The Mike Hosking Breakfast

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all. Good ideas: 7/10 Not a bad week. Monthly inflation data, the census scrapped, the Housing Minister to overrule council and health targets improving. Things feel a bit like they're moving. The Crusaders: 7/10 A great comeback story for Rob Penney, who was vilified a year ago, on the verge of being a hero this weekend. Nico Porteous: 7/10 Story of the week in some ways for me. Living his dream, charting his destiny, and mature beyond his years. I wish him well. Venice: 3/10 They're protesting the Jeff Bezos wedding. He has booked the place out, he is throwing money at the joint, and they are a tourist town. What is it you want? Radio NZ: 4/10 They're looking for people to quit and that, sadly, is what you get when the Willie 'Snake Oil' Jackson rolls his circus into town to hand out lollies that can never be real. The world: 4/10 It's a mess, isn't it? This time last week yet another war started and where traditionally we have a country and a leader that rises to the occasion, sadly these days there's no such luck. He's too busy launching his gold phone. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think this was the move of the week. Housing Minister Chris Bishop dropped the bombshell on local body operators that the Government has decided to give him the power to intervene around housing in local body decision making. Mind you, we could argue scrapping the calamitous Census was a good move, and indeed I'm a massive fan of reporting inflation data on a monthly basis, which sort of makes us look like a first world country. These are all good decisions. But as regards councils and housing, in the broader interests of this small country finally getting its fiscal act together, this move cannot come soon enough. The simple truth is we are over councilled. We have ludicrous numbers of local do-gooders in a vast array of fiefdoms making decisions that may, or may not, make any sense locally, far less incorporating themselves into the bigger national picture. Part of the problem is too often councils have not been up to much. Too many councils are littered with acrimony and in-fighting, progress is stalled, or watered down, or major work is ignored in favour of more headline grabbing material that makes the local representatives look good. Not all of course, but too many. From Tauranga, to Wellington, to Christchurch, to Invercargill; the infighting and dysfunction has become legendary. What you can say about central Government that you can't say about local Government is most of us took part in the democratic process and as a result this Government, rightly or wrongly, has a mandate to get on and do stuff. Mainly, stuff that got cocked up by the previous Government. If there has been a constant theme of this current Government, even from its broad-based supporters, it is that they haven't done as much as they might have. They have plans and ideas and announcements and KPIs. What they don't have is a vast array of results. They don't have tangible things that have been changed leading to us quite clearly being better off. With the Bishop announcement it would appear that message and the lack of traction is finally hitting home, and they have sat around the Cabinet table and worked out they have about a year left to put some major runs on the board so that election time is about delivery and not more promises. The country basically is too small for this many councils and committees. A lot of decisions have major national economic implications and as such, central Government has, or should have, a say. They will hate it of course. They will gnash and wail and moan about local democracy. But guess what? Big picture economic success is more important. The big picture, generally, is more important. The national story is more important. Christchurch learned this last week over their intensification scrap, which lasted years and cost them millions, that this Government is serious and on a central vs local head-to-head, only one side is coming out on top. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are early finishes to blame for the surgical backlog? Surgeon Chris Wakeman claims that public health professionals won't perform surgeries past the 4pm cutoff, causing backlog issues. Health NZ's Chief Clinical Officer Dr Richard Sullivan told Mike Hosking that early finishes do occur. The rosters generally run until about 4:30/5pm, and he says that there are very few operations that can be done in less than half an hour. He says they've been running weekend theatres to try get more people through, but you need quite a big work force to do that consistently. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Matariki this weekend, we've come to the end of a short week. Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson joined Mike Hosking to get their session of Mike-bullying in early – going after his expensive tastes, his lack of control over his life, and his special burgundy suede loafers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest carbon auction was a bust. It attracted zero bids, becoming the eighth auction to be declined. The secondary market currently sits around $58 a tonne, while the auction price sits at $68. ACT's Climate Change Spokesperson, Simon Court told Mike Hosking it shows that industrial emitters, such as coal users, already have enough units in the carbon bank to pay for this year's emissions. With the success of the secondary market, Court says it's evidence the Emissions Trading Scheme and the carbon markets are working quite well. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Crusaders' current Super Rugby season is like chalk and cheese when compared to the las. They missed the playoffs in 2024, with just four wins in 14 matches. In contrast, this year sees them host the grand final against the Chiefs – clashing at the Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday. Coach Rob Penney told Mike Hosking the Chiefs have beaten them twice this year, but neither team is the same team as they were on those occasions. He says it's going to be another tight match, and the team that holds its composure the longest, prepares the best, and plays the best will be the ultimate victors. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Thursday 19th of June, what will our GDP number look like? It's set to look quite healthy, but will that give us false hope in Q2? The Crusaders are going to win the Super Rugby final this weekend, so coach Rob Penney is on to tell us how they'll do it. It's a short week, so Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson get to have their Mike-bullying session slightly earlier as they Wrap the Week. 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 sleep-expert assures Melatonin is safe, but is still urging people to take caution. Medsafe has given approval for the sleep drug to be available over the counter at pharmacies. It is commonly used to treat insomnia or jet lag. Sleepwell Clinic Director Alex Bartle says potential side-effects are fairly minor, and long-term effects aren't fully understood. However, he doesn't believe it's as valuable as it's made out to be. Bartle told Mike Hosking behavioural treatments are much more effective. He says a 2017 study shows a person's total sleep time after taking the medication didn't improve, and says he doesn't prescribe Melatonin at all. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are concerns scrapping the traditional census won't deliver the desired results. Stats NZ is moving to a system using Government collected admin-data, saying the current five yearly Census is financially unsustainable. Census-style questions will still be asked in much smaller annual surveys looking at a small fraction of the population. Former national statistician Len Cook told Mike Hosking data-wise, this won't cut it. He says admin-data comes from about a dozen different sources, none of them complete. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The economy is expected to look better than earlier predictions. Figures —due out from Stats NZ this morning— are expected to show the country's GDP grew 0.7% for the first quarter of the year. It's slightly higher than 0.4%, predicted earlier this year. ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley told Mike Hosking things are expected to slow through the middle half of the year. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, perhaps the most startling thing of the news yesterday that our old mates at the state radio broadcaster have opened a voluntary redundancy programme, is that they've never done that before. 100 years they've been doing the business at Radio New Zealand. 100 years, never had a voluntary redundancy. Tells you something about how insulated the real world from the real world they are. Mind you, I don't even know that's true actually, because Radio New Zealand used to be a whole different beast. In my early days of broadcasting, Radio New Zealand encompassed commercial and non-commercial radio stations, and there was, I can tell you from personal experience, no shortage of carnage fiscally. The place was run by halfwits and we were permanently in a state of flux, if not carnage. The most famous might have been a thing called Project Aurora, where we allegedly all took pay cuts – that was a scandal in and of itself. So it's not like the media hasn't seen tricky days, and I think that's the ultimate point here, isn't it? There's a tremendous amount of coverage of the media, too much, really. And if I can be a little bit blunt, a lot of the tough stuff in the industry is no more upsetting than the dark days for any number of industries. Also, and this applies to Radio New Zealand, if you live in a false world, it will catch up with you eventually. Yes, media like a lot of industries is changing, but then it always has. 44 years in and counting for me, I can tell you media has been in a constant state of change, if not upheaval – it's all I've ever known. No, it wasn't always Google or Facebook nicking the ad money, but it was video, or TV, or deregulation of licences, or rubbish management. Having worked at Morning Report myself, you've never seen such a sheltered workshop of lavish staffing and indulgence. They enter the Radio Awards every year and apart from not winning, the joke in the industry is the number of producers they've got: 19. Are you serious? For contrast, this show, which 1. wins and 2. has more listeners, has three. And that includes Glenn, which is debatable as to whether we should include him at all. I wish no one ill will, don't get me wrong. I wish no one ill will. I wish boom times prevailed across the whole landscape. But equally, I wish people lived in the real world. And Willie Jackson handing out tens of millions is irresponsible politics, not a business plan. Willie and his ilk, as always, never paid the price for this. The poor sap who took the new Radio New Zealand job will. The money that pays for jobs has either earned or it's given. If it's given, it's always on a whim – in this case a political one. It is not their fault that Willie is an idiot. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Right, let's deal to the economy. There were two interesting things yesterday. The first was the food price inflation number showed it is not contained. Why it is increasing beyond broad inflation is a many and varied thing, and the upside of these numbers is we can control them to a degree. You don't have to buy chocolate, given cocoa is through the roof. You don't have to buy butter, or a lot of dairy. Vegetables are up, but that is seasonal. Seasonal fruit and vegetables are always reasonably priced. Water though, which was the second thing, is not a luxury. Our bill arrived yesterday and, yet again, the price is going up, this time by 7%. It's like rates and electricity – they're all going up and they're all going up beyond the band of inflation. The trouble with this is severalfold. Firstly, this in and of itself is inflationary and it isn't productive. In other words, we are no better off. I still use the same water, it just costs more. Ideally what you want is more stuff done to produce the income to afford the bills. So if the cost of living is going up 3% and your income is going up 5%, we are okay and are ahead of the curve. This, sadly, is not happening. So we most likely have no growth driving the economy and yet we have increasing costs to operate that non-productive economy. That my friends is called stagflation. So, can we control Israel attacking Iran and the oil price spiking? No. Can we control the cost of the ship through troubled Middle Eastern waters? No. But can we control, to some degree, this incessant cost-plus accounting that's going on domestically by people who got the taste of price increases during Covid and basically never stopped? You would hope so. This is a central Government thing, especially given a lot of these businesses, weather and power companies, water agencies, or councils have a major central Government input. If the banks were right yesterday upon the release of the services sector numbers when they said this was an economy in recession, again, price rises in food and water aren't helping what is becoming an alarmingly large hole. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moana Pasifika are downplaying their dependence on outgoing skipper Ardie Savea. He will miss Super Rugby next year to take up a sabbatical in Japan, before making a 2027 return. Savea is signed with NZR through to the end of the 2027 World Cup in Australia and will end up spending half of that cycle playing in Japan. Franchise boss Debbie Sorensen told Mike Hosking that Savea's contribution might look inordinate, but there's a lot of things that go together to make the team work really well. She says that he's worked quite hard to ensure he's not the single outlier, working hard to bring the squad together and mentor other players. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Mitchell's hoping to broaden relations with China in his role of Minister for Ethnic Communities. He's in the Chinese economic capital of Shanghai with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Mitchell's meeting with the Kiwi business delegation today to plan out what they want to achieve. He told Mike Hosking trade, food, and education are on the agenda. Mitchell says they're all ambassadors for New Zealand, aiming to solidify a relationship with China. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's having another crack at mental health, allocating $36 million to suicide prevention. Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey's unveiled a five-year approach for addressing high suicide rates. The new Suicide Prevention Plan includes strengthening the workforce, targeting higher-risk populations, and improving community care. But Mental Health Foundation CEO Shaun Robinson told Mike Hosking they remain in a very resource-constrained environment. He says everyone will do their best with what's available from the Government, but a lot more is needed. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday the 18th of June, our food prices are on the way back up. Is it seasonal or is something happening behind the scenes? Our health stats are slowly trending in the right direction, and Health Minister Simeon Brown also answers the question as to why surgeries in public hospitals don't happen past 4pm. Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell talk Mark's lengthy trip over to China, scrutiny week, and the elective surgery load being taken on by the private sector 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.

The Government is delivering an increased number of elective procedures to try to meet patient wait time targets. More than 84% of cancer patients are starting treatment within 31 days – 1% more than last year. Health Minister Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking they want that up to 90% by 2030, and are working to speed up treatments. He says they've swiftly outsourced nine thousand 500 electives to the private sector in an effort to get Health New Zealand moving faster. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's being suggested the pricey cost of our food baskets is great for the economy but bad for our wallets. Food inflation has risen 4.4% annually, the highest in 18 months. Meat, poultry and fish had the biggest increases, while butter, milk and cheese drove grocery prices. Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin told Mike Hosking increases in foods like Kiwifruit and butter is fantastic for New Zealand's economy, but tough for households. Quin says they're doing everything they can, but they can't contain the same costs of energy and people. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's being suggested small businesses are finding it tougher to get loans than big businesses, despite being a safer option. The latest data shows the compound annual growth rate of bank lending has slowed from 6% to 1.5% since 2013. Small Business NZ Founder Phil Wicks told Mike Hosking most banks are making business hard. He says lending to someone with skin in the game should be more attractive to banks. Wicks told Hosking many banks assess loan risks like it was centuries ago. He says there are small businesses with strong work ethics, no debt, and personal guarantees, still being declined LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump's recent social media posts hint at major escalations in the Iran and Israel conflict. Israel and Iran continue to trade strikes, with at least 224 Iranians and 24 Israelis killed since hostilities began after Israel's initial attack on Friday. US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking Trump's posts mean we could be on a brink of a rapid shift in the American role in the Iran and Israel conflict. He says Trump wrote that they now have complete and total control of the skies of Iran, which echoes exactly what Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu said in his most recent US interview. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Vocational Minister's hopeful students will flood back to polytechs after the model is de-centralised. Staff-to-student ratios are still lower than they were in 2016, despite staff numbers being slashed by 8.2%. Penny Simmonds says low ratios signal financial trouble. She told Mike Hosking student numbers have dropped by 11,000 since Te Pukenga was established in 2020. Simmonds says the Government's working hard to get student numbers up and viable again. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week when Shaun Johnson was in the studio, we were discussing retirement. Not mine, but that's of growing fascination to me these days. When do you know? If you aren't getting cancelled, or run out of town, or falling apart, how do you know? John Key famously had nothing left in the tank. Johnson was explaining it was important for him to go out when he decided, not when he was dropped. The TV stuff he now does was something he was interested in, but didn't know how it would unfold. Johnson at 34 years old seemed young enough. I look at people like Tom Brady in his mid 40's. One more season, one more chance at greatness, and he goes out a hero with another Super Bowl win. I look at Aaron Rodgers, who has signed at Pittsburgh this year. He looks like he has gone a season too long. He looks like he is looking for work, when he should really be looking for life after football. Maybe this season will make a fool of me, but I doubt it. But all of that pales in comparison when it comes to Nico Porteous. He is walking away from his snow sports career at 23 years old. He doesn't want to use the word retirement, but equally he won't be at the Olympics anymore. As our most successful ever snow sport athlete, it is over. He also doesn't know what he is going to do, or what his future looks like. But he has enjoyed videos and production so maybe that's a path. How do you decide that at 23 years old? How do you know that it's right? Who advises you? How do you know they're right? Having spent your entire life aiming for the one big thing, sporting excellence, how do you pull the cord when you have, if you want, years to go? Are you one of those people who can walk away from that level of exhilaration and success and not look back? Is now knowing what's next part of the thrill? Will you keep the scrapbook of memories? Will you tell your kids or grandkids about the halfpipe? Will they ask how come Dad can do flips on skis when they first go to Cardrona? What a big call with so much ahead of him. Or was what he did plenty? Is that a good way to see life? I admire him. Is he reckless? Could be. Maybe he is an insightful genius. Either way, I admire him. At 23 years old I would have tortured myself, and probably still wouldn't have done what he has. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ian Foster was one of the more polarising All Blacks coaches in recent memory. He took the helm after the superb record of Sir Steve Hansen, and during his time there were constant discussions surrounding his job security. During his tenure he had a win rate of 70% and lost New Zealand the number one world ranking, but at the same time, he won 4 Bledisloe Cups, 4 Freedom Cups, and 3 Rugby Championships, as well as coming within a point of winning the Rugby World Cup. Foster is still in the coaching game over in Japan, but in the meantime, he's written a book called ‘Leading Under Pressure', that tells the story of his time with the All Blacks. He told Mike Hosking he had never intended to write a book, but felt it was an important story to tell. “A lot of the feedback we got is that people actually saw a team go through a journey over those four years,” he said. “I just felt that I almost owed it to my management team and a lot of my leading players to actually tell the story of the journey of that particular team.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 17th of June, we have good news around the number of families moved out of emergency housing and where they've gone. Small hint - it's not to cars or the streets. At 23 years old, Nico Porteous has decided he wants to retire from the Olympics, at the peak of his prime. He joined the show to delve into his decision. Former All Blacks coach Ian Foster has a new book out about leadership and his time in the top job, so he's on to talk all things pressure. 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 growing number of New Zealanders perceive China as a threat. A new report from the Asia New Zealand Foundation surveyed 2,300 locals between November and December, with an additional poll in March. It shows New Zealanders' perception of China as a threat rose from 28% to 40% over four months. Jason Young, Director of Victoria University's NZ-China Research Centre, told Mike Hosking the big jump in threat perception happened in March, just after Chinese Navy conducted exercises in the Tasman Sea. He says that New Zealand has seen China and its military grow, but its military has always been very far away, and coming into the Tasman changed that. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nico Porteous is walking away from competitive free skiing, retiring at age 23. The Kiwi Olympian has admitted his 2022 Olympic gold and 2018 bronze in the freeski halfpipe have contributed to his decision. He told Mike Hosking he set out with a number of goals when beginning his career at age 12, and he's now achieved those goals. “I feel as if the ‘more, more, more' mentality can often lead to doing damage or leaving a sour taste in your mouth,” Porteous said. “So I just wanted to call it.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel's operation against Iran is expected to "take weeks, not days", as tension escalates between the countries. 224 Iranians and 24 Israelis have been killed since hostilities began after Israel's initial attack on Friday. Features editor at Jewish News Syndicate, Steve Linde told Mike Hosking Israel has a few days to try to end this, before they alienate the world and go too far. He says Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to change the face of the Middle East by realigning forces for and against Iran, while the Americans want to strike a deal diplomatically. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's confident it's getting on top of youth vaping, with more rules coming in today. New rules come in today including stricter advertising restrictions for vape retailers and a ban on disposable vapes. It's in an effort to clamp down on youth vaping, with around 10% of teenagers currently regular vapers. Associate Health Minister Casey Costello told Mike Hosking she believes we'll see further declines in youth vaping. She says Action for Smokefree data shows youth vaping rates have declined over the last three years. However, she says New Zealand isn't ready for a full crackdown, and Australia's prescription only approach won't work here. She says Pasifika and Māori continue to have the highest smoking rates, and reducing availability for those who aren't engaging with the health system is problematic. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's work to tackle emergency housing appears to be paying off. Only about 500 families remain in emergency housing after one year of the Government's Priority One policy. It bumps families to the top of the social housing waiting list if they have dependent children and have spent more than 12 weeks in emergency housing. Almost a thousand families with more than two thousand children have been moved from emergency housing motel rooms into homes, since the policy took effect Housing Minister Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking they're well on the way to solving the problem. He says under Labour's government, there were more than four-thousand families living in motels permanently. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As much as we tried to celebrate last week's excellent economic numbers regarding the food and fibre, the bullishness of Fieldays, the boost in elective surgery and the boom in teacher numbers, what you can't ignore is the manufacturing read for April. It hit a brick wall. It fell over six points and is below the 50 point expansionary mark. A couple of key things about that - while services and sentiment and spending figures have been bad manufacturing, for months now, has been on the increase each and every month. It has been above 50, it has been growing. It has been a significant green shoot in the overall economic picture. The other thing is employment. That is a sub category that had its biggest reversal in the history of the index. What makes this worse? For those of you saying "oh, it will be Trump", the experts don't think it is. So the big question is, how much of it is the world? Remember the World Bank last week reduced global growth all over the place. So how much of it is the world vs how much of it is the U.S? Has New Zealand Inc hit a tough spot? For trainspotters it was suggested fairly far and wide at the time that April and May seemed to be an issue. All the momentum that we felt we had at the start of the year had suddenly run out of puff. These numbers would tend to suggest the vibe was real. Ironically this week we get the GDP figures for Q1, that's January, February and March, and the broad consensus is that we will have seen good growth. They think about 0.7% for the quarter. If you annualised that out it gives you a number very close to 3%, which anyone would take in this troubled and turbulent world. But we can't annualise it out, not with manufacturing numbers like this. It might be short term. It may involve the Reserve Bank and that idea they had that things were a bit neutral and therefore not needing a gee up. They may well be hopelessly wrong. Politically it's a hole in the head the Government don't need, because its not like they aren't pedalling fast. But when one of your major economic reads that was good, now isn't, it doesn't take an economics degree to recognise a big, fat, red flag. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister has laid out his goals ahead of his visit to China. Chris Luxon is about to leave for Shanghai with a business delegation, before making his way to Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping. Luxon says he also wants to broaden the countries' trade relationship with a focus on red meat, tourism and education. LISTEN ABOVE OR WATCH BELOW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 16th of June, the police are starting the ball rolling on putting bodycams on our frontline police. The Prime Minister is gearing up to head to China but before that he pops in to talk the economy, balancing world egos and why we still have 10 sick days. Andrew Saville and Jason Pine talk the F1, the Super Rugby semifinals and Auckland City getting pumped by Bayern Munich. 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.

The Government makes another step forward in upping Chinese visitor numbers, with a tweak to visa settings and processes. From November, the Government will trial a visa waiver status for Chinese passport holders travelling from Australia, allowing them to visit for up to three months. They must have a valid Australian visitor, work, student or family visa, with the trial lasting a year. Immigration lawyer Arran Hunt says the number of Chinese visitors hasn't bounced back post-Covid, but believes this is a step in the right direction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The death toll continues to grow as the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates. Israel's initial attack on Friday has triggered a response from Iran as the two countries exchange air strikes. According to The Associated Press, at least 406 Iranians have been killed with 654 wounded compared to the Israeli death toll of 13. Israeli Journalist, Gideon Levy told Mike Hosking this is bearable for the short term, but what is unbearable is if it goes on for months. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell says told Mike Hosking that police bodycams would help clear up misconceptions in the field. He says he was talking to a young constable who was coward punched and a body camera would've made for compelling evidence. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers wants the cameras to be implemented after a decision was put off last year. Police are still looking into ways to deal with transparency issues laid bare when new tasers for frontline officers didn't include a camera. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US police have found a 'hit list' of names after they confronted the man who shot and killed Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband in the state of Minnesota. US correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that the 57-year-old suspect got away - but police were able to search his vehicle. He says they found a papers listing around 70 names of other targets - as well as anti-abortion material. The gunman had also shot another Democratic senator and his wife in their home - they both survived.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An increasing number of regional conflicts - as well as Donald Trump's tariffs, are threatening the global economy. Westpac Group Chief Economist Luci Ellis told Mike Hosking that she believes the tariffs were economic self-harm. She says they still threaten the US economy and trade patterns will continue to change, but other countries aren't going to escalate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hardly a surprise, is it? Adrian looks at what Nicola is offering to run the place, packs a sad, and is off. It's a pathetic end to a tumultuous period in which we, the people who paid him, deserved an awful lot better. The fact this information on the Orr resignation had to be dragged out of the bank by way of the Official Information Act, the rules of which were ignored as the bank failed to meet deadlines, shows you just what sort of place we are dealing with. How you conduct yourself is critical. It's critical to all of us and even more critical the further up the totem pole you are. There's nothing wrong with Adrian quitting if he genuinely believed the money being offered to run the bank wasn't enough. But you do it with some dignity. You quit, you serve out your period, you offer reasons for you quitting and you move on with life. In doing it that way you give us all an insight into what sort of human being you are. And in this case, you might well have been able to give us insight into how your organisation runs, what its thinking is, what the gap is between the bank and the Government and why you might be right, and they might be wrong. It doesn't have to turn into a scrap or a fallout. Just a series of adult ideas as to why people might see things at odds to each other. If Covid taught us nothing else, it taught us the critical role of a central bank and what sort of people run it. The way Adrian ran it is well documented and the general view held by many is widely traversed. But the sudden departure was another insight into why Adrian did things the way he did. He is petulant. You don't leave out of the blue and in silence. You don't bail on hosting an international finance conference having said you were looking forward to it. It's toys and sandpits with Adrian and then obfuscation from the bank when a few simple questions were asked. If you can't conduct yourself, and the bank can't conduct themselves, with any great level of clarity, transparency and professionalism, is it any wonder the economy got run over the way it did? Ol' Adrian won't be missed. But you would have hoped for something a bit more sophisticated on the way out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all. Ryan Fox: 9/10 Living the dream by winning. It rarely gets better, and another chance at a big one over this weekend. Greta Thunberg: 2/10 Not kidnapped, just fantastically annoying. She is a good example of where your annoyingness outweighs your effect on your cause. Adrian Orr: 4/10 Local disappointment of the week is both him and the Reserve Bank over their petty mucking around over simple questions. When its petty at the top, it leads nowhere productive. They should be embarrassed. The Warriors: 8/10 Can't stop winning. Another two points this weekend with the bye and two more after that against the Panthers. This is the journey to the promised land. This is our year. Los Angeles: 3/10 Was that an overreaction looking for a skirmish, or what? You can only show us an intersection of a few hundred masked try hards and pretend it's a "thing" for so long. Businesses and franchises: 7/10 Record sales. We're selling businesses like hotcakes. That's got to be a good sign for confidence. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Census, and some of those numbers released this week, really are a treasure trove of not just fact and stats but, I would have thought, hope. That astonishing move south, with the tens of thousands who have headed to the South Island and particularly Christchurch, is a framework for what the whole country could be. A few choice decisions, a bit of get-up-and-go, a bit of cooperation and a bit of vision. There are parts of this country that clearly have it right and are clearly magnets in their own right. Then there were stats around work. That very word "work" is a problem It's reported as a negative. "More and more people are working longer", indicating you want to stop. You want to stop of course because of the pension. You can stop anytime you like. There is no law around age and work. But the stats and the reportage of work and age are increasingly out of date. As we live longer, of course we are going to work longer. Why wouldn't we? Work is actually good for us. Work is fun. Work is rewarding, financially and emotionally. We are challenged by work. Work should not be a thing that you expect to end. It's the same as health and fitness, or diet, or leisure. 50% of us are working between the ages of 65 and 69. A quarter of us are working between ages 70 and 74. Even 10% of workers are over 75. And why not? If you resent it and have to work, fair enough. If psychically you are knackered, sure, play bowls. But the days of Grandad and a gold watch and one company for life and the company pension are long gone. We need to break the psychological hold Superannuation has over us. It's not even a lot of money. If it was lotto I'd get it. But it's a bare minimum and it speaks, sadly, to this country's productivity and work ethic that too many are too reliant on it. Working longer will actually lead to better health outcomes. Hopefully the kids, who the Census tells us are working more as well with teenagers having never been more employed, will enter the workforce with a view that work is for life, because we see work for the good, not work for the drudgery. If you happen to be working into your old age and doing it in the South Island, that's not a bad life at all.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India's set to lead an investigation into a plane crash in Ahmedabad, which has killed at least 290. The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed onto a doctor's hostel right after take-off, heading for London's Gatwick Airport. According to the Telegraph, the last words from the pilot were 'Mayday, no thrust, losing power, unable to lift'. US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking this is the first fatal crash by this particular Boeing model, of which there's about a thousand in service around the world. He says experts believe the black box should contain a significant amount of information about the crash, and no doubt Boeing and US safety inspectors will play some role in the investigation. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some good news for the New Zealand fashion industry. The once troubled NZ Fashion Week has secured a three-year partnership deal with Giltrap, ensuring its future for the next few years. It comes after the event was cancelled in 2024 due to economic uncertainty. Owner Feroz Ali told Mike Hosking it's going to be an amazing show this year. He says they have a packed schedule for the five day event, with emerging designers, new designers, and designers that probably haven't shown for 15 years all returning to the runway. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.