The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A colourful makeover coming for Auckland's Paremoremo prison unit which houses the country's most dangerous criminals, won't be anything too flashy. In a bid to lift its oppressive conditions, the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit is receiving a fresh paint job with colourful designs and shapes. It follows a Chief Ombudsman report raising concerns of human rights abuse. Corrections Custodial Services Commissioner Leigh Marsh says it won't involve detailed murals of people and places. He says it'll be a range of natural colours , with hues of blues and greens with geometric triangles that look like trees. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New Zealand First election campaign may have begun, and Winston Peters believes the party is marching forward with practical solutions. MPs and supporters gathered in Palmerston North over the weekend for the party's annual conference. Members discussed 55 remits, which could end up being policy proposals in next year's election campaign. Party Leader Winston Peters told Mike Hosking NZ First is compellingly different from other parties, doing the right thing for Kiwis. He says the party sits in the middle, is pragmatic, and talks about common sense solutions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Belief the health sector should set targets for all elective surgeries to ensure wait times are reduced fairly. The Government's exceeded its half-year target, by delivering more than 16-thousand extra operations before the end of June.  The overall waitlist has also dropped by nine percent. General surgeon Chris Wakeman told Mike Hosking targets are a good manoeuvre - but they do have their downfalls. He's worried staff won't be able to deal with smaller and high turnover cases if they don't see them in public institutions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have all seen it. I have seen it a good number of times.  The café that was exemplary, sold, the new owner changes the menu, brings in a few kids to serve, and then wonders why six months later they are out of business.  As the hospitality people yet again told their tale of woe, and do not get me wrong, times have been tight and many an outlet has struggled, but as the new numbers got rolled out for the obligatory headline, it is probably time to get a bit honest  about a sector that at times is its own worst enemy.  In the past 12 months, 2,564 hospitality outlets have closed. That’s an increase of 19%. As a stat it's miserable.  But ask yourself this: are all the cafes gone? No.  So is it possible we were over-cafe'd?  Is part of the problem with hospitality the fact anyone can join? You simply write a cheque, put an apron on, and you are in the hospitality game.  Do you know what you are doing? Are you interested in excelling or are you looking for an easy job and an easy job for your family?  Are you providing something new, or better, or different, or just adding to the collection of people who pedal paninis and bowls of cappuccino?  We talk a lot about the two step, or two stage, economy. Normally it's rural vs urban, Auckland vs Queenstown.  But there is another two step story: the people who are good at what they do and those who aren't.  This doesn’t just apply to hospitality. But hospitality is the standout example because it is one of those sectors where anyone can join and you can be anything from exceptional to useless, and a lot of things in-between.  In 1990 Paul Keating, then Australian Treasurer, famously said this is the recession we had to have. Australia had not known a recession and had always been the lucky country.  But part of the argument was a recession cleans out the hopeless. It tidies an economy up.  The strong survive because they hustle and adjust. The weak wither and die and out of the renewal starts something afresh.  A lot of people liquidating only tells you a fraction of the story and the story is supposed to make you feel bad.  It shouldn’t. It's life. If you are good and determined and work hard in hospitality or anywhere else, you'll be fine.  If you are really determined, you will be more than fine. 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.    The Chinese parade: 8/10  Forget politics. As a “thing”, as a spectacle, as a “can you believe how in time those goose steppers are?”, it was spellbinding.    Helen Clark and John Key and Dan Andrews and Bob Carr: 4/10  On balance, given what it was really about, I think it was a mistake.    Trump's death: 2/10  A sad reminder of just how thick, gullible and worryingly naive some people are. And that’s before you get to the morons who thought Taylor had DM'ed Eden Park as a wedding venue. I am not making it up.    Teachers: 7/10  Big increases in enrolments. Just wait until the unions get hold of them and kill the buzz.    The Tamaki Makaurau by-election: 2/10  Is this the most pitiful display of disinterest in modern democracy? If you thought Port Waikato was bad, this thing looks like it will hit it out of the park. That’s if the park is open.    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the old "cart before the horse" department are two setbacks for ideas we thought were going to work, or perhaps we hoped were going to work, but aren't.  Idea 1: We get big tech to pay for locally produced news.  That’s Google paying NZME for news that ends up on their news feed.  To a degree, deals had been done specifically between some companies, but the Government had the idea that as part of their "supporting the troubled media" plan they could drag big tech to the table to cough up.  It turns out they couldn't, they can't, and they won't.  Australia had the same idea. Then Donald Trump got wind of it, told them that these are American companies and if you tax them, he will whack tariffs on all over the place.  We were waiting in the wings to see how it all went in Australia before we gave it the full crack here.  Neither of us will be cracking anything.  Idea 2: Banning social media for kids. One of those almost universally agreed upon, feel-good ideas that was never going anywhere.  It's a nice thought. It's just not real.  Australia had a crack at that too and, like idea number one, we are sitting, waiting and watching.  Their ban comes in in December. It won't work.  A landmark national study has found its impossible. The age assurance technology trial, which was commissioned by the Government, looked at everything and their conclusion was that no single solution exists.  Can you fiddle and poke and prod? Sure.  But they say, "we found a plethora of approaches that fit use cases in different ways, but we did not find a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases, nor did we find solutions that were guaranteed to be effective in all deployments".  And this is where bandwagons come in. We all like to hate on social media, we all like to protect kids and we all want to be seen to be doing the right thing.  Governments are not devoid of that particular weakness. But the problem with Governments is they shouldn’t promise what they can't deliver, and they were never going to be able to deliver either ideas one, or two.  Not Australia. Not us.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friday has come so Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back with Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week that was.  Mike comments on the effort another ZB host puts into his prep and the effort an MP puts into her appearance.  They also discuss hair styling, supermarket promotions, and the new IKEA opening in Auckland.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another tough week for brick and mortar retail.  Outdoor goods retailer KMD Brands, who owns the likes of Kathmandu and Rip Curl, has announced the closure of 21 stores across its network.  It’s making the move in an effort to turn around struggling sales and find $25 million in cost savings.  Chairman David Kirk told Mike Hosking that it’s a tough environment for all businesses, but discretionary retail is being hit hard.  He says people have to buy food, and if a kitchen appliance breaks you have to replace it, but people don’t have to go out and buy an insulation jacket, or a raincoat, or a wetsuit.  “In difficult times, people hang onto their money.”  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 5th of September, Immigration NZ is cracking down on overstayers as numbers surge – Steve Watson discusses the situation.  All Black Codie Taylor tells us how they're going to beat the Springboks this weekend.  Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson try to stop Mike from being sexist and discuss whether he needs to give up his Smeg rests as they Wrap the Week.  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.

No surprise from All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor at the competitiveness of the Rugby Championship.  All four countries enter the third round fixtures tomorrow with a one win, one loss record.  Taylor told Mike Hosking it's a continuation of what occurred in 2024, with a loss to Argentina and South Africa both.  He says it’s always close, which is what you want with test footy, but the All Blacks need to be better.  “That’s what we’re striving to be.”  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.