The Mike Hosking Breakfast

An exception to normal procedure at the Crusaders in bringing Richie Mo'unga back to the Super Rugby franchise. The 56-test All Black has signed an 18-month contract to return in July after three seasons playing in Japan.  Crusaders boss Colin Mansbridge says they're stoked Mo'unga is returning to his home franchise.  He told Mike Hosking this type of contract is probably the way of the future – athletes gaining experience elsewhere before returning to the game.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 8th of August, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour joins to talk about the huge number of kids leaving school without a single qualification.  In sporting news – Richie Mo'unga is coming back so there's cause for celebrations for Canterbury and All Blacks fans. And we look at a massive make-or-break weekend for the Warriors to see whether they are serious contenders this year.  Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson Wrap the Week and talk about whether Mike is going to feature on reality TV in the very near future.  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.

The prospects of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin may be crumbling faster than they've formed.   The Kremlin says the US President and his Russian counterpart have agreed to meet in the "coming days".   But the New York Post is quoting Trump's officials, saying this is not the case.   Foreign Policy Analyst Jimmy Rushton told Mike Hosking Putin is burning through astonishing amounts of manpower for relatively little strategic progress.    He says Putin thinks he can outlast the West, but Ukraine would rather fight than accept poor peace terms.  Rushton says many people have taken what Moscow's selling and run with it, and it shows desperation from the Kremlin for it to pretend it is ready for peace.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a view we're an international outlier with our labelling regulations.  The standards are under review from the Ministry for Regulation in its latest attack on red tape.  Minister David Seymour says the labelling codes seem overly restrictive.  He says for example, Chemist Warehouse has someone employed full time to check labels.  BusinessNZ CEO Katherine Rich told Mike Hosking it's an issue for overseas companies having to deal with regulations here that are nowhere else.  She says if you buy a bottle of French or Spanish wine, it'll have an ugly white sticker on it – that's because of rules that only apply here.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The effects of Donald Trump's tariff hikes are already being felt in the US and around the world.   The US President's updated trade policy is now in effect for more than 90 trading partners.   New Zealand goods are grappling with a 15% tariff at the American border.   US Correspondent Charles Feldman told Mike Hosking the income will pay for Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy at the cost of consumers.   He says prices for almost anything Americans get as an imported product will rise.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist says the Government did the best it could in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.   The Treasury's latest report calculates the total cost of the Covid-19 pandemic at $66 billion.   The Government ignored official advice at the time to ease spending.   New Zealand Initiative Chief Economist Eric Crampton told Mike Hosking it is hard to fault anyone up until late 2020.   He says, afterwards, the Government failed to come up with solutions outside lockdowns and wage subsidies.   Treasury is now suggesting the Government establish an independent fiscal institution for better scrutiny.   Crampton says Treasury isn't in a position where it can effectively challenge the Finance Minister's decisions.   He says the public currently can't rely on Treasury for clear warnings when things are going wrong, which is needed for democratic accountability.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Deputy Prime Minister says he'd sack Willow Jean-Prime for declining numerous Government requests for collaboration on NCEA reform.  Documents show Labour's education spokesperson declined an advisor's meeting and didn't answer a text and multiple emails from Education Minister Erica Stanford regarding planned changes to NCEA.  David Seymour told Mike Hosking if he were Labour's leader, he would drop her because there are better people for the job.   He says he wouldn't know what to do because she may be the best option that Labour has.   Seymour says we need alternative schooling options to keep students in schools, with more than ten and a half thousand students leaving school last year with no educational qualifications.  Ministry of Education data reveals 16% didn't achieve NCEA Level 1 or above – 6% more than in 2017.  He told Hosking the education system has become less appealing because children don't believe they're missing something valuable.   There's also ethnic disparity, with 28% of Māori school leavers having achieved no qualifications, compared to 19% of Pacific leavers and 14% of Pākehā leavers.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shane Jones is fast becoming my favourite politician.  And he might have summed up the Government's issues with one on of his increasingly famous quips.  "The Ruth Richardson bare austerity approach is not delivering the economic growth we need."  He is right, isn't he? Classic liberal politics, trimming and cutting, is not the massive bomb we need under us.  As Chris Bishop yesterday was offering more detail on RUC rates and a move away from petrol taxes, all of which is fine, Shane and his mate Winston were wandering around Marsden Point and talking of making it a special economic zone.  It'd have tax treatment and incentives to get people to invest and do things. Marsden has got land and a port, it's close to shipping lanes, etc.  Ireland has made these things famous. They cut a deal on rates, or tax, bring 'em in, stoke 'em up and watch the growth explode.  Image might be a problem. Shane and Winston both come from, well, Marsden, so it’s a bit nepotistic. But the idea is sound.  Shane has also this week announced a massive upheaval of fishing, the biggest in decades. So it’s the big stuff that we may need because the regular size stuff hasn’t provided the heft we hoped for.  Yes, yes, yes, they inherited a mess, we get that, but the results are what count.  As ACT changed the laws around garden sheds and Nicola talks about supermarkets, it might just be ideas beyond our normal comprehension are what are actually called for.  The irony of the Jones' idea is it's not part of the coalition deal. I could ask, why not?  Is the Ruth Richardson line an acceptance that what they thought would work, hasn’t?  Another irony – I'm not sure how Shane and Winston can wander around Marsden blue-skying their way out of recession, when it's them that’s holding up the foreigners from buying a house after they have invested tens of millions into the country.  But credit where credit is due, Jones seems to have taken on the mantle of the arse kicker. He is where a lot of us are at.  This is not a bad Government, far from it.  It's perhaps just a timid Government. And with October 26 and a ballot box getting closer, maybe we need to shift it up a gear. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kaylee Bell has been busy since she last popped into the ZB studio.  The Kiwi country singer has released a new single, has a new album ‘Cowboy Up’ on the way and a five date tour coming later in the year, but she’s also become a mother.   Her son, only six months old, has already been around the world – Bell taking her family along as she performs in America, Australia, and around New Zealand.  “He’s definitely just getting chucked in and taken for the ride,” she told Mike Hosking.  Motherhood wasn’t necessarily something Bell had on her agenda, revealing that it’s not something she thought she’d get the chance to do.  “But it’s just so nice,” she said.  “I love that I get to go and, you know, play a show and I walk off the stage and he’s there now, or I get to come home to him at the end of the day.”  “In this industry, it’s so nice to have something so grounding.”  Pregnancy is not an easy experience but Bell’s schedule remained packed, the singer working right up until 34 weeks, at which point she could no longer fly.  “I cut a record here in New Zealand,” she explained to Hosking.  “And then I had James at the end of January, and we were back on stage after six weeks for CMC Rocks in Australia.”   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rising unemployment is expected to add to the case for a lower OCR.  Unemployment's hit a five-year high of 5.2% and is expected to rise further.  Economists now broadly expect the Reserve Bank to cut the Official Cash Rate by another 25-basis-points to 3% in two weeks.  BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Mike Hosking further cuts now seem likely.  He says his team have been forecasting a neutral rate of 2.75% for years, but there's a chance the OCR could get to 2.5 percent in the current cycle.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.