The Mike Hosking Breakfast

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 23rd of June, we go to the US after they got involved in Iran and Israel's war and talk to Winston Peters about NZ's stance on it. The Prime Minister has touched down in Belgium for a NATO meeting but had time to talk to us about Iran, councils and hundreds of millions of dollars of deals done in China. Andrew Saville and Jason Pine cover the big weekend of sports - the Crusaders win, the Warriors loss and Peter Burling's big move. 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.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters joined Mike Hosking this morning to discuss the developing situation in Iran. The Foreign Minister said he wants to “get a proper analysis” before discussing how effective Operation Midnight Hammer was at destroying Iranian nuclear facilities.  “One of the first victims of war is truth, and boy, have we seen it.”   The Foreign Minister also discussed the Kiwis stuck in the regions, and that it is “New Zealand character” to bring them home safely.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US forces have executed operation “Midnight Hammer” - a bombing raid targeting Iranian nuclear development sites.  The US government has claimed an “obliteration” of Iranian Nuclear assets. However, analysts are skeptical of the actual level of damage dealt.   Senior Fellow at the Defence Priority in Washington Gil Barndollar says, “These strikes are unlikely to have destroyed everything,”   He said that it’s likely Iran would have moved key nuclear components from the raid targets, meaning they would be able to recover from the raid faster than the US would expect.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand’s largest industrial development ever is about to begin in Invercargill.  Mike Hosking spoke to the general manager of the project Ben Murphy this morning, who said the project is making progress.  “We do have a fully zoned sight there, which is the key unlocker for this project.” Ben Murphy told Mike Hosking this morning.   Although progress has been made, the project must secure occupiers before the project breaks ground.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Global oil prices are forecast to increase in the wake of US airstrikes against Iran.  Greg Smith from Devon Funds Management told Mike Hosking analysts are forecasting a rise in oil prices, from anywhere from 5% to 70%.  Currently, oil prices sit at around $75 per barrel. But Smith warns prices could rise to $130 a barrel.  The increasing cost of food around the world was also discussed this morning as the price of rice in Japan has doubled due to inflation.   LISTEN ABOVESee 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.    Good ideas: 7/10  Not a bad week. Monthly inflation data, the census scrapped, the Housing Minister to overrule council and health targets improving. Things feel a bit like they're moving.    The Crusaders: 7/10  A great comeback story for Rob Penney, who was vilified a year ago, on the verge of being a hero this weekend.    Nico Porteous: 7/10  Story of the week in some ways for me. Living his dream, charting his destiny, and mature beyond his years. I wish him well.    Venice: 3/10  They're protesting the Jeff Bezos wedding. He has booked the place out, he is throwing money at the joint, and they are a tourist town. What is it you want?    Radio NZ: 4/10  They're looking for people to quit and that, sadly, is what you get when the Willie 'Snake Oil' Jackson rolls his circus into town to hand out lollies that can never be real.    The world: 4/10  It’s a mess, isn't it? This time last week yet another war started and where traditionally we have a country and a leader that rises to the occasion, sadly these days there's no such luck. He's too busy launching his gold phone.    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think this was the move of the week.  Housing Minister Chris Bishop dropped the bombshell on local body operators that the Government has decided to give him the power to intervene around housing in local body decision making.  Mind you, we could argue scrapping the calamitous Census was a good move, and indeed I'm a massive fan of reporting inflation data on a monthly basis, which sort of makes us look like a first world country. These are all good decisions.  But as regards councils and housing, in the broader interests of this small country finally getting its fiscal act together, this move cannot come soon enough.  The simple truth is we are over councilled. We have ludicrous numbers of local do-gooders in a vast array of fiefdoms making decisions that may, or may not, make any sense locally, far less incorporating themselves into the bigger national picture.  Part of the problem is too often councils have not been up to much. Too many councils are littered with acrimony and in-fighting, progress is stalled, or watered down, or major work is ignored in favour of more headline grabbing material that makes the local representatives look good.  Not all of course, but too many.  From Tauranga, to Wellington, to Christchurch, to Invercargill; the infighting and dysfunction has become legendary.  What you can say about central Government that you can't say about local Government is most of us took part in the democratic process and as a result this Government, rightly or wrongly, has a mandate to get on and do stuff.  Mainly, stuff that got cocked up by the previous Government.  If there has been a constant theme of this current Government, even from its broad-based supporters, it is that they haven't done as much as they might have.  They have plans and ideas and announcements and KPIs. What they don't have is a vast array of results.  They don't have tangible things that have been changed leading to us quite clearly being better off.  With the Bishop announcement it would appear that message and the lack of traction is finally hitting home, and they have sat around the Cabinet table and worked out they have about a year left to put some major runs on the board so that election time is about delivery and not more promises.  The country basically is too small for this many councils and committees. A lot of decisions have major national economic implications and as such, central Government has, or should have, a say.  They will hate it of course. They will gnash and wail and moan about local democracy. But guess what? Big picture economic success is more important.  The big picture, generally, is more important. The national story is more important.  Christchurch learned this last week over their intensification scrap, which lasted years and cost them millions, that this Government is serious and on a central vs local head-to-head, only one side is coming out on top. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are early finishes to blame for the surgical backlog?  Surgeon Chris Wakeman claims that public health professionals won’t perform surgeries past the 4pm cutoff, causing backlog issues.   Health NZ’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr Richard Sullivan told Mike Hosking that early finishes do occur.  The rosters generally run until about 4:30/5pm, and he says that there are very few operations that can be done in less than half an hour.   He says they’ve been running weekend theatres to try get more people through, but you need quite a big work force to do that consistently.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Matariki this weekend, we’ve come to the end of a short week.  Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson joined Mike Hosking to get their session of Mike-bullying in early – going after his expensive tastes, his lack of control over his life, and his special burgundy suede loafers.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest carbon auction was a bust.  It attracted zero bids, becoming the eighth auction to be declined.  The secondary market currently sits around $58 a tonne, while the auction price sits at $68.  ACT’s Climate Change Spokesperson, Simon Court told Mike Hosking it shows that industrial emitters, such as coal users, already have enough units in the carbon bank to pay for this year's emissions.  With the success of the secondary market, Court says it’s evidence the Emissions Trading Scheme and the carbon markets are working quite well.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.