The Mike Hosking Breakfast

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.

Fieldays: 8/10
Massive crowds, good mood, lots of money changing hands. Rural NZ is booming.

NZ Inc: 7/10
Actually a pretty good week economically. Spending was up, food inflation wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they thought, and GDP showed we were actually on our way.

Our mood: 3/10
The evidence did not support the misery. We don’t have to be hopped up, but the score of 80 does not dovetail with the hard data. Give yourself an uppercut.

Immigration and MBIE: 1/10
As bad as it gets — a shocking betrayal, horrific damage to the public service rep. And even if jail time isn’t required, you can’t run a country if you are being deceived by crooks.

The Iran Deal: 3/10
Trump has achieved nothing. We are all glad it’s over, and it’ll feel good paying $2-something for petrol. But we were doing that before Trump thought Iraq was easy.

Travel: 7/10
I’ve been around the world in the past fortnight — and it’s an amazing place. Well, the bits I saw are. But it’s also troubled, overcrowded, and expensive. NZ looks pretty damn good to me.

Lewis Hamilton: 8/10
He is the driver of his generation, and a thrill to watch. He lived his dream this week — a victory in a Ferrari. We should all be lucky enough to live our dreams.

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What is the matter with Labour? They are giving me free doctor’s visits – I don’t want them or need them.
Now they are giving me free prescriptions… it’s tens of millions of dollars we don’t have, handed out to people who don’t need it. Some people need it – give it to them.
You are literally wasting money giving these things to anyone on a half-decent salary.
Now, the real problem with the policies is they are paid for by the capital gains tax. Now, in case you haven’t worked it out —given it’s not retrospective— they have no income from capital gains and won’t until lots of people with investment or secondary homes start selling them.
The bill, though, for the policies kicks in on day one.
So already they are running a credit card on their promises.
But the really major problem with the capital gains tax is it’s predicated on projections that have not —and indeed are not— turning out to be true.
For the last several years, property prices have gone nowhere.
The Labour forecasts are based on 3% a year. We have not returned 3%, or anywhere close, for years now.
The property flatline has been in place since COVID, and it’s not growing 3% this year. It might —big might— start getting close next year. But for every year it doesn’t, you need extra growth to make up the difference, all the while the bills for the free scripts, scans, and visits are real and piling up.
So it’s a twofold problem: they hand out money they don’t have to people who don’t need it. And they haven’t got the money anyway to hand out, given it hasn’t been generated, and they have no way of knowing when —or if— it will be.
In the meantime, it’s on the debt pile, which is already 47% of GDP, which, in case you forgot, was 19% of GDP until the old Labour Party arrived in 2017.
So from 19% to 47% – and now clearly more where that came from.
If voters are interested in detail and fact, this sort of cost-plus policy nonsense is a recipe for yet another economic disaster, and I thought in 2020 we decided we weren’t making that mistake again.
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Friday has arrived, so Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back with Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week that Was.
They discussed Mike and Kate’s holiday, travelling, and the newest business to take over the kiosk in the courtyard outside NZME.
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The Warriors are headed south, playing their first match at Christchurch’s new stadium.
Three Warriors teams are set to run out onto the field as part of a festival of footy, the day ending with the NRL clash against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Tickets for the event sold out in a few days, making it the club’s fastest-selling regular season match since their debut against the Broncos in 1995.
CEO Cameron George told Mike Hosking it’s a real privilege to come to places like Christchurch and sell out so quickly.
He says there’s a huge buzz around town, and come Sunday, he’s sure there’s going to be an electric atmosphere in the new stadium.
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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 19th of June, Finance Minister Nicola Willis talks the state of the economy after the Q1 GDP number and makes a comment about Shane Jones' trip.
Wellington's Chamber of Commerce celebrates the cancellation of the Golden Mile project but still wants something to be done about Courtenay Place.
We preview the Super Rugby Final with the Hurricanes' Malcolm Gillies and Chiefs' Simon Graafhuis and celebrate yet another Warriors sellout —this time in Christchurch— with Cameron George.
Tim Wilson and Kate Hawkesby Wrap the Week – discussing the holiday and the new business that's popped up near Newstalk ZB.
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