The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Government’s looking at ways to give businesses long-term certainty about fuel.
Latest figures show we have 56 days of petrol, 45 of diesel, and 47 of jet fuel either here or en-route.
Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones told Mike Hosking officials are considering what additional information they can release.
He says the real plague is uncertainty, and it's not a bad idea to further mend the uncertainty in the business community.
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The country's largest bank is again raising interest rates, days after forecasting much earlier-than-expected OCR hikes.
ANZ is increasing most home loan rates by 10 to 20 basis points following a rise in wholesale rates.
It's now advertising a one-year home loan rate of 4.69%.
Independent economist Cameron Bagrie told Mike Hosking markets are pricing-in the change in forecasts.
He says the fixed rates are based on what's expected to happen, rather than what's happening now.
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There’s renewed hope in the Kiwi start-up scene with a surge of investment in 2025.
New data shows the number of deals rose 14%, with total investment surging 61% to $754 million.
Fintech and health-tech saw strong gains, while climate and clean-tech dropped.
Angel Association Chief executive Bridget Unsworth told Mike Hosking 47 companies were funded, compared to 51 in 2023.
She says more money going into fewer deals is an exciting sign of the start-up ecosystem maturing.
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Help for struggling pharmacies could be on the way.
The Government's proposing letting pharmacists prescribe funded medicines for conditions like scabies and conjunctivitis, so people no longer have to see a GP or pay the full pharmacy price.
It would also cover medication for UTIs and the emergency contraceptive pill.
Associate Health Minister David Seymour told Mike Hosking smaller, local pharmacies are really battling.
He says this would be a way to use them while taking pressure off emergency departments and GPs.
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One of the easiest games in town is currently being played in Wellington.
The water company has a new Māori name, and they are going to start sending out specific water bills to everyone, which upon first blush, if you have never got a water bill before, seems a lot. The average will be about $2,500.
But then the upside is it's good to know what things actually cost, as opposed to having it all hidden away in a mass bill called "rates" where you have no idea what's what.
The real scrap though is over the pay packets. In this new company they are a lot bigger.
The chair of the board gets $110,000. They used to get $60,000 before. The members of that board get $60,000 when they used to get $30,000.
The bloke who carries the can as CEO gets $645,000.
Toss a few figures like that about the place and the upset is almost instant.
But, and here is your real-world issue, you either want decent people for the job, any job, or you don’t.
I don't need to tell you that previously a lot of the people doing Wellington's water work were clearly useless. In a small and not complete way, money fixes that.
It is not to say big money automatically gets brilliance. But it is fair to say if you pay rubbish, you will get rubbish.
The old community contribution, "give something back" line only carries you so far and you tend to get do-gooders, not professionals.
Can I be even slightly more fiscally acerbic by suggesting that even at these new inflated numbers you're not exactly paying top dollar. $645,000 is a lot of money if you're in year 13, or a teacher, or a journalist.
But it's not much to be a CEO. It's even less when you are the CEO of an entity that is under tremendous pressure and publicly accountable by a population that will want to lynch you if you fail.
As a rule, the public service underpays. And that in part is why the public service is in the state it's in. Cheap in general is no way to run business, sign contracts, accept quotes or operate your life.
Worry less about the money and more about the outcomes.
If Wellington had never had a water worry with no burst pipes, no contamination, no poo in the harbour and the bloke running the place was earning $2 million and gave you that, what a bargain.
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