The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Schools are keen to move on from open-plan classrooms due to the negative impacts on learning.  The Government's announced it will give funding to schools for the classrooms to get fixed up.  They will be able to get the money from a contestable fund based on need to put walls in the barn-style classrooms.  Christchurch's Avonside Girls' High School Principal Catherine Law told Mike Hosking a few things worked in them, but overall, the experiment was a disaster.  She says there are some defenders, but the majority of people in education believe they were a mistake.  Law says they were implemented at a time when inquiry and student-based learning was a focus.  She says it was a perfect storm, but having 70 students in a classroom meant the importance of teacher-student relationships and routine was lost.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The tourism sector's still fighting for pre-Covid numbers.  The most recent International Visitor Survey shows overseas visitor numbers have lifted by nearly 200 thousand over the past year – up 5%.  Their spending was up by around $500 million but is still only 86% of pre-Covid numbers.   Tourism New Zealand CEO René de Monchy told Mike Hosking they're pushing to get visitor numbers back up to pre-Covid levels by the end of next year.  He says a lot of overseas markets are competing for international visitors.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We got there at last.  If you are a Golden Visa holder, that’s a person who puts $5-10 million into the country, you can now buy a house.  The idea that we expected you to put that sort of money into a country and then rent was, and is, absurd.  Not to get into the weeds too deeply, but the Golden Visa is different to the 183 days rule.  The Golden Visa means you can invest but not be here the 183 days. But it now means you do qualify for a $5m+ home.  None of this is complex. None of this needed to be as hard as it has turned out to be.  You will note from Winston Peter's comments yesterday he has preserved his ongoing dislike for so-called foreigners coming here and snapping up the countryside and locking the rest of us out of the market, none of which happened of course, but the xenophobic streak runs deep in that party.  But if you go back to National's original idea of $2m, a lot of water has gone under the bridge. A lot of banging of heads has happened and some people have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to what I would've thought was a fairly obvious finish line.  The weird thing for me about Peters is this is the same bloke who is out in the world pleading with said world to come and invest. He's saying come and do business, we are open.  He is trying on one hand to desperately rectify the damage of the Labour Government Covid era, while at the same time doing the old New Zealand First "cake and eat it too" trick. "Please come, please bring your money but, oh, given you're a foreigner you can use Airbnb". It's nonsense.  At $5m it changes little for you and me. It’s a tiny portion of homes. Its two million pounds and it's three million US dollars. For some global citizens it's pocket change.  But it all helps, and man do we need help.  The worry is the difficulty in getting here. Easy, obvious decisions should not be hard. They should be quick and slick.  But we got there. It all helps.  It was a good day for NZ Inc.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Kiwi chef is demonstrating that success can be found even in a tough industry.  Ben Bayly owns six restaurants around New Zealand, including Ahi and Aosta, and is set to open a seventh.  Wellington will be getting its first dining experience helmed by Bayly, located in the infamous Wellington Pavillion.  Between his six restaurants and his TV show ‘A New Zealand Food Story’, which has just finished up its fourth season, Bayly lives a busy life. Despite this, the work isn’t wearing him thin.  “I have this sense of enthusiasm that I can’t extinguish,” he told Mike Hosking.  For Bayly, working in hospitality is less of a job and more of a lifestyle, answering calls, emails, and setting up bookings even on the weekends.   “I love that stuff.”  “There’s nothing better than putting a smile on someone’s face,” Bayly said.  “What other job do you walk out at the end of the day and every single customer said, ‘wow, that was amazing, thank you so much.’”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 2nd of September, the Prime Minister and Winston Peters joined to discuss the new investment changes allowing foreigners to buy a home.  Is our government too big? Do we have too many ministers? A report says yes, and we should drop dozens of roles to be like Singapore or Ireland.  Kiwi chef Ben Bayly has exciting news for Wellington and for fans of his show 'The New Zealand Food Story'.  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.

Our largest-ever North Island tourism alliance is just getting started, as they work to win over Australian travellers this week.  More than 70 tourism operators are attending events in Sydney today and Melbourne tomorrow under the partnership Kiwi North.  It was formed in May, when 15 tourism North Island organisations joined forces to draw more attention from key markets.  Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Destination Director Annie Dundas told Mike Hosking that the aim is to show that the North Island has just as much to offer as the South Island does.  She says the South Island enjoyed a great lift in tourist numbers from Australia, and they’re hoping to see a lift of 1-2% for the North Island from this work.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a call to cull some of New Zealand’s ministers.   A new report from the New Zealand Initiative found New Zealand has 81 ministerial portfolios, while comparable countries have a third of that.   The think-tank says we should be more like countries with comparable populations, like Norway which has 17 portfolios, and Singapore with 16.  Co-author Roger Partridge told Mike Hosking we keep slicing off pieces of portfolios and giving them new names, resulting in important policy areas being split across multiple ministers.   Housing for example, reports up to 12 ministers, he says, and when you splinter key portfolios you get fragmented decision-making, a lack of accountability, and higher costs.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Refinancing activity is continuing to surge as the Official Cash Rate continues to fall.  Latest Centrix figures show mortgage enquiries are up 16% for the month of July and new mortgage lending rose almost 25%. Chief Operating Officer Monika Lacey says the market is active at the moment and people are keen to get the best deal they can.  She told Mike Hosking that about 36% of fixed mortgages are set to roll off in the next six months, so that’s quite a bit of activity that will start to flow through. Lacey says it should result in a bit more cash in people’s pockets.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says he wasn't dragged kicking and screaming into a new foreign investors deal.  The Government’s approved changes to allow people with an investor residence visa to buy or build one home, starting at $5 million.  They’re required to invest an extra $5 million into the economy to qualify.  Peters told Mike Hosking he supports the changes and wants to make very clear it's not a change to the foreign buyers ban.  He says it's a change to investment rules to attract money to the country that we desperately need.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister is celebrating tech-giant Amazon's continued moves into the New Zealand market.  Amazon Web Services' data centres are now open in Auckland - something that is slated as a $7.5 billion investment. The Prime Minister told Mike Hosking it will create up to a thousand jobs, and make an $11 billion boost to GDP.  Luxon says it’s probably the largest ever publicly announced technology investment in New Zealand by an international tech firm.   Speaking of international investors, the Prime Minister wants foreign investors to feel comfortable here so they invest more.  New rules mean Active Investor Plus visa holders can now buy or build one home in New Zealand if it’s worth at least $5 million.  They’ll still need to invest another $5 million separately, as part of the visa’s criteria.  Luxon told Hosking everything will fall into place for these investors once they have a house here.  He says it's not just about the first $5-10 million they're spending, it's what comes after that when they start seeing more investment opportunities.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.