The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Los Pumas completed a historic victory over the All-Blacks on Sunday, defeating them 29-23 to secure their first victory over the All-Blacks on home soil since 1976.   It is also the fifth defeat under the leadership of Scott Robertson.  Former All-Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry told Mike Hosking that although the loss in Argentina is tough, it’ll give the team more motivation as they prepare to face South Africa.  ‘it really galvanises them, and really focuses them, and I think that's what they require.’  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sentences could only get tougher for drivers who kill under the influence, as a 20-year-old's been sent to prison.  Alexander Lucas Kerr has been sentenced to 27 months in prison, after a crash killed one of his friends and left the other in a wheelchair.  He was found with cannabis in his system when he crashed his car in a semi-rural part of Havelock North in January.  Criminal defence lawyer John Munro says Kerr doesn't qualify for home detention, despite heavy discounts to his sentence.  He says if the starting point remains the same in a year, discounts could be capped at 40-percent.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police are acknowledging they're not perfect, as it's revealed junior officers are 'barely equipped' with the basics.  A survey of training officers has found two thirds are concerned about probationary constables’ understanding of police responsibilities when holding suspects in custody.  Assistant Police Commissioner Tusha Penny says transparent graduate tracking is important to the organisation, so there will be more of it. She says a review is underway, and there will be some changes to the curriculum early next year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian-owned Drifter Hotel-Hostels is planning to open new branches in Auckland and Wellington, expanding on their current foothold in Christchurch.  $22million has been invested into the project so far.  Hotel Council Strategic Director James Doolan told Mike Hosking that we need to work on getting even more international travellers back.  He says more capacity's needed if we want bars, shops and restaurants to be pumping.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the teachers head back to school, like all the other strikes, nothing got achieved.  It never does.  For a strike to work you need to scare people, you need to bring a place to a standstill.  Cook Strait ferries and the bus and train services were unavailable for weeks on end at a time. That’s what works. But those days are gone, thank the good Lord.  These days it’s a day here, a day there.  Yes, we get you are not happy. Yes, you might deserve a better deal.  But your day off with your one minute of placard waving on the TV news that isn't watched the way it used to be anyway, doesn’t really shift the dial.  I think also the country has changed in the past few decades. Although unionism had a bit of a spike under six years of Labour, the Employment Contracts Act of the early 90's largely broke the unions for good.  Not literally, but when people got a choice, they chose to back themselves.  I wish those who are unionists could see the freedom and potential of non-union opportunity.  Not all jobs can be individualised, but most can, and teaching is one of them.  We all know good teachers, great teachers, and ordinary teachers, the same way we know good waiters, and restaurants, and doctors, and accountants, and retail outlets.  In a nation of small businesses, it tells us we back ourselves. We revel in the idea that we, and our skills and determination, can make a decent living.  The fact the rote response to merit-based pay for teachers goes something like "how would you judge on exam results?" shows how little they understand their individuality and ability to make a difference.  It's like that Radio NZ report last week where most of them thought they were in a sunset industry, when in fact the exact opposite is true.  It's Stockholm Syndrome. Your captors, the unions, have told you this is the only way. It isn't and never has been.  I have argued this for years and have got nowhere, but that doesn’t make it a bad argument.  What I know, like hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders know, is that being your own boss and your own person is a winning formula, if you want to win.  I know, like hundreds of thousands of other New Zealanders, that I love my job and my lot.  I don’t see the same fizz from teachers. Why do you reckon that is?   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.    Alaska: 6/10  As an event it didn’t look like a lot. But Europe came to Washington and, apparently, a meeting is on. The lights aren't out yet.    Trevor Mallard: 8/10  Move of the week from Winston Peters. It took a while, but I still haven't found anyone who disagrees.    The Reserve Bank: 2/10  They missed the contraction, and they paused as the country was going backwards. Now we need two more cuts. They got us into trouble but can't get us out? Look up the word "useless" in the dictionary.    Helen Mirren: 7/10  James Bond "has to be a guy". You wouldn’t have had to say that once. Nowadays it makes headlines.    TOP: 4/10  As novel as it is to advertise for a leader, the fact you don’t have one probably sums up the prospects for next year - which are none.    Balls: 7/10  The balls at the US Open are made of New Zealand wool. My favourite fun fact of the week.    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the "never the twain shall meet" moments that came out of Covid was working from home.  Here we are, five years on, and the battle has not only not died, it's intensified.  The big gab fest this week in Canberra had the unions asking for a four-day week.  Victoria, run by communists, has already stated they will put it into law, even though they can't.  Now the obligatory poll shows, guess what, huge numbers of people want the right in law to work from home.  On the other side of the equation is the poor old businesses who are pulling their hair out.  In places like the UK and America it's got a bit ugly with mandates and threats over returning to the office, or else you're out.  The coalition in Australia in the recent campaign ran on a policy of banning work from home for public servants. It went down like a cup of cold sick and was, among other things like nuclear, seen as the reason they lost so badly.  That’s the trouble with democracy, isn't it? What if the people are wrong? What if the collective doesn’t get it and doesn’t care?  You could run a poll that says, "would you like the Government to pay for a family-sized chocolate bar and a French martini every Friday?” You'd get a good number.  What we want and what makes sense don’t always align.  "But I save time in the commute". Yes, you do and that’s good. Because you have to remember not all ideas are 100% bad or good, right or wrong.  But on the whole working from home does not suit the employer as much as the employee.  Are there exceptions? Of course. But exceptions are not the debate. The debate is the law, and the law applies to everyone.  Making it worse is the people who make the laws are given their jobs by the people who do the polls. So, do you suck up to them and give them what they want, or do you do the right thing?  Especially when, in this case, the right thing may not be the popular thing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are we in for a wool revival?  Industry leaders are meeting at a number of workshops next week, with the aim of driving up value.  Stats show strong wool now makes up just 1-2% of gross farm income, compared to nearly 65% in the 1980s.  Federated Farmers Wool Chair Richard Dawkins told Mike Hosking there’s good collabroation happening between government, industry, and various initiatives to drive up value.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back by popular demand, Sir John Key is back alongside Kate Hawkesby and Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week that was.  This week the former Prime Minister is calling in from a super yacht in Croatia, discussing the Warriors, Father’s Day, and ChatGPT.  Plus, Kate tells a story about Lebanese food.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 22nd of August, the Air Force is getting planes and helicopters from the US, so we’re finally starting to get a respectable fleet.  All Blacks coach Scott Robertson takes a break from the wine and meat to tell us about the team’ prospects this weekend in their second clash against Argentina.  Kate Hawkesby and "some rando" John Key are back by popular demand to Wrap the Week - from a superyacht!  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.