The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A possible win for the General Practice Owners Association, as they take on the so-called healthcare duopoly and cost pressures.  Their proposal for a breakaway Primary Health Organisation is gaining traction, with 116 GP practices, covering 833,000 enrolled patients, showing interest.  If approved by Health New Zealand, it would become the country’s largest PHO, representing around 16% of total enrolments.   General Practice Owners Association Chair Dr Angus Chambers told Heather du Plessis-Allan that there’s widespread dissatisfaction within the GP community.  He says some of it’s because PHOs have gone off their path and are doing things that aren’t best for GPs, but they’ve also had years of underfunding and woeful workforce planning.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions over whether the postal voting system is working after a South Auckland local body election was overturned.  Judge Richard McIlraith ruled irregularities altered the outcome of the Papatoetoe vote for the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.  The case involved stolen voting papers and fraudulent use, and a new election must be held by April 9.  Former Deputy Chair Vi Hausia told Heather du Plessis-Allan this was discovered when names of people who didn't cast a vote, showed in the system.  He says groups of people also went to cast a special vote after not receiving their paper but found they supposedly had already voted.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government insists it has a plan to turn the economy around.  Treasury's Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows the country is first forecast to be in the black by 2029-2030.  The Finance Minister has admitted the country is borrowing money to pay the interest bill on the debt.  Nicola Willis told Heather du Plessis Allan that bill is about $9 billion a year.  She says around 80% of borrowing over the next few years will be for capital assets like hospitals, schools, and roads.  There may also be more cuts to the public service as they aim to get back down to surplus.   Economic growth is expected to be just 1.7% next year, and Willis says there's still room for efficiency in the public service.  She will be sending letters out to her cabinet colleagues to give them ideas on where they can make some savings.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Critics aren't convinced the Government's new mega-Ministry will work.   It's merging the environment, housing and urban development, and transport ministries into a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.   Right-wing think tank NZ Initiative executive director Oliver Hartwich says it will still report to the same number of ministers.  He told Heather du Plessis-Allan having it fully operational in six months is also ambitious.   Hartwich says the ministries are busy with RMA reforms, which are taking up all their resources.   He says putting a super merger on top of that could be asking too much.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This business of Australia tightening up its gun laws feels like it runs the risk of distracting from the bigger problems over there.  I don’t think guns were the problem on Sunday. Australia already has some of the tightest gun laws in the world.  This is a race relations problem.  This attack was predictable. There was no shortage of warnings.  Jewish businesses have been set alight in recent years, synagogues have been attacked, obviously Jewish people have been hassled, Israeli people have been denied customer service in Melbourne, cars have been set alight in an anti-Semitic attack and two nurses in Sydney lost their jobs for bragging on TikTok that they would kill Jewish patients.  There is a timeline on Time magazine’s website of all the events leading up to Sunday that is confronting.  The Albanese Government knew there was a problem brewing. They asked the special envoy on anti-Semitism to give them a set of recommendations.  For the last six months they’ve had those recommendations and done nothing.  So, tightening up gun laws is never a bad thing. Checking in on a licence holder every few years rather than never must be a good thing.  But if the Aussies think that’s the fix for what just happened, they are misguided and allowing themselves to be distracted. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Sainsbury is back in our ears, and he’ll soon be on our screens too.  Season three of the Kiwi comedian’s one-man murder mystery series has just released, but it’s actually season one that’s about to make the headlines.  The first season of his ‘Small Town Scandal’ podcast has been turned into an eight episode TV series, releasing in February next year.  It’s the biggest project Sainsbury’s done to date, but he revealed to Heather du Plessis-Allan that he’s struggling a little bit to recognise just how big of a moment it is.  “When you’re kind of working on a TV show, it’s just such a long process,” he explained.  “When you kind of live with it, to the minutiae of watching every little bit of it, it doesn’t feel like a big moment.”   Unlike the podcast, in which Sainsbury voices every role, he’s performing alongside other actors in the TV show – a bit of a change of pace. "The funny thing is we talked about me playing characters at the very beginning,” he told du Plessis-Allan.  “We talked about it, but it just turned, like, as soon as you do the kind of maths, it’s the logistics, it’s too bonkers.”   While he’s no longer behind the wheel for every character, Sainsbury is very happy with how actors such as Morgana O’Reilly have replicated them.   “They’ve gone above and beyond.”   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast with Heather du Plessis-Allan Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 16th of December, how is Australia responding to the Bondi Beach terror attack, and what questions are being asked of the national intelligence network?   Former Finance Minister Steven Joyce previews the HYEFU numbers and explains why it may not be the worst thing if the surplus is pushed out another year.  Kiwi comedian Tom Sainsbury talks the new season of his podcast ‘Small Town Scandal’ and the first season being turned into a TV show.  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.

Splore's announced it'll come to an end next year after hopes of a Government lifeline fell through.  Next year's instalment of the annual boutique music and arts festival at Auckland's Tapapakanga Regional Park will be the last due to low ticket sales in recent years.  Long-time owner John Minty says they weren't considered for the Government's $70 million Major Events Fund.  He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that while ending the festival is potentially premature, the writing is on the wall.  Minty says he could hang on for another year and hope things will get better, but from a financial point of view, he can’t take that risk again.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sydney's terror attack is raising questions about intelligence shortcomings and where security systems could be beefed up.   A 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son allegedly shot dozens of people celebrating the Jewish holiday Hanukkah at Bondi on Sunday evening.  The younger man had been investigated by the country's security agency before and wasn't considered a threat.  A senior lecturer of terrorism and radicalisation told Heather du Plessis-Allan that intelligence services are probably watching dozens of people, forcing them to make decisions as to who is likely to be the most relevant threat at that time.  Australian National University’s Dr Michael Zekulin says the alleged shooter didn’t meet the criteria in this case, which is something that’s been seen time and time again, in other countries as well.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a view that New Zealand's still a while away from being a 'rockstar' economy.  Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update documents are coming out early this afternoon, carrying key economic metrics. Treasury's also releasing a Budget Policy Statement outlining priorities for upcoming spending. Former Finance Minister Steven Joyce told Heather du Plessis-Allan it was a pretty average year for the economy, and next year looks to be better.  Joyce says getting core spending below 30% of GDP is the goal, but it won’t happen overnight.  He says Bill English spent eight years after the Canterbury quakes and the global financial crisis wrestling to get back into surplus.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.