The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Credit to Simon Watts.
Some time ago he told me he was going to do something to stop councils like the Far North District Council.
They put ten iwi representatives, not elected by ratepayers, on a committee with six councillors who were elected, with full voting rights, thereby outnumbering the elected folk.
I sent him a text two weeks ago asking him when I should check back in with him to see what he was going to do.
He responded. Asked me to give him two weeks.
Two weeks ran out yesterday.
Yesterday is when he announced that he would be changing the law to take those voting rights away from unelected representatives on councils.
This has become something of a race relations issue because the greatest number of unelected members that get attention are Māori, iwi reps, and mana whenua reps.
But it’s actually more than that.
It also involves youth representatives, under 18's who haven’t even learned to live in their own houses and pay their own power bills, who are given permission by councils to vote on council issues without being elected.
And yes, it is about race relations and trying to stop the spread of this strangely fashionable idea that one ethnicity gets special treatment.
But it is also about a fundamental of democracy – you choose who governs you.
Ratepayers are being bled for money at rates none of us would’ve thought were possible ten years ago.
For our entire lives that has come with the right to then also vote for the people who we best trust to spend that money, even if that is a low bar.
Somehow in the last few years that has started to change, and councils have told us how much to pay and then also who will govern.
That needed to stop.
Yesterday’s decision is welcome. But I’d like it to go further.
I’d like all unelected representatives now removed from councils because, in many cases, they are a cost.
They are paid, sometimes, the same as elected representatives and they are unnecessary in an age where advice and input is easier to find than ever.
But given the likely kickback this will get from the handwringers, good on Simon Watts for making the right call.
And on deadline too.
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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast with Heather du Plessis-Allan for Wednesday 3rd of June, Local Government Minister Simon Watts unpacks the decision for council voting to be restricted to elected members.
New tourism stats show we are becoming a luxury travel haven.
Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen talk the Budget, the ban on non-elected council representatives voting, and New Zealand's nuclear stance on Politics Wednesday.
Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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A Kiwi foundation is helping combat infertility around New Zealand.
Gingernut’s Angels, founded by Jaimee Lupton, was created with the goal of removing the financial barrier to starting a family.
It has raised more than $3.5 million and funded 197 grants to help families access IVF and fertility treatments since it was founded in 2024.
Lupton told Heather du Plessis-Allan that a single round of IVF can cost from $30 thousand to $50 thousand, which is just out of reach for so many families.
She says it look them five rounds and $250 thousand just to get their daughter.
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Labour is labelling the Government’s overhaul of council voting rights a distraction.
A Bill amendment will strip voting rights from unelected members —including iwi and youth representatives— on council committees.
It comes after the Far North District Council moved to expand its Māori liaison committee.
Labour's Ginny Andersen told Heather du Plessis-Allan the issue is not a priority for New Zealanders.
She says people are far more worried about paying their bills and being able to cope everyday.
National’s Mark Mitchell disagrees, saying that stance shows how out of touch Labour really is.
He told du Plessis-Allan that most Kiwis are pretty proud of our democracy, and he doesn’t think they want unelected people going onto committees and making decisions.
Mitchell says it’s always prudent to have unelected people with special skillsets and backgrounds advising, but not voting, and he thinks most Kiwis would agree.
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New Zealand's cementing itself as a premium tourism destination.
Market data from Grand View Research estimates our luxury travel market brought in more than $8 million last year and could double by 2033.
Luxury Travel specialist Southern Crossings says overseas couples on their honeymoon for instance, consistently spend about the equivalent of a Central Auckland house deposit.
Tourism New Zealand CEO René de Monchy told Heather du Plessis-Allan says we have amazing luxury offerings.
He says coming out of Covid, people are really valuing experiences and that translates into their behaviour.
“So people are saying after a few years locked up, that’s not a natural way to be. Travel is important, experiences are important, and they’re willing to spend the money to do it.”
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