The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Immigration New Zealand's working on picking up immigrants who have overstayed their visa, following a surge.   New figures estimate there's 21 thousand overstayers in the country, up from 14 thousand in 2017.   The Government's also cracking down on immigrants who commit serious crimes and could deport them if they've been here under 20 years, instead of the current 10.  Immigration New Zealand Compliance General Manager Steve Watson told Mike Hosking they still pick up on overstayers, even if they're not criminals.  He says they quickly speak to people staying past their visas, and they usually depart quickly and easily.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Defence Minister Judith Collins has had frontline access to the war in Ukraine.  She's returned from the war-torn country, visiting sites impacted by Russia's three and a half year long invasion.   Collins met with Ukraine's Defence Minister while there, alongside speaking with the Foreign Minister, the Office of the President, and Deputy Minister of Defence.  She told Mike Hosking it's a difficult situation.  Collin says the Ukrainians are not giving in, but they do want a ceasefire, and they do worry about the people being slaughtered.  The Defence Minister says she saw appalling behaviour from Russia, with war crime after war crime.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Health Minister wants the senior doctors’ union to put patients first and enter binding arbitration.  Simeon Brown has given Health NZ and the union until 4pm today to respond to his urgent request to let a third party decide the terms of the contract.  Health NZ's agreed to participate in an effort to resolve 12 months of collective agreement negotiations.   Brown told Mike Hosking he's doing what he can to find a way forward.  He's trying to persuade both parties to come to the table and agree to the process, which is in the best interest of patients.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trouble with change, apart from the fact we don’t like it, is it's especially bad if we don't know what it is.  The good news for real estate this week has been the foreign buyers changes for visa holders.  Adding to that, we've had a series of interest rate cuts, with more to come.  But in a place like Auckland what do you buy, and where?  There is no small amount of angst currently over a new unitary plan.  The new plan came out of the Government's idea of having three houses, three stories tall, on a regular section with no real clearance required.  Auckland didn’t want that, so they were, and are, allowed to make up their own.  The answer roughly, at the moment, appears to be high-rise and a lot of it around public transport hubs. Cue the outrage, the upset, the questions, and the heated meetings.  The new plan must be able to accommodate two million houses.  What this does to a real estate market is simple: it hobbles it, especially at a time when none of the decisions are made or are concrete.  What neighbourhood is affected? What part of that neighbourhood?  We looked at a place the other day. Currently it's mixed use with next door being commercial. It could be 27 stories. It's not currently, but it could be.  Another place we looked at had a nice view of the harbour, apart from the house in front that could be multi-story. It isn't currently, but it could be.  You don’t look at a house anymore, you look at the house next door, or behind. What is it? What could it be?  There is little in life to fire us up more than our castle and its environments being meddled with.  Making it worse, specifically, in a place like Auckland is the fact the place has been butchered by clowns. You wouldn’t trust these people to run your bath, far less a city.  So as we sit and wait and debate and get tense and object and fume and worry, how many people who were about to borrow, or spend, or shift, or expand, or build are now second guessing?  And in second guessing, doing nothing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of New Zealand’s brightest is looking to be a leading figure in the robotics and self-driving car game.  Kiwi Dave Ferguson is one of the minds behind Nuro, a US maker of self-driving car technology – a company that just raised US$203 million in a funding round supported by Uber and Nvidia.  He began his career in self-driving vehicles with Google, working as a principal engineer on the Waymo program before splitting off to begin Nuro.  Self-driving cars have existed in fiction for decades, but real-life examples are a fairly new example, and although many people are sceptical about using them, Ferguson believes that will change.  “I think that the safety benefits that we’re going to get, the improvement in access, the sustainability, the economic benefits, the time back, like, it’s going to be an incredible project,” he told Hosking.  “A pretty incredible part of society long term.”  “Almost everyone I’ve ever known who has been in a Waymo, which is the only fully self-driving vehicle ... everyone that has been in a Waymo in San Francisco absolutely loves it.”  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 4th of September, does Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith have a fix for a system a new report says is under “considerable stress”?  Great news for the teaching sector as we see a 30% rise in training enrolments.  Kiwi robotics genius Dave Ferguson's company Nuro is now worth over $10 billion, and he talks to Mike about wanting to lead the way when it comes to robotaxis.  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.

An SOS call has been answered in Wellington’s hospitality sector.  Local brewers Garage Project have stepped in to save Fortune Favours’ bar and brewery from permanent closure after a decade in operation.  The brewery saw a 45% drop in revenue over the past two years, even after taking home top honours at this year’s Beervana festival.  Garage Project founder Pete Gillespie told Mike Hosking they did such an incredible job with that space, it would be a crime to see everything ripped out.  He says they may have more optimism than they should, but he feels like it's worth doubling down on the bar.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a view that large tech companies could be challenged to pay more tax.   A report from tax expert Nick Miller says companies like Google take payments from a New Zealand subsidiary and then pay them to an offshore section of the business.    These are listed as service or licence fees, but Miller says they could be seen as royalties, which come under a withholding tax.   Miller says it's not just New Zealand having this issue.   He says it's a debate Australia is having at the moment and one that New Zealand can't afford to sidestep.  He told Mike Hosking we can learn a lot from what’s happening across the ditch, but if we want to obtain more tax from multinationals operating in New Zealand, our courts may have to reach a view on the issues.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smooth sailing so far for Ferry Holdings, as a preferred supplier of two new Cook Strait vessels is selected.  Rail Minister Winston Peters has announced a fixed price has been agreed for two 200-metre-long ferries with road and rail decks, and room for 1500 passengers each.  Ferry Holdings Limited Chair Chris Mackenzie says final negotiations have started - and contracts will be signed by the end of the year.  He told Mike Hosking a letter of intent was signed with the shipyard and now technical discussions have begun before contracts can be signed.  The name of the shipyard will be released when the contracts are signed.  Mackenzie told Hosking 60 shipyards were in the mix to begin with, and it had shipyards in four countries, that's now come down to one.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Seymour says he's opposing planning changes in Auckland in his role as local MP, rather than his role as Act Party Leader.  Seymour's opposing a move to allow more intensification near transport corridors.  The Deputy Prime Minister and MP for Epsom told a public meeting that supporters must impress on Housing Minister Chris Bishop that the plan is not necessary.  Seymour told Mike Hosking he's representing the views of his Epsom electorate constituents.  He says his job is to ensure Epsom, Mt Eden, Newmarket, Parnell, and Remuera have their interests advocated for.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.