have an important role to play in preventing youth suicide.   Coroner Tania Tetitaha's inquiry into the self-inflicted deaths of six young people finds they were effectively lost in a fragmented system.   Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad says we need to make sure getting help is as easy as possible at the earliest stages of distress.   She told Heather du Plessis-Allan school-based services like counselling and social workers provide a lot of benefits. Achmad says their presence makes them more accessible and more trusted by children and young people.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Several of the major banks expect a significant bounce back in GDP for Q3 when Stats NZ releases its economic figures later this morning.  Westpac and ANZ both predict a gain of about one percent, putting that down to a jump in activity across the board.  ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Heather du Plessis Allan while she's nervous some of that could turn up in the revised numbers down the track, it's looking positive.  She says some of the corners should be knocked off the volatility in the economy and the overall level of GDP will be revised up.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast with Heather du Plessis-Allan Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 17th of December, Nicola Willis responds to the surplus being pushed out another year, the third blowout in her two years as the Finance Minister.  Indycar champ Scott Dixon is on to talk his career and the launch of a new world class karting facility in Auckland.  And Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen cover all the highs and lows of 2025 on the final Politics Wednesday for the year.    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.

It's no surprise that Nicola Willis has pushed out surplus by another year.  That now makes it three years in two years, as in she has delayed surplus by three years in just the space of the two years she’s been at the Finance Minister’s desk.  Had she kept her pledge, the one she made about tidying up this country’s books when asking for our votes in 2023, we would be seeing a surplus next year.  Now it’s 2029 at the earliest.  Getting our books back in order is important if we don’t want our kids to pack up and leave for Australia when they’re old enough to.  Nicola can blame everyone from Treasury to Trump if she wants, but she has not done enough to get us back to surplus.  She has defended, and kept, Jacinda’s wasteful policy of paying for one free year for university students. The policy has been repeatedly criticised as a flop that doesn’t actually make anyone go to university.  Cutting that would save us in the vicinity of $1 billion over four years.  She has given welfare to households on more than $200,000 a year by giving them money for childcare. People on that kind of coin don’t need benefits.  Cutting that would save $1 billion in a little over five years.  She still hasn’t cut or income tested the Winter Energy Payment, which is going to people who are still in the workforce and being set aside for nice trips to Fiji.  Cutting that would save $1 billion in less than two years. Trimming it would save less, but it would save something.  She has cut 2000 public servants when Grant and Jacinda added 14,000.  Be in no doubt - money is tight.  But there is still a lot of waste that could be cut if Nicola Willis was brave enough. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The son of Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner is being held on suspicion of the murder of his parents.    Police say 32-year-old Nick Reiner's been booked for murder after Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead in their Los Angeles home.   They say he's a suspect in the case and is being held on a US$4 million bail.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Reiner and his wife had apparently taken their son to a holiday party, where he had apparently been disruptive, the day before their bodies were found.  He says it allegedly led to a shouting match between the father and son.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Heather du Plessis-Allan was joined by Labour’s Ginny Andersen and National’s Mark Mitchell to recap the highs and lows of 2025 on the final Politics Wednesday for the year.  They also discussed the retail crime numbers, the state of the Government’s books, the need for a social media ban, and the situation with Nicola Willis and Ruth Richardson.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A momentous day for New Zealand motorsport.  The Sir Colin Giltrap Raceway, a world-class karting facility in Auckland, is officially opening.  The track builds on the country’s heritage and pathway to the world stage.  It will be opened by Indycar champion Scott Dixon, who told Heather du Plessis-Allan it’s going to be huge, especially for the young talent in this country.  He says that we pack a big punch for such a small country, so it’s really great to see that everyone’s pulled this off.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.