The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A Government inquiry into the Reserve Bank's decisions through the Covid era could have come far sooner.    The bank printed $55 billion worth of digital money, costing taxpayers more than $10 billion.   The review's findings will be released just weeks before the election – a move that's cast speculation of an underlying political motive by the Finance Minister.   Former Reserve Bank senior staffer Geof Mortlock told Mike Hosking the Government's taken too long to get on with it. He says he's been advocating for it, including to Nicola Willis, for at least two years, so it's well overdue. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Origin Air and Westport part of a wider regional issue in rural New Zealand?  Origin's Westport to Wellington flight is in jeopardy. It's not the first small airline in the first small town to face this trouble.  In fact, as a result of this trouble, the Government set up the Regional Infrastructure Fund for essential air services.  I suppose the key is the word "essential" – is Westport to Wellington essential?  The fund, it is suggested, is going to turn the airline down. Why? I don’t know.  So we seem to have a rock-and-a-hard place scenario.  Is life on the Coast about Hokitika? You can fly from there so is that good enough?  Add the insurance issue on the Coast in and how many hurdles does a region need before it becomes a bit hard? Before you essentially just need a lot of Government support to keep the lights on?  Of course it's the cold, hard reality of a small country with a small population that has decided, rightly or wrongly, to spread themselves out all over the place.  Numbers matter. Planes need to be full, businesses need demand. The equation has to make sense.  How much air connectivity is the right amount?  What about freight vs people? What about product to market that requires speed, not the volume of a train or truck?  How far should you have to drive? Hokitika is not far away. In fact, it could be quicker to go from Westport to Hokitika than it is from the North of Auckland to the South of Auckland where the airport is.  We do, once again rightly or wrongly, expect a lot in small town New Zealand. We love the quiet of the country and rural New Zealand, just with all the first-world services and conveniences, if you wouldn’t mind.  It's also true to say that small towns all over the world have the same issues. Places like Australia with its size, even more so than us.  But if you don’t have an air link and you don’t have insurance and you can't find a GP and the dentist is in the city on the other side of the alps, you get to a tipping point where it all starts to become a bit hard.  Is the Coast, or parts of it, in danger of that very scenario? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political tensions are flaring over the fate of the Government’s retail crime advisory group.  The Government's scrapping its Ministerial Advisory Group several months early after three members resigned last month, leaving just two.  Labour's Ginny Anderson told Mike Hosking it's been a disaster since day one with zero outcomes, lead by the group chair Sunny Kaushal.   She says he was a political appointment that backfired.  But National’s Mark Mitchell says they wanted to make sure New Zealand’s small and medium businesses had a strong voice, which Kaushal has been.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 11th of February, Trade Minister Todd McClay puts to bed once and for all what rights Indian students will have as part of the FTA.  Zoi Sadowski-Synnott discusses the success New Zealand is having at this year’s Winter Olympics, and her Big Air silver medal.   Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen talk the success, or not, of the Retail Advisory Group, the LNG facility and whether it's a fee or levy, and the latest in the House on Politics Wednesday.   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.

A Kiwi startup is launching a world first beverage, designed to reduce plastic pollution created by other drink companies.  Incrediballs is the world’s first plastic-free, effervescent drink tablet, which dissolves in water to create a flavoured drink.  Created by Ethique founder and former CEO Brianne West, it hopes to offer an alternative to single-use plastic.  She told Mike Hosking it's a game changer as normal effervescent tablets are fundamentally unstable and must be sealed in plastic or metal.  She says scientists have been working on stabilising these elements.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Things are continuing to flourish in Queenstown.  The mid-scale ‘Holiday Inn Express & Suites’, which boasts 277 rooms in the City Centre, is being refurbished to become ‘voco Queenstown’ – part of IHG’s premium portfolio.  The move targets high-end tourism, with the hotel running at around 90% occupancy for nine months of the year.   Hotel Council Aotearoa Strategic Director James Doolan told Mike Hosking that it’s normal to think about renovating and repositioning every seven to ten years, but upgrading to the next level is an encouraging sign.   He says central government’s increased investment in event attraction and destination marketing has allowed private businesses to invest in their assets.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's Winter Olympics team is halfway towards a goal of returning the country's biggest medal haul at a Games.  Luca Harrington has leaped from 11th to claim bronze with his final run in the freeski slopestyle at the Milan-Cortina.  The 21-year-old joins Zoi Sadowski-Synnott who bagged silver in the snowboard big air and has her preferred slopestyle event to come.  Alpine skier Alice Robinson and freeski halfpipe world champion Fin Melville Ives are also yet to compete.  Sadowski-Synnott told Mike Hosking it’s definitely the best Winter Olympics team they’ve had yet, and she’s so inspired by all her teammates.  She says they’re feeding off each other’s energies, and she gets inspired watching everyone else reach and achieve their goals.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Housing instability remains a major barrier for many in the Salvation Army's State of the Nation report.  The key findings show child poverty and material hardship are rising, cost of living remains high, and unemployment's increased.  It's found unaffordable rents and rising homelessness are disrupting education, employment, and wellbeing.  Salvation Army Analyst Paul Barber told Mike Hosking 25% of people's incomes in rent is considered affordable, but this isn't the case for many.  He says some people are paying up to 40% of their incomes on rent.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Retail Crime Group chair is brushing off criticism from former members. The Government's scrapping its retail crime Ministerial Advisory Group early after three members resigned, leaving just two members out of five. Retail NZ boss and former member Carolyn Young said her relationship with chair Sunny Kaushal made the role untenable and as a politician, he's focused on making headlines. But Kaushal told Mike Hosking he's not upset how things went down with Young because he's focused on the victims. He says he won't respond to her public comments because he wants to get the job done and not focus on egos. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trade Minister Todd McClay's recognised he could have been clearer about aspects of his India trade deal.   He's in battles with Foreign Minister Winston Peters about the agreement's text, which hasn't been released.   Peters has criticised student visas being uncapped but McClay says over-arching immigration settings can still change.   He told Mike Hosking the deal's being legally verified, and India's asked us to withhold its release.   McClay says India's negotiating with the EU and US and are sensitive about what they've given us, so we can only talk about things widely when India agrees.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.