The Mike Hosking Breakfast

For a while there being a tough guy was good for your credibility.  Look at Victor Orban, Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele. They all revelled, and succeeded, at the polls with their macho, Trump-esque persona.  The world was moving away from "Me Too" and progressivism. There has been a very distinct move to conservatism, especially in parts of Europe.  Being like Trump was, more often than not, good for your political aspirations.  Peter Dutton had a touch of that, but sadly in the length of an Australian campaign it's all changed. The more he has looked like Trump, talked about Trump, and promised policy that sounded like Trump, the worse it has got.  Chances are by Saturday night, he will be a loser.  In the meantime, in Canada, who are voting now, the reason Mark Carney is in the lead is twofold.  1) The bloke who ran the place before him was a progressive sap and was a victim of the movement against the left. But he also had been there a decade, and his clock had run out.  2) His replacement has made much ground in the new-found vein of political success of looking not at all like Trump, but being tough enough to stand up to him.  Mark Carney will most likely win today and if he does, the fortunes of his Liberal Party will be one for the ages.  The same anger, frustration and impatience that led Trump to victory over a hapless socialist, should have played out the same way —and was going to play out the same way— north of the border.  Yet in the space of a couple of months, the entire scenario has been tipped on its head.  Looking like Trump, like Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives do, is no longer currency. It's bad news.  They have tried desperately to direct the campaign towards the issues that had Canadians so upset for the past ten years; cost of living, cost of housing, and jobs.  But the tariffs and Trump and his insults have fired them up and off into a new direction, which is hating on America. Carney and the Liberals have seen it, grabbed it and run with it.  The last polls have a 3%-ish point gap to them. The Liberals have come back from 20 points down, it's astonishing.  Let's do the counting. But if they win, what's it say about the distaste for Trump? What's it say about a single-issue campaign?  And will there have ever been a bigger victory snatched from the jaws of defeat? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been 100 days since Donald Trump was sworn in as US President.  His campaign was filled with promises of dramatic change, and he’s certainly followed through, with a record-breaking number of orders filed in the first three months.  The most dramatic of which is his sweeping global tariffs.  Quest Means Business host Richard Quest told Mike Hosking it goes against the orthodoxy of economics that has always been taught – that tariffs can be a benefit if targeted and used for a specific purpose.  He says using widespread tariffs to reshape global trading structures has not been done before, but it’s something Trump has always wanted to do.  Quest believes with the tariff headwinds pushing against the global economy, major economies are facing recessions, and the slowdown in economic growth will feel pretty awful for people as the year continues.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 29th of April, Tory Whanau has decided to drop her bid for re-election – this must be the news Wellington wanted.   Shane Jones is rejecting the co-governance plan for the Waitakere Ranges, and we look at the latest fruit market to go gangbusters – persimmons!  Quest Means Business host on CNN, Richard Quest joins to talk Trump's first 100 days and the global effects of the tariff debacle.  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.

There is a growing appetite for New Zealand’s rarest and most unusual fruit.  Persimmons have had a 20% rise in exports in the last year, and demand has never been higher.  Persimmon Industry Council Manager Ian Turk told Mike Hosking it's thanks to recent sunny weather in Gisborne, where the vast majority of the fruit is grown.  He says after a rough five years for the industry —with impacts from the likes of Cyclone Gabrielle— growers are looking forward to a good season ahead.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The number of Kāinga Ora tenancy terminations is being described as a far cry from what's needed.   Newstalk ZB can reveal the agency terminated 299 tenancies in the year to March – more than double the 134 in the year before.  Much of the increase is from Kāinga Ora taking a stronger line on disruptive tenants and rent arrears.  Litigation lawyer Adina Thorn told Mike Hosking Kāinga Ora needs to evict 1,000 to 1,500 tenants by her own calculations.   She says nobody wants to live in public housing when they're next people described as the worst of the worst.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Deputy Leader of New Zealand First says his party will step in to stop management of the Waitakere Ranges morphing into co-governance.  Auckland Council's proposing a board made up of Iwi, the Department of Conservation, and the council.   Act Leader David Seymour has also criticised the plan as moving towards co-governance.   Shane Jones told Mike Hosking they're not going to stand for it.  He says they won't tolerate any slither of the West Auckland heritage land being under that type of arrangement.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tory Whanau's shock U-turn not to run for the Wellington mayoralty again marks three consecutive one-term mayors for the capital.  Whanau has this morning revealed she's dropping out of the race, saying she wants to give Andrew Little a clearer run to victory.  It means Whanau, along with the two previous mayors Andy Foster and Justin Lester, only served one term in the job.  Former Mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast told Mike Hosking that's bad for the city, which needs stability.  Tory Whanau will stand for the city's Māori ward.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a belief changes to certifications and inspections for builders is a step in the right direction.  Legislation introduced by the end of this year will see approved building firms, drain layers, and plumbers allowed to sign off their own work on smaller residential dwellings.  Certified Builders Chief Executive Malcolm Fleming told Mike Hosking the Government's missed an opportunity to introduce a quality mark for builders.  He says that would give homeowners the confidence a builder has the credentials to do the job well.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charities have been spared from tax changes in this year's Budget.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis has been proposing revisions to tax rules that could see charities taxed on their business activities.  But she says there are still complex issues that need to be worked through before any rules are updated.  Tax expert Geof Nightingale told Mike Hosking it's likely too hard.  He says there's been several goes at this over the last 20 years, with not enough tax revenue being the main problem.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is being reported as a scrap, which I'm not sure is accurate. But if it is, it is a shame and probably a lesson for the combatants, who are both supposed to be on the same side. But under MMP, is anyone on the same side? Act are concerned about ACC and their current desire to solve safety issues in the manufacturing sector. But by putting a race-based lens across it, ACC want people who have answers, or programmes, for injuries to Māori and Pasifika. This of course is not what the Government is supposed to be about and a Cabinet edict says so. The shame of this is both sides, in fact all three sides, are at one on the issue. They campaigned on the issue and they campaigned on it because the last Government got so obsessed with Māori issues and language and acquiescing to everything cultural that a large swath of voters got thoroughly sick and tired of it. So why we are here after a year-and-a-half and a Cabinet instruction is beyond me. The fact ACC, or any Government department, are still trying this on is the real problem. It goes to a theme we have highlighted too often this term and that is that a public service don’t appear to be neutral, or operating under the instruction of the Government of the day, but rather to their own beat. There is no good news in two parties seemingly debating a formally agreed approach with each other and there is no good news in a department continuing to do something they shouldn’t. We have enough to deal with at the moment without previously agreed approaches being re-litigated or disavowed. Obviously work safety is not a race-based problem. It is an industry or sector problem and ACC should know this. Even if they didn’t, they should be following instruction. Act are on the right side of this. But they shouldn’t have to be given the point of Government is enactment of policy, not endless re-litigation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.