The Mike Hosking Breakfast

It's no surprise that Nicola Willis has pushed out surplus by another year.  That now makes it three years in two years, as in she has delayed surplus by three years in just the space of the two years she’s been at the Finance Minister’s desk.  Had she kept her pledge, the one she made about tidying up this country’s books when asking for our votes in 2023, we would be seeing a surplus next year.  Now it’s 2029 at the earliest.  Getting our books back in order is important if we don’t want our kids to pack up and leave for Australia when they’re old enough to.  Nicola can blame everyone from Treasury to Trump if she wants, but she has not done enough to get us back to surplus.  She has defended, and kept, Jacinda’s wasteful policy of paying for one free year for university students. The policy has been repeatedly criticised as a flop that doesn’t actually make anyone go to university.  Cutting that would save us in the vicinity of $1 billion over four years.  She has given welfare to households on more than $200,000 a year by giving them money for childcare. People on that kind of coin don’t need benefits.  Cutting that would save $1 billion in a little over five years.  She still hasn’t cut or income tested the Winter Energy Payment, which is going to people who are still in the workforce and being set aside for nice trips to Fiji.  Cutting that would save $1 billion in less than two years. Trimming it would save less, but it would save something.  She has cut 2000 public servants when Grant and Jacinda added 14,000.  Be in no doubt - money is tight.  But there is still a lot of waste that could be cut if Nicola Willis was brave enough. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The son of Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner is being held on suspicion of the murder of his parents.    Police say 32-year-old Nick Reiner's been booked for murder after Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead in their Los Angeles home.   They say he's a suspect in the case and is being held on a US$4 million bail.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Reiner and his wife had apparently taken their son to a holiday party, where he had apparently been disruptive, the day before their bodies were found.  He says it allegedly led to a shouting match between the father and son.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Heather du Plessis-Allan was joined by Labour’s Ginny Andersen and National’s Mark Mitchell to recap the highs and lows of 2025 on the final Politics Wednesday for the year.  They also discussed the retail crime numbers, the state of the Government’s books, the need for a social media ban, and the situation with Nicola Willis and Ruth Richardson.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A momentous day for New Zealand motorsport.  The Sir Colin Giltrap Raceway, a world-class karting facility in Auckland, is officially opening.  The track builds on the country’s heritage and pathway to the world stage.  It will be opened by Indycar champion Scott Dixon, who told Heather du Plessis-Allan it’s going to be huge, especially for the young talent in this country.  He says that we pack a big punch for such a small country, so it’s really great to see that everyone’s pulled this off.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A possible win for the General Practice Owners Association, as they take on the so-called healthcare duopoly and cost pressures.  Their proposal for a breakaway Primary Health Organisation is gaining traction, with 116 GP practices, covering 833,000 enrolled patients, showing interest.  If approved by Health New Zealand, it would become the country’s largest PHO, representing around 16% of total enrolments.   General Practice Owners Association Chair Dr Angus Chambers told Heather du Plessis-Allan that there’s widespread dissatisfaction within the GP community.  He says some of it’s because PHOs have gone off their path and are doing things that aren’t best for GPs, but they’ve also had years of underfunding and woeful workforce planning.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions over whether the postal voting system is working after a South Auckland local body election was overturned.  Judge Richard McIlraith ruled irregularities altered the outcome of the Papatoetoe vote for the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.  The case involved stolen voting papers and fraudulent use, and a new election must be held by April 9.  Former Deputy Chair Vi Hausia told Heather du Plessis-Allan this was discovered when names of people who didn't cast a vote, showed in the system.  He says groups of people also went to cast a special vote after not receiving their paper but found they supposedly had already voted.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government insists it has a plan to turn the economy around.  Treasury's Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows the country is first forecast to be in the black by 2029-2030.  The Finance Minister has admitted the country is borrowing money to pay the interest bill on the debt.  Nicola Willis told Heather du Plessis Allan that bill is about $9 billion a year.  She says around 80% of borrowing over the next few years will be for capital assets like hospitals, schools, and roads.  There may also be more cuts to the public service as they aim to get back down to surplus.   Economic growth is expected to be just 1.7% next year, and Willis says there's still room for efficiency in the public service.  She will be sending letters out to her cabinet colleagues to give them ideas on where they can make some savings.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Critics aren't convinced the Government's new mega-Ministry will work.   It's merging the environment, housing and urban development, and transport ministries into a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.   Right-wing think tank NZ Initiative executive director Oliver Hartwich says it will still report to the same number of ministers.  He told Heather du Plessis-Allan having it fully operational in six months is also ambitious.   Hartwich says the ministries are busy with RMA reforms, which are taking up all their resources.   He says putting a super merger on top of that could be asking too much.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This business of Australia tightening up its gun laws feels like it runs the risk of distracting from the bigger problems over there.  I don’t think guns were the problem on Sunday. Australia already has some of the tightest gun laws in the world.  This is a race relations problem.  This attack was predictable. There was no shortage of warnings.  Jewish businesses have been set alight in recent years, synagogues have been attacked, obviously Jewish people have been hassled, Israeli people have been denied customer service in Melbourne, cars have been set alight in an anti-Semitic attack and two nurses in Sydney lost their jobs for bragging on TikTok that they would kill Jewish patients.  There is a timeline on Time magazine’s website of all the events leading up to Sunday that is confronting.  The Albanese Government knew there was a problem brewing. They asked the special envoy on anti-Semitism to give them a set of recommendations.  For the last six months they’ve had those recommendations and done nothing.  So, tightening up gun laws is never a bad thing. Checking in on a licence holder every few years rather than never must be a good thing.  But if the Aussies think that’s the fix for what just happened, they are misguided and allowing themselves to be distracted. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Sainsbury is back in our ears, and he’ll soon be on our screens too.  Season three of the Kiwi comedian’s one-man murder mystery series has just released, but it’s actually season one that’s about to make the headlines.  The first season of his ‘Small Town Scandal’ podcast has been turned into an eight episode TV series, releasing in February next year.  It’s the biggest project Sainsbury’s done to date, but he revealed to Heather du Plessis-Allan that he’s struggling a little bit to recognise just how big of a moment it is.  “When you’re kind of working on a TV show, it’s just such a long process,” he explained.  “When you kind of live with it, to the minutiae of watching every little bit of it, it doesn’t feel like a big moment.”   Unlike the podcast, in which Sainsbury voices every role, he’s performing alongside other actors in the TV show – a bit of a change of pace. "The funny thing is we talked about me playing characters at the very beginning,” he told du Plessis-Allan.  “We talked about it, but it just turned, like, as soon as you do the kind of maths, it’s the logistics, it’s too bonkers.”   While he’s no longer behind the wheel for every character, Sainsbury is very happy with how actors such as Morgana O’Reilly have replicated them.   “They’ve gone above and beyond.”   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.