The Mike Hosking Breakfast

More protesters have been arrested as students continue to demonstrate at US universities. Police dismantled a Pro-Palestine camp set up in front of Royce Hall at the University of California, making more than 200 arrests. US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that the protests turned to mayhem after midnight and fights erupted when pro-Israel counter protesters tried to storm the camp. He said that flares and fireworks were launched over the encampment, and although no one was killed or seriously injured, it was pretty ugly and threatening. At least 2000 people total have been arrested at protests across the country in the last few weeks. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwis are being urged to check if Inland Revenue has any unclaimed funds in their name. Almost 416,000 Kiwis are owed more than $477 million from forgotten funds, unknown debts, or unclaimed inheritance, which eventually goes to the Crown if unclaimed. That includes the inheritance of Kiwis who died without a will and with no known relatives. Lawyer Joanna Pidgeon told Mike Hosking that people have to know where the will is, and the estate then has to claim it. She says everyone should have a will to make things easier for locating, accessing, and distributing. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank has an odd mandate. On one hand they directly involved themselves in cocking up the economy to the extent it has been by throwing printed money about the place, often with no real guidelines to banks as to where it would end up. Small clue: it went into housing. But the on the other hand they are all over us in terms of rules around what we can and can't do with income to debt ratios, how much money a bank has to hold in reserve for troubled times, etc. The latest is the directive to banks about insurance cover on the places they lend money on, i.e. when we get a mortgage, we need cover and they now expect the banks to be even more vigilant about the sort of cover, how much for and how long it will last. It's all in their Financial Stability Report. But on the insurance issue they revert to their hands off approach, where they point out that they are seeing more people having trouble getting and paying for insurance and that this will be a growing issue. Thanks for the warning. Have you got any advice? Well, they have, sort of. They recommend insurers, Governments and home buyers, as well as lenders, should take action to improve our understanding of natural hazards and to proactively manage affordability challenges. Awesome. Thanks for that. This in some respects is the issue of our time. Like it or not insurance, if it hasn’t already, will become a burden, if not a nightmare. The Government has already moved on the earthquake rules around buildings, knowing full well the current deadlines are unrealistic. But the day is coming, if it isn't already here, where people cannot afford to be where they are or want to be, or even if they have money, can't find a backer. So, the big question the Reserve Bank doesn’t answer is - then what? If you can't get insurance, you can't get a mortgage. Maybe you can't get a mortgage because you can't afford insurance to the level they now expect. You are stuck in a place that was once safe and now isn't. What do you do? This all has enormous economic and social consequences. So, who is in charge of this and what is the plan? Telling us it's an issue in a stability report isn't really a solution and that’s probably the way they like it. It's always easier to point a problem out than to actually deal to it. 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. Julie-Anne Genter: 0/10 She's unhinged. James Shaw: 7/10 Badly let down by a narcissist who stole the headlines by being unhinged. Pay rises: 5/10 When it comes to MPs and money you can't win. Some are brilliant and some are liabilities, but the pay structure doesn’t take that into account, hence you have what you have. Martin Freeman: 7/10 Truth to power. He's no longer a vegetarian after he discovered the meat alternatives weren't actually that flash for you, reminding us that when you read the label it's often a lot different to the marketing. Fast track: 7/10 It's depressing to watch the people who whine about actually getting on with stuff. Premium economy: 7/10 A 19% increase in sales at the front of the plane. What cost of living crisis? Te Huia: 2/10 $500 a seat subsidisation. It's the premium economy of public transport. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand Fashion Week's planning to come back bigger and stronger next year. It's had to cancel this year's event and shift to a two-yearly showcase due to a lack of designers. Owner Fehroz Ali said they've responded to feedback from designers who say they don't have the financial resources for it. But, he told Mike Hosking, they will give it everything they have to ensure its back next year. Ali hopes the show's international and New Zealand partners, like Air New Zealand, will continue to support them to make sure it's successful. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 3rd of May we discussed the changes the Government is making to the education sector, Lifting Literacy Aotearoa’s Alice Wilson joined to discuss them. Former MP Peter Dunne dug into what we need to do to bring some decorum back to our Parliament and debates after years of issues, prompted by the situation with Julie Anne Genter. Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson Wrapped the Week and talked about everything from Beth Orton to celebrating your anniversary on the wrong day! 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.

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back once more to wrap the week with Mike Hosking. They discussed everything from musicians they enjoy to the number of contacts they have in their phones to Tim celebrating his anniversary on the wrong day. They also touched on the Julie Anne Genter situation, asking whether it's a sackable offence. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The stronger focus on literacy in education appears to be well-received by educators, so far. The Government's set a target of getting 80% of year eights to the expected curriculum level by 2030. It's committed $67 million in the upcoming Budget to teacher training and resources, particularly on teaching children how to read using phonics. Lifting Literacy Aotearoa Chair Alice Wilson told Mike Hosking that it's critical we get this right. She says they're thrilled the Government's put its money where its mouth is and invested in teacher education in a tight fiscal environment. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More adult Kiwis are receiving ADHD medicine than ever before. There's been a tenfold increase in the amount dispensed for adults between 2006 and 2022, today's Medical Journal study has revealed. 0.6% of the adult population are receiving treatment, although 2.6% of adults are estimated to have the condition. Clinical psychologist for Umbrella Wellbeing, Dougal Sutherland told Mike Hosking the study highlights the shortage of specialists. He says people would be very lucky to get an ADHD assessment as an adult in New Zealand's public mental health system currently. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're being told Parliament has lost its sense of decorum because MPs have lost their respect for Parliament as an institution. Green MP Julie Anne Genter is facing disciplinary action from her party after walking across the debating chamber to confront National Minister Matt Doocey, during a debate on Wednesday night. Former Cabinet Minister Peter Dunne told Mike Hosking that Genter's behaviour is part of a wider trend that's been happening for several years. He says there's always been robust debate, anger, and passion. But, Dunne says, people used to be able to control the way they presented that and show respect towards each other and the institution as a whole. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trade Minister is taking the legal fight to Canada over a trade dispute. The Government says Canada's refusing to comply with a ruling over dairy trade, where it breached CPTPP rules by blocking exporters' access to its market. A panel ruled it had until May 1st to change how it administered its tariff rate quotas and to stop prioritising domestic access. Todd McClay told Mike Hosking that we've been left $120 million out of pocket. He said that's about three and a half percent of their dairy market and suspects domestic politics are behind it, but they need to honour their international commitments. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The teacher shortage has hit a new crisis point. A Post Primary Teachers Association Survey has found that 56% of principals had to employ untrained or unqualified teachers because they were unable to find qualified staff. President Chris Abercrombie told Mike Hosking that a lot of it comes down to those being hired having a limited authority to teach. He said this might be someone without a qualification or it may be hiring people to teach subjects they aren’t specialised in. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you want some savings? I have found a couple of hundred million for you then. A report out has looked at who gets the Winter Energy Payment. It's a shedload of money that is yet again going to be doled out this month for the colder period, so oldies don’t freeze to death. It's one of the more shameful decisions of this new Government and reminded me of the Christchurch Call, which they also inexplicably carried on with. The Christchurch Call isn't that expensive, but it is a grandiose truckload of virtue signalling, psychobabble that, as information revealed this week shows, has achieved basically nothing but “feels”. If a new Government was looking for easy day one savings, that would have been a goodie and the Winter Energy Payment would not have been far behind. So, the detail is that 53% of those getting superannuation don’t need a heating top up. They have enough to look after themselves. So why do they get it? Well, that’s Labour all over, isn't it? It's a high trust model. You can opt out if you like. But who does? No one. So, the waste builds. With that 53%, if you didn’t hand it out you have just saved $205 million. Now, you can only blame Labour until someone else comes along to re-introduce a bit of reality to the room. Except the new lot decided not to. It's not dissimilar to John Key who thought Working For Families was communism by stealth, until he decided to carry on with the programme. Here it is to this day, churning through billions as you work and pay your taxes only for them to take your money, have an entire battalion of public servants rifle through your entitlements and, if you are lucky, hand some of it back. It is ruinously wasteful. I assume someone, somewhere thought about the slightly simpler idea of you keeping the money in the first place so you don’t need the paperwork and hassle of trying to repatriate it. Of course, if they did it that way they wouldn’t have a financial hold over you, which of course is what a previous Labour Government had in mind when they invented it. So, we end up with $205 million in wasted money. Clearly not all money saving ideas have been exhausted. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One small step for peanut butter, one giant leap for New Zealand foods. Kiwi nut butter brand Fix & Fogg has launched 50 pouches of various products into space for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Fix & Fogg Chief Executive Roman Jewell told Mike Hosking that it also has wider implications for New Zealand food products. He says it proves to NASA kiwi producers can be trusted to work with. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New Zealand Initiative report details potential hidden risks in China's Belt and Road Initiative. The pro-free-market think-tank points to potential implications for our foreign policy, independence, and development. Director Oliver Hartwich says it's not just about infrastructure investment. He told Mike Hosking that we need to be wary about China trying to draw New Zealand into its sphere of influence. Hartwich says when you have to do something political in return, you are no longer the client of the project but the product. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwis have had enough of being on hold after more than 22 million hours on the phone for customer service. ServiceNow commissioned research surveyed more than a thousand people, finding wait-times rose for the second year in a row. On average it takes businesses six days to solve a customer's issue despite more than half of Kiwis saying they won't wait longer than three. ServiceNow Country Manager Kate Tulp told Mike Hosking that the current economy has inflated the issue. She says customers' expectations have continued to rise, while our dollar hasn't. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 2nd of May, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters joined to dig into AUKUS and the likelihood of New Zealand joining. Two Green MPs were in the news last night, for very different reasons. Mike reviewed James Shaw's valedictory speech and Julie Anne Genter's moment of madness in the House. Heath ‘Chopper’ Franklin joined Mike in studio to talk about his New Zealand tour and how long his iconic character can last. 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.

One of New Zealand’s favourite comedians, Heath ‘Chopper’ Franklin is back from his break. The Australian comic is returning from his three year break with a bang, back in New Zealand with fifteen shows as well as his set in the International Comedy Festival. His tour kicks off today, as Chopper's 'Not Here To F*ck Spiders', the name of his tour setting the tone for the show. His iconic persona ‘Chopper’ was based off the real life criminal in the 2000 movie by the same name, his career taking off from there. “I watched it when I was... early twenties, and you know, like a lot of the movies you watch when you get to that age, you just sort of watch it and then you absorb it slowly.” Franklin recounts hanging out with friends at parties and, prompted by friends going off to sleep early, doing an impression of the character. He then brought this through into the sketch comedy shows he was doing at the time. The movie came out in the 2000s, and Franklin told Mike Hosking that there’s a level of freedom in people no longer knowing the original story. “I find the thing that kind of weighs me down the most is, especially when I go to Melbourne where they’re quite parochial and proud of even, you know, even the violence of their criminals, that yeah. You know, there’s a constant kind of reference between what I do and what he would have done.” “So I really love coming to New Zealand where I kind of get to define what the character does, and I get to kind of step out of that shadow.” He was never trying to be a biographer, he told Hosking. “I was just a guy who liked a movie and made a dumb sketch.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters says Julie Anne Genter should face consequences for confronting a minister in the House. The Green MP has apologised in Parliament and could face further disciplinary action after a complaint was made of intimidatory behaviour toward Minister Matthew Doocey on Wednesday night. Genter walked across the debating chamber to Doocey, waved a booklet and spoke angrily to him while getting close to his face. The incident happened at about 8pm, while Labour’s Nelson MP Rachel Boyack was speaking and followed some interjections between Doocey and Genter. It was visible in the background of the footage on Parliament TV. “Miss Genter. Miss Genter, please resume your seat,” demanded the chair at the time, Barbara Kuriger. “It’s not appropriate to get out of one’s seat to go and have an argument with somebody on the other side.” Speaker Gerry Brownlee had to be recalled to the debating chamber to deal with the issue after National’s whip Scott Simpson asked Kuriger to do so. Simpson said in Parliament that he had never seen anything like it, describing it as a “serious, intimidatory physical attack upon another member”. The Deputy Prime Minister told Mike Hosking that Genter appeared to, quote, "lose the plot". He says there are processes to discipline someone like that, and just apologising to Doocey for making him feel unsafe doesn't cut it. Also last night, Peters gave a speech regarding AUKUS Pillar 2, and has said the details are still fairly new to him. The Foreign Minister has outlined New Zealand's position to the Institute of International Affairs at Parliament. He says we should be open to exploring the technology leg of the nuclear-powered submarine pact and what that could look like for us. Peters told Hosking that he's still trying to find out exactly what Pillar 2 would entail. He says in the middle of public discussions, all sorts of people are rushing to judgement without having been remotely briefed on the matter. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More people are competing for work for fewer opportunities as the unemployment rate's expected to keep rising. The unemployment rate is at 4.3 % in the March quarter, the highest it's been in three years. Business advisor and Pivot & Pace co-founder Kendall Langston told Mike Hosking that the difference between recent years and now is night and day. He says this time last year you'd be getting a handful of suitable applicants, but in the last couple of weeks there can be well over 60 quality applications for a role. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.