The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Jason Pine and Andrew Saville join Mike Hosking this morning to discuss the weekend's sports. On the table today: The AFL semi finals draw 100,000 fans to each game. Liam Lawson finished 5th in Baku to secure his best ever finish in F1. And what should the Black Ferns take away from their defeat in the Rugy World Cup semi finals? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says Winston Peters has articulated New Zealand's position on Gaza well.  Over the weekend the Foreign Minister announced that New Zealand would NOT recognise Palestinian statehood,  yet.  Chris Luxon says Hamas is the de facto government and a designated terrorist organisation in New Zealand.  He told Mike Hosking that New Zealand's also called out the excessive response of Israel.  Luxon says we're a friend to both groups and are focused on peace.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Kiwi dollar continues to weaken against the Australian dollar, hitting a three-year low last week. The NZD is currently trading at 88 cents off the back of soft GDP growth and rate cuts, and concerns are raising as China's economic rebound could widen the gap further. Investment director for Craigs investment partners Mark Lister told Mike Hosking that New Zealand's rate cuts are having a stronger impact on the economy than Australia's. 'We are obviously looking at more rate cuts than we expected and not for the right reasons.' LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has decided against recognising a Palestinian state. Foreign minister Winston Peters argues that the move would be counter-productive, but he retains the "when, not if" stance.  CBS News correspondent in Jerusalem Linda Gradstein told Mike Hosking that Israelis are worried about a 'diplomatic front turning against Israel.'  She said that the public want the war to end as the international community's opinion of Israel grows increasingly negative. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

International students are loving their time in New Zealand, as new data shows a steady recovery in enrolments. The 2025 International Student Experience Survey shows the number of students enrolled in domestic institutes, has increased 16% to almost 64,000 since 2024. It found 87% of students gave a positive rating of their overall experience. Education New Zealand Chief Executive Amanda Malu told Mike Hosking that students value the connections they make, the overall living experience, and the visa process. She says there's a 10% jump in students finding the via process positive. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The argument over our Corrections Minister's looking through rose tinted glasses continues, as the organisation begins to run out of new money.  A $98million boost in this year's Budget was expected to last until June, when the population was projected to hit 10,800 - but that milestone is already nearly met. Despite this, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says there's no looming crisis. Corrections Association President Floyd du Plessis told Mike Hosking says this is a rosy version of the truth as staff are well and truly short. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are apparently going to hear about major electricity sector reform from the Minister this coming week.  The final touches are being sorted.  Simon Watts calls them fundamental. He refers to the last time it was this major as being in the 90's.  So are they going to split the gentailers?  The Government's history would suggest no. They have been talking big on banks and supermarkets, and they've made plenty of announcements, but little has actually happened.  Why would this be any different?  This Government has also argued, rightly, that business likes consistency. When the last lot talked about Onslow and the lake and the hole in the ground, the industry stopped investing.  So would splitting the big players not cause the same trouble?  But in the report that is driving the Government's thinking we have seen an astonishing increase in the basic power bill.  In 2021 we spent $4.4 billion. The next year was $4.5 billion. In 2023 we spent $4.8 billion on power bills. In 2024 it was $5.2 billion.  So it's increased from $4.4 billion to 5.2 billion, and you wonder why you don’t have any spare cash.  On average the basic household power bill since 2023 has gone up $400 each and every year.  We can explain some of it on renewables. We need investment but we still haven't closed the gap. We still panic in winter, and that’s before you get to all the AI and data centres that will presumably suck us dry.  By the way, on the renewable front, Contact Energy are looking at pulling more water out of Lake Hawea. That’s if they can get past the locals, who of course hate it.  In that is part of the New Zealand problem – nimbyism. You can't moan about the bills and also moan about the solutions.  Everyone wants utopia, but don’t want to pay for it, or have any of it happen in their backyard.  So, stand by. Maybe it's fundamental, maybe it's a government looking to spin some more PR.  I think though what we all agree on is we need more power, and the damage the current scenario is doing to the economy can't go on. 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: 2/10  Possibly his worst and easily his maddest week yet. Tylenol, the war, Jimmy Kimmel, James Comey, the visas, the escalator, and the teleprompter. Unhinged doesn't even come close.    Jimmy Kimmel: 7/10  Won the moral ground on free speech.    Disney: 2/10  Lost the morale ground by being spineless, and putting their prices up.    Fonterra: 9/10  The numbers and the success are amazing.    The Ranfurly Shield: 7/10  It's changed hands four times this season and the last two have been sensational games.    Palestine: 4/10  Are you as surprised as I am that after all those pledges of recognition the war hasn't stopped, the food hasn't flowed, and Hamas are still open for business in Qatar?    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump has had as bad a week as any he's had.  The difference that made it stand out was that he looks increasingly unhinged.  It was not the UN speech. That was classic Trump – a lot of made-up stuff and grandiose pomposity.  It sort of wasn’t the visas, given at its core it's also classic Trump. They want Americans hired, not immigrants, which is on brand. Chaotic, but on brand.  It wasn’t even Jimmy Kimmel. Celebrating the demise of someone is a sad trait but, once again, on brand, even though Kimmel is back and Trump's stance on free speech looks decidedly mad or non-existent.  The real turn of events was the war and Tylenol.  For a bloke who was sorting Putin out on day one, and who told Zelenskyy he didn’t have any cards, the about-face seems astonishing, if not worrying.  The pivot hands the problem to NATO and the EU, but what was he thinking taking it on in the first place?  Putin has schooled him, spanked him, and humiliated him. He has that, as yet, unexplained hold over him that no one can understand.  Then we come to autism. In watching the heavily touted announcement, the one we had been waiting for for 20 years, he didn’t seem to have a clue as to what he was talking about.  The Amish were raised, the ingredient was mispronounced and stumbled over, and as a result pretty much anyone in health globally called it a pile of nonsensical rubbish.  The basis of Trumpism is making America great again – there are too many migrants, too many bad trade deals, and an economy that isn't performing up to scratch. All of that is understandable and it's what got the votes.  Yes, there was a chaotic, comedic, braggadocios style to it all. But at its base, if you were of a certain disposition, it kind of made sense, and you can't argue against the electoral success.  But as the months have unfolded, it's gotten madder and more unhinged and wandered off into areas of extreme improvisation.    It all culminated this week in complete humiliation over the war and a pronouncement in an area, i.e. health, that he clearly has zero experience and expertise in, and clearly has listened too much to his nutty friend with the odd voice.  Disagreeing with his policy approach is politics, but being seen as a global clown undermines his reputation and that of the entire country.  And that’s where he took it this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a belief a shooter in Dallas, Texas, was motivated by violent ideology and divisive rhetoric.   One detainee is dead and two more are critically injured after a rooftop sniper fired indiscriminately at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility, also known as ICE yesterday.   The gunman later died from a self-inflicted gunshot.   Dallas ICE Director Joshua Johnson says it's being investigated as an act of targeted violence.    US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking the shooter reportedly left behind notes including a game plan of the attack and target areas at the facility.  One note reportedly says he wanted to give ICE agents a sense of “terror”, the shooter describing ICE employees as "people showing up to collect a dirty pay check".  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.