The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Nicola Willis was back yesterday for another "guns at dawn" with the supermarkets.  She had the results of the RFI, the Request for Information. The main takeaway was we are too tied up in red tape and we need to make it easier to do business.  Now we know this of course, because before the RFI she told us this, and she told us she was going to do something about it. She told us she was going to do something about it again yesterday.  Play another song Nicola.  Then the bad news: ALDI and Lidl, a couple of large supermarket players who she had been courting, didn’t even take part in the RFI. Why?  Because, as I have said for about two years, we are too small and the scandal Nicola insists exists, actually doesn’t. There is no scandal, they just can't be bothered with a country our size.  Costco did take part though. But Costco isn't Nicola's answer. Why?  Because Costco isn’t going nationwide, even though Nicola said they may, may, have one or two more stores in the coming years.  Then the worst bit of her greatest hits show, the finger wagging exercise, yet again, of threatening to break the industry up with regulation.  She is awaiting a report. When? She doesn’t have a date.  Who's doing the report? The same company that did the same report for Labour. It's good work if you can get it, aye?  So what did we actually end up with? A re-announcement of the fact we are hard to do business with. Fine, stop telling us and actually change the laws.  The second issue is major players couldn’t even be bothered taking part.  And the third point, the thing that may bring real change. Do remember, I think all this is nonsense but in Nicola's mind it's a scandal.  But the thing that can bring real change is no closer because we don't have the report and we don’t even know when we are getting the report.  Having got the report there is of course no reason to think such a major business-busting trigger by a so-called "business friendly" Government would even be pulled.  So, is your trolley any cheaper? Has Nicola or her Grocery Commissioner, another game-changing pile of nonsense she referenced, actually achieved anything?  Has a cent been saved? Has a law been changed? Has a new player arrived?  Or is this just like the banks? No smoking gun to be found?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand Fashion Week is headed down south.  A bespoke version of the event is headed to Christchurch this Spring, a three-year partnership bringing Fashion Week to the South Island.  It’ll be held in November and feature designers from all across the country, but with a focus on Christchurch-based creatives.  NZFW Owner Feroz Ali told Mike Hosking it shouldn’t bleed any support from the Auckland event, with this being an entirely new event that will make NZ Fashion week financially stable and sustainable in the long term.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the country’s talented singer-songwriters is leaving our shores as she looks to crack the big leagues.  Georgia Lines has been on the scene since 2019, and a couple of EPs and a debut album later, she’s making the move to Nashville.  But not before a few final shows and one more EP - she's celebrating the release of The Guest House with a performance in Tauranga on August 29th, following it up the next day with a show in Auckland.  She’s heading stateside next month, finally moving over after having loved the idea for quite some time.  “I’ve spent a lot of time there,” Lines told Mike Hosking.  “I really love it. I love the bigness, I love, I feel like there’s this mentality, where everybody’s like ‘you can do it.’”  New Zealand is well-known for its Tall Poppy Syndrome, but in the States there’s no such thing, Lines explains.  “Every time I go there I’m reminded of like, oh, this is possible, the possibilities are endless,” she said.  “I can always grow and get better, and get bigger, and that’s an exciting thing for me.”  For more information on her live shows, click here. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Central Otago hospitality precinct Ayrburn is forecast to be the most popular attraction in the region.  Winton Land owns the property near Arrowtown, which already has 10 restaurants and bars, while a screen hub, retirement village, and other amenities are in the works.  Owner Chris Meehan told Mike Hosking it was a risk to turn what was an empty paddock a few years ago into this venture.  He says they're aiming to be the thing everyone goes to in Queenstown, so projections of one million people to visit this year is a good sign.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 28th of August, Nicola Willis has her solution to the supermarket problem. Mike isn't convinced.  Mike’s offered the chance to fly to London and research a banking scam, however he’s not sure there is one.    Kiwi singer Georgia Lines is in for a song and a chat ahead of the release of her new EP and career move to Nashville.  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.

Nicola Willis says she's not bluffing with the idea of potentially breaking up the supermarket duopoly.   The Economic Growth Minister has introduced a fast track consenting process for supermarkets encouraging more players into the market.  She told Mike Hosking it’s a welcome mat for international players that makes it very clear in law and regulation that opening stores in New Zealand is easier than elsewhere.  Willis says this is a big issue for New Zealand, and she’s going the things that are sensible to help.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lower mortgage rates and income growth have helped improve housing affordability.  Cotality NZ’s new report finds the national value-to-income ratio reached its lowest point since mid-2019 in the June quarter, at 7.5%.   National property values also remain almost 17% below their post-covid peak.  Cotality Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Mike Hosking mortgage serviceability has seen a significant change, compared to its 2022 high of 57%.  He says it now takes around 44% of the median household income, so it's getting close to normal.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s optimism over the future of professional development training for teachers.  A new report from the Education Review Office has found half of teachers don't know how to use what they've learned in their classroom.  It highlights training as one of the biggest drivers of success.  Deputy chief executive Ruth Shinoda told Mike Hosking new development for English in primary schools this year is doing the things shown to work.  She says three quarters of teachers are using what they learnt in that development every day.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calls for certainty from the supermarket sector as Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis weighs more action.   She's introduced fast track consenting to encourage new players into the market.  Willis says she's looking carefully at the idea of breaking up the duopoly.   Foodstuffs North Island Chief Executive Chris Quin told Mike Hosking the future of their business needs clarity on what regulations will be put in place.   He says the individual owners are scratching their heads wondering what's going to happen.   Quin also believes the amount of competition already in the market may be higher than people realise.  He says 30% of the retail grocery market is third players in Auckland and 18% nationwide.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I would have thought the timing could not be more awkward.  If you broadly accept the current narrative that this Government is working awfully hard to get us out of the massive economic hole left to it by the previous Government, and if you accept that the previous Government was one of the worst in living memory, then just imagine where we would be if that hopeless lot of 2020-2023 had actually been rampaging across the countryside until last year because they had had a four-year term.  Surely it's that cold, present, still-throbbing reality that prevents a discussion on a four-year term going much further.  A lot of politicians seem to want one, and who can blame them? There is logic to what they argue.  In year one you arrive in your office, introduce yourself to everyone, put a few press releases out and start the spade work.  In year two you go for broke because year three is written off in campaign mode.  As Britain is discovering, five years is an awfully long time and until they changed the law about calling early elections, they got into a nasty habit of calling early elections because five years tended to exhaust them, and various calamities would present themselves with the only exit strategy being a vote.  So, if you're following the logic three years isn't enough and five is too long. So four years is goldilocks.    Or is it?  David Seymour is a fan of four years. He argued that most countries have longer terms and there are very few countries with three years.  There are also very few countries that balance their budgets or pay down their debt. That doesn’t make it good.  What is good is his admission that the gerrymandered shambles he offered up as a twist on an extended term with committees and numbers will never see the light of day.  It's taken us 25 years to get our head around MMP. The Seymour version of an extended term has a half-life of eight million years.  So, four or not? My gut says it will get to be a thing. Change is coming.  But here's a small warning: time isn't the issue. It's quality. Time doesn’t bring talent, or skill, or insight, or dedication, professionalism, or success. It just brings time.  The rest is what we should be way more concerned about. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.