The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Time Magazine has just named its Person of the Year for 2025.  And it’s not a single person. It is "the architects" of AI.  The magazine says "no one" had as great an impact this year than the people “who imagined, designed, and built AI".  This was the year that we stopped talking about how clunky AI is and instead started sprinting to deploy it as fast as possible. And now the risk-averse are no longer in the driver's seat.  Which may be true, but the risk averse are still a really big proportion of us, aren't they?  I think there are broadly three categories of people when it comes to AI;  1) The ones using it,  2) The ones apathetic about it and waiting to be convinced that they need it,  3) The ones terrified of it.  It's the terrified ones that fascinate me.  They're the unions convinced AI will take jobs. They're the 47% of Kiwis who don’t trust companies to use AI ethically. They're the rule-lovers who want the Government to set up more rules for AI.  They're the artists and musicians who are pretending that they can stop AI learning from (they call it stealing) their ideas. They're the people complaining that AI photos and videos and songs are somehow evil and misleading.  Resisting AI is not a strategy. It's happening and it’s not going away.  Resisting it is like a repeat of the resistance towards the computer decades ago, which even Time magazine called a fad at the end.  The way to deal with AI is to accept it's going to fundamentally change everything and then figure out how to make that work for you.  A case in point is Disney today giving OpenAI permission to use its characters, like Star Wars characters, to make videos.  Like Mark Cuban said on the show yesterday, AI is going to be big, and we have no idea how big yet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US has escalated tensions with Venezuela and seized a tanker off its coast, described by Donald Trump as the largest ever seized.   He's otherwise keeping tight lipped, saying it was done for 'a very good reason'.   CNN reports it intensifies Trump's pressure campaign aimed at forcing the leader Nicolas Maduro out of power.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Heather du Plessis-Allan that while US officials are saying the seizure does not signal a broad scale war, Trump doesn’t want to rule an American ground invasion in or out.  He says the US has now carried out 22 attacks on Venezuelan drug boats, Trump saying that every drug boat leads to the deaths of some 25,000 Americans, but it’s unknown where he pulled that figure from.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friday has come and Heather du Plessis-Allan was joined by Kerre Woodham and Tim Wilson to Wrap the Week that Was.  They discussed Air New Zealand’s new safety video, the Willis v Richardson debate, the quote of the year, and artificial intelligence.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The capital is on track for a star-studded Saturday with the premiere of ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’.  Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, and Jemaine Clement are all set to hit the red carpet in Wellington.  The 13th and 14th are set to be a huge boost for the local economy, hospitality, and screen sectors, the City Council says – the franchise now bringing $1.1 billion into New Zealand’s economy.   NZ Film Commission’s Head of International Attraction and Marketing, Philippa Mossman told Heather du Plessis-Allan the premiere is a really important and exciting occasion for the country.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The cost of water infrastructure projects have been rising as councils learn more details about what's required.  Every council has now submitted their plan under Local Water Done Well programme.  As Newstalk ZB first revealed last week, the final bill is now expected to reach almost $48 billion – about $9 billion more than first thought.  Local Government New Zealand Vice-President and Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told Heather du Plessis Allan they've taken a more detailed look into costings over the whole ten years than they previously had.  She says we're comparing a ten-year plan which wasn't as in depth, to the current very detailed plan.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s relief as the Government loosens rules on growing hemp, despite law enforcement concerns.  Cabinet's agreed to remove licensing requirements for industrial growing and handling crops, although growers must now notify Police and MPI before starting up.  A Regulatory Impact Statement shows Customs and Police warned of risks from illegal cannabis growers.  Hemp Industries Association Chair Richard Barge told Heather du Plessis-Allan its good news for the growers and the people who will produce the raw materials.  He says the supply chain will be well enhanced, and the next step now is to get the value chain established.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Upper Hutt primary school principal says their workloads are comparable with secondary school principals, and they deserve a better pay offer.  Principals who belong to the NZEI union have rejected the Government's latest collective agreement proposal.  They say it fails to acknowledge their work.  Birchville School Principal Robyn Brown told Heather du Plessis-Allan unlike secondary principals, they weren't offered a curriculum change allowance, and the pay rise amounts to a cut.  She says primary school principals have far fewer people to implement curriculum change.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi consumers could finally see butter prices fall, thanks to increased global dairy production.   New research from Rabobank shows EU, UK, and US production has been surging, pushing down global prices.  Fonterra's already forecasting a lower farmgate payout than last season.  Fonterra Co-operative Council Chair John Stevenson told Heather du Plessis-Allan the change could be good news for supermarket shoppers.  He says if the surge continues, there'll be an impact on our store shelves.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, to the Nicola Willis v Ruth Richardson debate.  Here’s a challenge to Nicola Willis: do it this year. Do it next week.  I’m hearing that having challenged Ruth Richardson to the debate, Willis’ office would prefer to do it next year.  I can understand why. By next year the momentum will be gone and we’ll all have moved on to other things and it, probably, won't get as big of an audience.  Next week though is a big week.  The Government is opening its books. It sounds like Nicola might be pushing out surplus, again, for the second time in two years.  Then we’ve got the GDP number and that’s coming off the back of the Taxpayer’s Union campaign calling her out for her big spending, which kicks off today.  So next week there’s much more energy around a debate. If it’s pushed out to next year, I would read it as the first sign of losing courage.  And if I was cynical, it's the first sign of them hoping this will fizzle and die because frankly, it was a political mistake to challenge Ruth Richardson to a debate.  Regardless of what you think of her, Ruth can article all the problems with Nicola's big spending budgets and debt gathering in a way that most members of the media can’t, which is to say she will mount a case that Nicola is spending too much and taking us down exactly the same path of economic trouble that Grant started us on.  And I suspect that will convince a lot of voters that we have a problem here.  And we do. We have a problem when we have a government that promised to cut spending and yet spends more than Grant and will, by mid next year, have taken on $45 billion more in debt, which will by then account for almost a quarter of our total debt.  This is an important debate, because what is more important for a government to do well than run the country’s books?  So, next week? How about it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast with Heather du Plessis-Allan Full Show Podcast for Thursday 11th of December, as Australia bans social media for under 16s, what does our interim report say we should do?   David Seymour responds to the findings of the investigation into the mouldy lunches at a Christchurch school.   US billionaire Mark Cuban talks the All Blacks, being an NBA owner, the state of US politics, and AI.  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.