The Mike Hosking Breakfast

KiwiSaver is a newsmaker.  It's making news of late because of the so-called "hardship withdrawals".  Bad news is an easy headline.  What is covered less is the bulk of the KiwiSaver story i.e. lots of people are in it, the returns are growing and, for most people, it is a half decent way to save on a long-term basis.  But also in the latest quarterly statements (this is for the December quarter) is a fun fact that those who like to fixate on competition could do with looking at.  KiwiSaver and those who run the various funds is not a lot different to banking, or supermarkets, or airlines, or telcos, or power companies.  In other words, if you want to, you can ask some questions around competition.  Like the last Government, this Government has been fixated with competition, or lack of it. They have investigated it, jawboned it, threatened it, and sometimes introduced rules and laws to change it.  Yet punters choice rarely gets given the weighting it should.  In KiwiSaver there are about 25 providers and yet five have the bulk of our money. Why?  Is there a lack of competition? Clearly not. In fact, three of the top five are the banks. Oh, the irony!  We hate the banks, the banks rip us off, the banks are to be treated with the utmost suspicion, if only we had more competition with banks. In KiwiSaver we do and yet we can't flock to the banks fast enough with our life savings.  The lesson I think, if any of us want to learn it, around power companies and banks and insurance is basically we are lazy. Moaning is easier than doing something about our problem.  The laziness is never better exemplified in KiwiSaver than with the ridiculous number of default accounts i.e. people who can't even be bothered picking a fund.  There are 25 providers and five of them have 65% of the business, which is $90 billion of the $145 billion under stewardship.  Are we exercised? Are we worried? Do we even realise?  Don’t look now, but they actually do a good job as well. $5 billion was added in the past quarter.  Unless you're in Bitcoin, and more fool you, over the past decade if you were in the right fund you’ve been getting about 9% a year, every year, for 10 years.  That almost sounds like a model that works. It could be the competition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

France has launched its biggest military drill since the Cold War.  12,500 troops, 25 ships, and 140 aircrafts have been mobilised in the three-month Orion 26 exercise, which is intended to prepare for the growing threat from Russia.  The drill will ramp up in April, as it will be placed under NATO command and include NATO forces.   France Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking the reason it’s such high intensity is because there’s never been a confluence of threats at this level before, according to the French military.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a rallying cry to staff and is insisting he won't step down.    Downing Street communications chief Tim Allan has quit saying he wanted to make way for a new team.   It was after Starmer's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney's quit, taking responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.   Starmer addressed staff at his office, saying they must prove politics is a force for good.  UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking Starmer’s been a disaster, but he hasn’t left before, and he’s not going to leave now.   He says he’s aided by the fact that the next election is three years away, so he can always say things will improve greatly over that time.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 10th of February, Energy Minister Simon Watts provides some more details regarding a new LNG import facility.   Are we worried enough about the peach “dumping” from China? And does it extend beyond peaches?  Forensic science specialist Tom Coyle discusses his 37 years in the job and working some of New Zealand’s top cases.  Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From true crime to Sherlock Holmes to CSI, people all around the world have a fascination with crime, mystery, and forensics.   And Thomas Coyle has been up close with the field for decades.   He started his career as a fingerprint examiner at Scotland Yard when he was a teenager, before moving to New Zealand decades later, setting himself up as one of our most prominent forensic experts and crime scene investigators.   It led to him being named a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2024, and he now runs his own forensic business and teaches students from as early as year 2.   Coyle’s 37-year career is detailed in his new book, ‘The Dead Speak: My Life in Forensics’.  He told Mike Hosking there’s a lot of information in the book, but he hopes it’s honest, raw, and gives a ‘real insight’ into what forensic science is about at crime scenes.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s confidence a new gas importing facility will deliver benefits that outweigh the costs.  The Government’s confirmed it will build a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, with a contract expected by mid-year.  It says the project will save the country about $265 million annually – roughly $50 per household.  Energy Minister Simon Watts told Mike Hosking that Huntly Power Station only covers 50% of the energy problem, and while they have gas generation capacity out there, they don’t have the fuel to run it during dry years.   He says it’s why they need that certainty of volume and certainty of supply.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People are being urged to buy local tinned fruit as imports from overseas flood the market.   New Zealand’s peach industry took a significant hit last year, when Heinz Wattie’s told multiple peach growers it would no longer need their fruit.  It's because many consumers are choosing imported fruit instead after China dumped hundreds of thousands of canned peaches into the market at a much lower cost.  Hawkes Bay's Yummy Fruit Company general manager Paul Paynter told Mike Hosking there's a difference in quality.  He says if people buy a can of Watties and a can of the Chinese brand, the taste is night and day.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A proposed multi-million dollar liquefied natural gas import facility is winning support from electricity companies.   The terminal will be housed in Taranaki, with the Government aiming to have a "build" contract locked down mid-year.  It expects it will save each household about $50 a year once up and running – from late next year at the earliest.   Contact Energy's Mike Fuge told Mike Hosking it removes the drama of the system.  He says when suppliers and gas users can't get gas, everyone gets very uptight, and this brings a rationality to the market, so we aren't worrying about tomorrow.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions marks surround whether benefits from Crown Regional Holdings investments have been assessed properly.   More than half of their $433 million loan book is now considered at risk of —or currently in— default.  Most of the portfolio covers the Provincial Growth Fund and the current Regional Infrastructure Fund.   Infrastructure NZ Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Mike Hosking we've got to keep demanding accountability from these investments.  He says we need to better understand why these investment decisions have been made.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 9th of February, David Seymour on a huge amount of unqualified ECE sector teachers and if we're worried about it. The Prime Minister is on to talk unemployment, fast tracking and when we will announce a State of Origin game in New Zealand. Andrew Saville and Jason Pine talk the Superbowl, the Winter Olympics and the Davis Cup and it's disappearance from mainstream sporting events. Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.