The Mike Hosking Breakfast

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 6th of November, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis discusses the rising unemployment rate.  ACT Leader David Seymour gives his thoughts on the University of Auckland’s refusal to provide refunds for their now-scrapped compulsory Māori courses.   Brilliant pollster Henry Olsen talks us through the various elections, New York City in particular, in the US yesterday.  And author and journalist David Cohen discusses his unofficial biography 'Jacinda: The Untold Stories'.  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.

Australian mining company Santana is a crucial step closer to opening its controversial proposed gold mine near Cromwell.  Officials have granted a 30-year mining permit for the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project.  It requires the company to return either 10% of profits or 2% of gold sales to the Crown – whichever is higher.  Chief Executive Damian Spring told Mike Hosking they've now lodged a fast-track application for environmental and developments consents.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those who are in work are taking more sick leave.  New research by Southern Cross Health Insurance and Business NZ has found an average staff member took almost seven days of sick leave last year, up 1.4 from two years earlier.  It's costing the country about $4 billion a year.  Business NZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich told Mike Hosking the rise in leave entitlements has had an impact, but many employees are also doing what they’ve been told, staying home when sick so they don’t pass it onto their coworkers.  She says post Covid, people think more about their wellness and are less likely to solider on like the Codral ad.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pressure is on Zohran Mamdani following his landslide victory in New York City's mayoral election.  The 34-year-old democratic socialist has become the city's youngest mayor and first South Asian and Muslim mayor.  US pollster Henry Olsen says Mamdani may not be the answer to issues facing the Democratic Party.  He told Mike Hosking everything depends on how Mamdani acts when he takes office.  He says if Mamdani pushes an ideological agenda, that could be a problem for the Democrats as a whole.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland University's completely ruled out refunds for its now-scrapped compulsory Treaty and Māori culture courses.  The university's making the courses optional from next year but won't refund students who were required to complete it in the first semester of this year.  The courses cost almost six thousand dollars for international students, and one thousand for domestic students.  Act Leader David Seymour told Mike Hosking his party's continuing to call on the university to give the money back.  He says they could refund students through a credit for future courses, rather than as a cash refund.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Economic Growth Minister's confident the economy will turn a corner soon.  Unemployment's reached 5.3% in the September quarter – the highest it's been since 2016.  160 thousand Kiwis have been out of work and looking for a job, the most since 1994.  Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking unemployment may rise further this quarter, but there are positives, like the increase in hours worked and a move from part time to full time work.  She says these unemployment figures do bounce around a bit, so she certainly won't say unemployment is at its peak.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here is a line up: Alex Salmond, former head of Scotland, Dame Noeline Taurua, and Siouxsie Wiles, as in the microbiologist.  The Salmond family is wanting their estate made bankrupt. It comes out of a judicial review over the handling of a couple of complaints against him by civil servants that turned out to be “tainted”.  In other words, his defence was successful, but the cost of winning proved too high.   Noeline, I have no idea what her lawyers cost, but you would hope as part of the deal she gets the bill covered. But I doubt it.  And then Siouxsie Wiles, who you may remember took her employer, Auckland University, to court and won.  She took mediation arbitration – it went back and forward for a while, but ultimately ended in court. During Covid she was harassed, she claimed her employer should have done more to protect her.   She has now launched a crowd funding page to help pay her bills.  The commonality here is all three appear to be on the right side. They have been wronged, they have had to defend themselves, and yet all three appear out of pocket for the experience.  Wiles has spent thousands – hundreds of thousands. She has taken loans, her and her husband, she won but she is paying off loans.  Inherently here is a fault with the law. The costs, even when awarded your way, never cover the bill. My question: why not?  Is justice really served or seen to be done if you can be victorious, if you can defend your name, your honour, or reputation and still go broke?  Doesn’t that mean the deepest pockets will always triumph?   The State v Salmond. A sport v a coach. The university v a microbiologist.   It's one thing to settle – yes it saves court time, but do you settle because you will be broke if you don’t?   Is being broke and right worth it? Is launching a crowdfunding bid acceptable when you didn’t do anything wrong?  Is the justice system serving us properly when even the victorious and validated aren’t really winners?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 5th of November, unemployment is expected to rise – have we reached the peak?   Chris Bishop has some strong words for Auckland council over the number of concerts at Eden Park and Shane Jones has an energy plan for us.    Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen cover police, whether a ban on homelessness in city centres is viable, and Te Pāti Māori 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.

Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen are back with Mike Hosking to delve into the biggest political developments thus far.   Labour has raised the question of if the Government is planning to ban homelessness in city centres – how would this work?  The Te Pāti Māori stoush is getting increasingly ugly, and what’s happening with police numbers and fake breath tests?  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shane Jones says the Government's new Fuel Security Plan will ensure there's a reliable source of fuel in case of global or domestic disruption.  The plan focuses on four key areas centred around resilience against supply shocks.  Fuel importers will be required to hold minimum levels of diesel and jet fuel, and the Government will support domestic fuel alternatives.  Jones, the Associate Minister of Energy, told Mike Hosking it's vital people and businesses can continue to access fuel, no matter what challenges the future brings.  He says there needs to be a plan to ration and move the economy forward in case there's a big geopolitical event.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.