Mike Hosking Breakfast

Support for a one-stop-shop approach to recruiting health workers from overseas. National health agency Health New Zealand is setting up an international recruitment service, to make it as easy as possible for workers from other countries to move here and find jobs. It's part of a package to boost the workforce, including a recruitment programme and financial incentives. Accent Health Recruitment Manager Prudence Thomson told Mike Hosking the streamlined service will be fabulous. She says having a national health service will be positive for overseas nurses, and it'll be seen as a smooth process to come to New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVE

Justice Minister Kiri Allan says closing an electoral donations loophole will be a relatively simple fix. She's making a change following the New Zealand First Foundation case. A loophole in the law allowed an entity at arms-length from the party to take donations, without disclosing the donors. Allan told Mike Hosking the Electoral Amendment Bill will tidy things up. LISTEN ABOVE

In January farmer confidence was at the lowest level recorded in biannual surveys that Federated Farmers has been running since 2009. Last month's survey found it had dropped even further. More than 1200 farmers from around New Zealand responded to the July survey, Feds said. A net 47.8 per cent of farmers considered current economic conditions to be bad, down 55.6 points from January, when a net 7.8 per cent considered conditions to be good. "That's a huge drop in six months, Federated Farmers President and trade/economy spokesman Andrew Hoggard said. "Obviously inflation and supply chain disruption, fallout from Covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine are part of it, but continued concern over the pace and direction of government reform and regulation, not to mention staff shortages, are also contributing to uncertainty and gloom," he said. A net 80.9 per cent of respondents expect general economic conditions to worsen over the next 12 months, up 16.9 points on the Janu

National's Housing spokesperson is calling the growth in staff numbers at Kainga Ora 'unbelievable'. A leaked briefing obtained by Newstalk ZB reveals the agency plans to hire nearly 500 more full-time staff in the coming year. It's since gone back on that figure, saying it needs 465 staff and almost half will be to fill existing vacancies. Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking it comes at a time when only 21 net new state houses have been built in the past year. He says Kainga Ora is increasing staff and has a massive debt blowout, but can't actually build many houses. LISTEN ABOVE

Just how is our relationship with China currently? There have been prickly comments from both sides in recent weeks, Ardern during the meeting with Biden from our end, not to mention the encroachment of China into the Pacific. At the ever important China Business Summit yesterday, China's ambassador to New Zealand said we can't take the future of this relationship for granted and they want the Asia-Pacific region to be "our common home". Meanwhile former Prime Minister Helen Clark said that while there had been recent concerns, Ardern had put the record straight. Executive Director of the NZ China Council Alistair Crozier joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE

Disbelief from a senior nurse over TV show Shortland Street being used to help recruit health workers. The woman, who we've agreed not to name, says the profession has spent decades trying to conquer misogynistic, sexist and belittling stereotypes. She says she's been a nurse for 30 years and there's not been one day of her career that's felt like a soap opera. Shortland Street Producer Oliver Driver told Mike Hosking real-world nurses work as advisors on the show. He says they work closely together, and he doesn't know why anyone would think something they did was degrading, it's a lovely show. LISTEN ABOVE  

Time to catch up with one of our favourite emerging Kiwi artists. We first met Harper Finn during the height of Covid after his single Dance Away These Days became quite the hit. His early success saw him take out the breakthrough artist of the year at last year's music awards. Since then he's spent plenty of time in the states and has just released his debut EP Newcomer. And the first single from the EP - Different Skies topped the Kiwi charts. Harper Finn joined Mike Hosking in studio. LISTEN ABOVE

What a difference a day makes. 24 hours after the madcap nuttiness of paying out $800 million we don’t have, to people who may or may not reside here, and may or may not need any assistance at all, we then get the idea that we have $10,000 to get a nurse here. The cost-of-living payment is well intentioned, but oh so Labour in its delivery. In other words, it’s the usual wasteful mess dreamed up by a government that time and time again shows how little real-world experience it has. The nurse package, at least, starts off with good intentions, but also the real possibility it might play a part in solving a crisis. It would have helped if the Government had stuck nurses on the fast track to residency. It would have helped if we had opened borders quicker. It would have helped if we paid more for nurses. It would have helped if we trained more. It would have helped if we worked out that our health system generally is chronically underfunded. But given we did none of that, at

The Government admits it did not get its new lending rules right. There'll be further tweaks to consumer lending regulations, including narrowing the expenses considered to exclude discretionary spending. Double counting will also be reduced when it comes to credit contracts. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark told Mike Hosking if you don't get it right, it's important to fix it quickly. “If you’ve had thorough a review done, it pays to take the advice from it and make sure the law is working as well as it can.” LISTEN ABOVE

There's a major influx of overseas visitors booking tickets to New Zealand. Immigration figures show a 73 percent increase on pre-pandemic numbers. Most are either students or tourists, applying for visas. Malcolm Pacific Immigration Chief Executive David Cooper told Mike Hosking it's great news. He says behind those numbers are wonderful stories of families who haven't seen each other for two and a half years. LISTEN ABOVE

Today could see another historic milestone for the New Zealand economy. Unemployment is expected to fall from its current level of 3.2 percent, which is already the lowest since records began. ANZ is picking a figure as low as 2.8 percent. Eric Crampton, Chief Economist at the New Zealand Initiative, told Mike Hosking the economic situation is becoming more precarious. “In the current circumstances, it makes the Reserve Bank’s job harder.” LISTEN ABOVE

Another report has been added to a growing stack, criticising the Three Waters reforms. New modelling commissioned by the group Communities 4 Local Democracy suggests stripping councils of control of their assets isn't worth it. It's found councils could fund their water infrastructure for the next 20 years without needing to merge, impose new water charges, or change their debt caps. The group's chair Helen Worboys told Mike Hosking the Government's approach doesn't make sense. She says reforms don't need a gold-plated model, and keeping Three Waters assets contained within councils is a viable option. LISTEN ABOVE  

The boss of SkyCity says the Sky Tower will continue to stand out, as Auckland's skyline evolves. The iconic landmark is celebrating its 25th birthday today, marking the occasion with ticket discounts and family-friendly entertainment. SkyCity COO Callum Mallett told Mike Hosking it still looks fantastic, even after all the debate around its construction. He says public feedback, particularly around the lighting, is that it still looks current and he expects it'll continue to do so after another 25 or even 50 years. LISTEN ABOVE  

Do we need to follow in the footsteps of Australia when it comes to long Covid? The Australian Government are developing a national plan to respond to the effects of long Covid as estimates show about 4 percent of patients experience long term symptoms. Auckland University immunologist and long Covid researcher Anna Brooks joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE  

The Government's cost of living sop, cock up, circus, or whatever you want to call it, now has the potential to turn into a real political crisis. Issue one; they knew those offshore would get the money. So, money was going to people that weren't in the country, which was one of the Government's key criteria. Issue two; their excuse was it was too hard to do it any other way. Issue three; it added to inflation. The very problem they were trying to address by handing out the money. Issue four; it was money they never had in the first place. Issue five; they had no idea how many people would get it, that really didn’t want it, need it, or deserve it. Issue six; the Salvation Army weigh in saying the people they work with, the people who need it the most, aren't getting it because many of them are on welfare. Welfare meant you weren't eligible, unlike the Kiwi in Switzerland who hadn't been here for two decades. Now we have issue seven; 2.1 million

MPs Megan Woods and Mark Mitchell joined Mike Hosking to wrap the week's political news. LISTEN ABOVE

The reopening of international borders won't be enough to address the worker shortage and rising cost of living. Unemployment has reached 3.3 percent in the June quarter up only slightly from the record low 3.2 percent of the previous two quarters. Overall wages have risen 3.4 percent in the year to June, well below the inflation rate of 7.3 percent. ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Mike Hosking while increasing immigration will increase the supply of workers, it will also add to demand pressures. She says those who move here still have to eat and live, so we need to act on both fronts by equalising demand as well as supply. LISTEN ABOVE  

Insurers say the Government's new strategy for adapting to climate change is a positive start.The new framework outlines priorities for the next six years, with some coastal homes likely to be abandoned due to sea level rise. However, it's still unclear who's likely to foot the bill for the transition. Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton told Mike Hosking the strategy has a lot of good intentions. But he says the real test will be who does it, when they'll do it, and who pays. LISTEN ABOVE  

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan could become a massive headache for Joe Biden. The US House Speaker's controversial visit has sparked strong condemnation from China, further souring US-China relations. Biden didn't support the trip, but says he respects Pelosi's decision to go. Princeton University international relations expert Aaron L. Friedberg told Mike Hosking the Biden administration has mishandled the trip by allowing stories about its concerns to leak. He says any concerns should have been expressed quietly, and it makes Biden's administration look ineffectual. LISTEN ABOVE  

There's been a win in Sydney against council regulations. The Indian Home Diner operates on Oxford Street in Paddington and has become a go to for people coming home from town boozed, as they stop off for butter chicken filled naan rolls. They were doing this for years before the Woollahra Council stepped in and said actually what you're doing is illegal and you can only operate until midnight instead of 3am. Cue the outrage, until the local MP and thousands of others got involved. One of those was Woollahra Councillor Sean Carmichael who started a petition supporting the diner and Sean joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE