AI is another of those technologies or gains we make that has the capability to do a lot if left unchecked. 

But the key to all of this, as it has been with so many things before from the musket to the nuclear weapon, is self-interest. 

Ultimately, we don’t actually have any desire to wipe ourselves out, given if we did, we would have and could have a long time ago. 

I suspect the AI alarmism is driven by the fact people, especially the media, love to spread alarm and a lot of us don’t actually know much about AI. 

If someone tells us an army is coming and it's a robot army and there is nothing we can do about it, then a lot of us not applying logic or knowing any better will freak out. 

This bloke Jacob Coxon seems to the casual observer to be a couple of things: 

1) 27-years-old. It's never really a good thing to believe everything a 27-year-old spouts. 

2) A bloke with quite a keen interest in TV appearances. He was doing the circuit over the weekend and in my experience people who like being interviewed frequently have ulterior motives. 

This isn't to say he hasn’t seen a lot of weird stuff at the office and it's not to say he isn't freaked out by its potential. But it is to say he is working in a field of an extraordinarily exploratory nature and therefore the possibilities are vast, both good and bad. 

Rock and roll was the end of it. Video was going to kill the radio star, and Bob Dylan sang about the times a-changing over 60 years ago. 

The nuclear free Pacific was needed to avoid oblivion, Covid was a problem, toss in a depression or two, any number of wars and their potential escalation, China was going to take over Taiwan, North Korea was going to pull the trigger, the Bay of Pigs was going to be cataclysmic – how many do you want? 

How many times do we have to do the ol' "it’s the end" dance before we realise it isn't? 

And a 27-year-old hasn’t seen something no one has ever seen before. 

He's probably done us a favour in at least waking a few more people up to what is a very transformative time. But it's not end times. 

You will be able to try out the CRL before it's over. So, as you were. 

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An inquiry has suggested the Phillips children could've been found earlier, and there were communication failures between Police and Oranga Tamariki. 

Mark Mitchell says the police were dealt a tough hand in having to search in such a difficult area.  

He told Mike Hosking alongside improvements, the Phillips children remain the priority. 

Mitchell says he doesn't know where they are, but he knows they're being well looked after.  

Labour's Ginny Andersen told Hosking the report has exposed issues with the agencies, including hesitancy to act on reports from members of the public. 

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Supercars champ Chaz Mostert is in the country and the studio after it was announced the Race of Champions is coming to Wellington next year. 

Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen talk the Phillips report, angst on the campaign trail, and Ginny getting kicked out of the House for the first time on Politics Wednesday. 

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The international Race of Champions event debuts in New Zealand on January 9th and 10th. 

Formula 1's Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, Supercars' Chaz Mostert, and rally driver Hayden Paddon are confirmed on the starting grid. 

Mostert told Mike Hosking the drivers think it's such an awesome event, and are so honoured to be invited. 

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New Zealand's set to be hit by a strong El Niño system, which raises the prospect of extreme heat, floods, drought, and disruptive weather. 

Farmers are being urged to prepare for tighter margins and potential feed shortages, with DairyNZ modelling showing it could push working expenses to $6.78 per kilogram, and the breakeven milk price to $9.07. 

DairyNZ CEO Campbell Parker told Mike Hosking the sector remains strong heading into summer, with a lot of debt paid down over the past few seasons due to good milk prices. 

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A four-year hunt for the fugitives ended in gunfire last September when Police killed Phillips. 

An inquiry's exposed numerous failures by Police and Oranga Tamariki and a lack of information sharing. 

Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told Mike Hosking they ultimately achieved what they set out to do, which was recover the children. 

However, she says four years in the bush was absolutely too long, and she can't deny that the conditions the children were kept in were inhumane. 

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More than 6,500 visas have expired since 2023 without the holders leaving New Zealand shores.  

Americans topped the list of overstayers, followed by people from Tonga, China, the UK, and India. 

Compliance and Investigations General Manager Steve Watson told Mike Hosking employment is a major drawcard for people who overstay. 

He says Immigration NZ is focusing on employers who unlawfully hire migrants, which can lead to exploitation. 

But Watson says they're not entirely sure yet why so many Americans have overstayed in the last three years, with the count sitting at 925. 

He says Americans don't rank highly in immigration's four priority areas —criminality, character, exhausted appeals, or employment— so more work is needed to work out what is going on with that group. 

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Phillips was shot dead by police a year ago after being on the run for four years with his children.  

An inquiry has found public agencies missed opportunities to find the children earlier, and criticised Police and Oranga Tamariki for their lack of information sharing. 

Social Development Minister Louise Upston told Mike Hosking it needs to be reiterated that information can be shared if a child is in danger.  

She says they may have been scared of getting in trouble or worried that information wasn't kept safe. 

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BERL have done research that suggests 15,000 students have followed pathways that may be harder to replicate. 

I'm not sure what the point of this research is. 

They also claim the changes come at a cost of $50 million, most of which goes into relief teachers to cover staff working on changes. 

The narrative is sort of presented as one of potential trouble, or a bleak future for kids that won't cope. 

Here is what I know as a parent of five, who all dealt with NCEA at various levels – it’s a joke. Not all of it, but a lot of it. 

The sad truth is that if 15,000 are not going to be able to carry on the way they were under this new system, I say not a moment too soon. 

NCEA was, without putting too fine a point on it, a piss-take. 

On paper the idea you could pick from a myriad of nice-to-haves, anything you want that didn’t need to be relevant to the real world or your chances at a job, was fun. You could piece together your eclectic selection of hobby topics and before you knew it, you had your credits. 

This was a farce. In theory it's fantastic. In reality it was a rort to game the system. 

When BERL say replicate the old system, this is what they mean; subjects no one cares about, or is getting work in, or subjects you may be interested in as a night class at polytech. None of it was designed to set you up for life. 

It was designed to produce a factory of success stories so schools could say look at our pass rate. 

You weren't passing anything of note. 

So the next problem is when students turn up to real subjects, with real expectations, and they struggle. That will show up in figures. 

It will show up in fails. Oh, I used that word that can't be used in education – "fail", "did not achieve", "not passed". 

But that is how countries who succeed do it. They educate their kids in real-world subjects at real-world rates because, guess what, they are going out into the real world. 

Our foray into educational fantasy was always going to end in tears. Between Covid and 25 years of NCEA we have sold a generation of kids short, if not down the river. 

Sure, lots did fine. But that’s always the way. 

Good kids never fail. It's the rest who didn’t know better, or who took the mickey, that will, and are, paying the price. 

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The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index rose to 51.2 in August – it's strongest result since September 2023. 

New orders and business rose to 55.2, while retail climbed above 50 for the first time since January.  

BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel told Mike Hosking the new orders number is the bright spot on the survey and gives them hope that recovery is going to broaden. 

He says exports are a pretty big driver of things picking up, especially primary exports, which is then driving activity in areas like transport and storage.  

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Shaun White is launching his new Snow League World Challenge at Cardrona this weekend, the event preceding the league's second season. 

The highly decorated snowboarder told Mike Hosking he's been coming to New Zealand for a long time, and so naturally, he had to bring the league here.  

"It's actually one of my favourite places to go," White said. 

"So when I was thinking about bringing my event, the Snow League, y'know, around the world, I was like, we have to stop in New Zealand." 

Snow League is something White's dreamed of doing since he was competing himself, and says it's been nice to be able to use his voice in the sport to make it better for everyone else.  

"I definitely don't think we're where we want to be – we're growing still, we're trying new things, and that's why we're so excited to come to New Zealand," he told Hosking. 

"But the future is looking bright." 

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Is the UK about to split up? Leaders of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have met to discuss their right to seek independence. 

The G.O.A.T snowboarder and arguably the greatest snow sports athlete, Shaun White is winging his way here to launch his new competition in Cardrona. 

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The three first ministers have signed an agreement overnight, declaring no Westminister government has the right to block democracy. 

It's the first time they've shared the stance since the UK devolution began, with Scotland and Northern Ireland calling for referendums.  

King's College European Politics and Foreign Affairs Professor Anand Menon told Mike Hosking these political parties benefit when there's tension with London.  

He expects the rumbling of discontent to continue as long as this persists, as the leaders opt for political gains. 

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Rabobank's latest report shows global milk production growth has slowed to 1.4% year-on-year – its weakest since early 2025. 

Fonterra Co-operative Council Chair John Stevenson told Mike Hosking overseas weather patterns have constrained feed supply, and now the super El Niño could be upon us.  

He says farmers are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, but a prolonged dry spell would certainly hit New Zealand's milk production. 

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The number of people moving here outnumbered those who left by more than 20 thousand in the year to July.  

There was a net migration loss of more than 28 thousand to Australia last year – an improvement from about 31 thousand the year before.  

UVisa Immigration Adviser Tobias Tohill told Mike Hosking it's an encouraging sign. 

He says while departures are similar elsewhere, the ones to Australia have fallen below the long-time average.  

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The Housing Minister will announce details of amendments to the fast-track system later this morning after multiple council complaints about fast-tracked housing developments.  

Mt Hobson Group Urban Planning Specialist Hamish Firth says the fast-track system was well intentioned and has helped build things like new quarries. 

But he told Mike Hosking it's a system which needs to shift.  

Firth suggests they might not have expected so many housing developments to be included. 

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Stats NZ data shows 256,600 overseas visitors arrived in July – more than half of them from Australia. 

That's 0.4% higher than July 2019. 

Minister Louise Upston told Mike Hosking it shows a strong government focus on tourism can help drive demand. 

She says one in nine New Zealanders is employed in tourism and hospitality, so growing tourism is critical for growing economic opportunities. 

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The referee obviously didn’t help. Three captain's challenges and three times we were right and he wasn’t.

That’s before you get to the reports and sin bins and general pokey-nosery that he seemed to delight in.

The NRL has long had quality issues with officiating, and Saturday didn’t help the reputation.

The two points decision near the start surprised me, but that’s why Webster is coach and I'm not. He had clearly worked out all points were worth their weight in gold and given they were all, sort of, in front of the posts it worked well for us.

In fact a lot of the game worked out well for us. We had an early lead, a lead at halftime and a lead with a gap that gave you a sense we simply had to ride it out.

Until we didn’t, and the whole thing turned.

In that, as much as it might hurt to admit, was one of the great comebacks of the season. A side that was on the wrong end of most of the night rallies in a way the best sides can.

The Dolphins were awesome. In the end they deserved it. It wasn’t so much us capitulating as them being exceptional.

It's why the record was 50/50 going in. There is something about them and us that just makes it a coin toss. It ended the wrong way Saturday but it could easily be different next time.

The record is now 5-4, or 2-1 for the season, in favour of the Dolphins.

If you want glass half-full I've got two things for you;

1) I like the idea of not having a week off. I like the idea of the rhythm of a season.

2) It’s the Knights. We will beat the Knights and we will make the preliminary final.

So in that sense there isn't a lot to worry about. We get more football and presumably a full Eden Park and $1.5 million more for the NRL bottom line.

So two games until the final, three for the title.

It's still real, it's still alive. It's still our year.        

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The party has vowed to bring down temporary migrant population by 750,000 over this timeframe, with a focus on international students and the families of skilled workers. 

Australian correspondent Steve Price says immigration is a big issue for Australia, but employers have raised concerns about what this announcement could mean for their temporary workers.

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The list of Health Priorities  calls on political parties to take a smarter approach to health spending, including increased Pharmac funding, better workforce planning, and more opportunities to adopt medical technology.

BusinessNZ CEO Katherine Rich says good health policy is good economic policy, and it's important to look at healthcare as an investment. 

"If you invest well and differently, it means you can get people back to work...there are some concerns that we have had for a long time that we don't get the proportions of the health dollar spent in the right places." 

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The US president is downplaying the heightened AI risks, despite multiple days of dire warnings by experts.

Grok owner Elon Musk and Sam Altman of OpenAI are backing calls to slow down development to reduce the risk of something going wrong.

US correspondent Richard Arnold says Trump has downplayed the risks and said it's important to 'win' when it comes to AI.

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Despite being defeated 26-16 in their last qualifying final, the team's still hopeful ahead of Sunday's knockout clash.

CEO Cameron George says the team's back into training, and they're taking the 'scenic route' forward.

"We'll enjoy the geographical way forward, which is Newcastle, and then we'll go to Penrith...that's the plan, the boys know the game we're in."

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Thousands of commuters are expected to take the transformed network to work and school for the first time.

Auckland Transport group manager of rail services, Mark Lambert, says they're expecting things to be busy today.

"We're operating a lot more capacity than we did, for example, last week - we're really confident that the service will be operating really well today." 

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Luxon was at Ōrākei station on the Sunday it opened and he witnessed people coming from 'all over the place' to try it out, but he's hopeful this weekend won't be a one-off.

Luxon says the CRL will encourage more new residential and commercial developments, and reduce how long it takes people to get to and from work.

"I spoke to some people, actually, who just said it was going to take 15 minutes off their commute into the city."

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The PM gets a grilling on the carbon auction, Waitangi Tribunal report and the MSD screw up.

Andrew Saville and Jason Pine detail a mediocre weekend for Kiwi sport fans after the All Blacks and Warriors loses, but Liam tried to pick that up!

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Official advice shows every thousand jobs cut,  would save the Government 103-million dollars a year in salaries.

But redundancy payouts would eat into those savings — averaging 52-thousand 500 dollars last year per worker.

Minister for Public Service Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking staff numbers haven't fallen substantially under this Government.

He says they've been hiring more correction officers for example, because more people are being put into prison - due to their focus on law and order.

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You'll hear our listeners share their stories, how it can change lives, how it can make national and international headlines, and how it builds connection between the station and the audience. 

100 Years of ZB - Celebrating a century of New Zealand's conversation. Archival audio from the collections at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.  

New episodes every Sunday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts - powered by Newstalk ZB. 

Note: This episode contains audio of a mental health crisis and may be distressing to some listeners.

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I cite fast-track. 

Fast-rack is an excellent idea. It gets things done better than what we had previously. Just ask the Tauranga Port; they spent seven years going nowhere under old rules while under fast-track it took five months to be sorted. 

But on housing we have trouble. 

I've raised this with the Prime Minister, but he doesn’t get it or want to get it. 

The key to successful election campaigns is offering simple, practical solutions to what voters perceive as problems. It's called retail politics. 

A 5% deposit for a young person is material and it's practical. 

Fast-track housing developments have turned into exactly what I said they would – trouble. Angsty, edgy, piss-people-off trouble. 

The Auckland Council is now considering refusing services to new developments. This is just the start. 

Any number of fury-filled meetings have been held, from Central Otago to Northland, to Auckland and to Christchurch over large-scale, 1000+ housing developments that are using fast-track to get the tick of approval. 

This will cost the Government votes. 

All the esoteric nonsense like bank buybacks and AI centre funding and breaking up supermarkets is beltway wonkery. Getting your backyard upended is real. 

They have to get large scale housing out of fast-track. 

Luxon argues every time I raise it that it's not just about housing, and he's correct. But that doesn’t address the elephant, and if he doesn’t address it, the voter will. 

The practicality and success of a 5% deposit for a house is directly connected to fast-track. 

Think about it – for average voters it's about their life. Can they afford a home and is their home their castle? Is their neighbourhood theirs? 

While 5% solves one, fast-track housing risks another. 

Ask yourself this question: are we in desperate need of tens of thousands of new houses, in a stagnant market and falling prices? 

It staggers me they can't see this. Politically, they need to join the dots, and fast. 

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The 5% first home buyers policy: 8/10 

Small house deposits for first-timers is the policy of the week. In fact, it's the policy of the campaign so far. It's easy, practical, and solves an issue important to voters. 

Michelin: 7/10 

Possibly the most encouraging story of the week. The Michelin effect is real, it's ongoing, and the good operators can prove it. 

Chris Hipkins: 4/10 

Worst week in a long time. A second bad poll and growing questions around the campaign, or lack of it, and his personal ability to look like he's actually interested. 

Trump: 2/10 

Is making stuff up about 9/11 a new low? When does exaggeration and bombast wander into the territory of insult and plain BS? 

The Warriors: 9/10 

Rounded it out with yet more victory. Home advantage, a week off and, potentially, it's all a dream coming true. 

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It's indisputably true to say it hasn’t been their week, or even a good week. 

Some of the stuff that’s been bubbling for a while came to a, sort-of, head. 

The lack of policy, the waiting for this magical PREFU, which allegedly contains Lord-knows-what by way of fiscal revelation, that will somehow make billions upon billions of dollars in promises make some sort of sense. 

Are people who could vote Labour tired of waiting? Uninspired by the lack of vigour? Or just realising that the economy is coming back and the recovery is real, so some of the angst that drove them away from the Government is now melting? 

Are Labour not radical enough, so the Greens get a look in? 

Are people scared of the Greens and even more scared of the Māori Party, so the realisation has dawned on them that Labour can't do deals with mad people, so maybe the Government aren't that bad after all? 

Does the first meeting of the campaign for their leader, which involved 100 people and a cat, display the lack of enthusiasm, not just from Labour, but from their supporters who are channelling the lacklustre approach of their party? 

It's important to remember that of all the polling so far this year, the vast majority have never actually had Labour winning the election. But it did have them in front of National, which has given the media enough to feed on. 

But even that, in the past two polls, has slipped away and what was once the 'Luxon nightmare' is now the 'Hipkins drama'. "Is he the right guy?" 

Or is the ghost of 2023 back? As more people focus on their vote and what's happening around them, do the memories of the lockdowns, the fiscal failures, the kids not at school and the crime waves remind them that Hipkins, Sepuloni, Jan Tinetti, Ayesha Verral, et al are the same people? They haven't changed and the party hasn’t changed. 

Do the memories of the endless working groups come flooding back? And does the laziness of that period look a lot like the laziness of this period of minimal policy, of lack of vigour, of a lackadaisical Government bagging sound bite obsession? Does it remind us these guys work office hours and are out of original thought? 

It ain't over. But man, they look flat. 

And Hipkins looks flatter than most. 

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Donald Trump has offered every American adult $5000 if Republicans win the midterms in November – what would it cost to swing someone's vote? 

They also discussed whether there's such a thing as being too young to have a bucket list, and how despite the tough economy, there seems to be no shortage of money for things people want to do. 

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The $5.5 billion project opens on Sunday, with twin three-kilometre tunnels, two new underground stations, and an entirely new timetable for Aucklanders. 

It'll also see three new main services: the East West, South City, and Onehunga West lines. 

KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy told Mike Hosking they've done significant testing and run the trains over the last few months, and have had international experts look at the project as well. 

He says of any large infrastructure project he's been involved in, this would be one of the best in terms of a readiness plan before it goes live. 

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Andrew Webster details how the Warriors are going to beat the Dolphins this week as the NRL Playoffs begin. 

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson discuss what we could bribe Kiwis with to vote, whether 19 and 20-year-olds can have a bucket list, and the fact we always have money for concerts and activities as they Wrap the Week that Was. 

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The team have completed their best regular season ever, securing a club record 18 wins and 728 points. 

They're now facing the Dolphins at home on Saturday in front of a sold-out Mt Smart Stadium.  

Versatile forward Jackson Ford's made a full recovery from a torn pectoral muscle suffered in June to feature on the bench. 

Webster told Mike Hosking he was voted the best player in the competition before he got hurt and probably should've played for State of Origin. 

He says he's a welcome return for the finals.  

Webster told Hosking he's confident they'll claim the victory. 

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A new MBIE report shows renewables supplied 92% of electricity in the June quarter, with record geothermal generation and solar up 56%. 

Wholesale electricity prices also fell 66% compared with the same quarter last year. 

Shane Jones told Mike Hosking New Zealand needs coal and gas because there's not enough water in lakes or battery storage to guarantee supply. 

He's tired of people who think you can have these green accoutrements without a backup and won't support a model where New Zealand imports everything from overseas. 

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Around 30 thousand benefit and winter energy payments were stopped after an error caused by legislation rushed through Parliament under urgency last year.  

Minister Louise Upston doesn't accept the legislation was rushed. 

A review reveals issues were raised as early as April but only seriously addressed in August. 

Upston told Mike Hosking individual cases were being raised, but no one was putting it together and escalating it. 

She says the day she and senior leaders were told, it took 48 hours before all of the winter energy payments had been repaid. 

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Like all reports, you can look at stats in any number of ways. 

For example, if you want to feel good about yourself have a look at the Australian results. They're not good. 

So for a bit of Trans-Tasman rivalry, their numbers will give you no end of good vibes. 

The socio-economic gap the Government talked up seems real, so that’s indisputably good. 

But I have two major worries: 

We look good because essentially, we went nowhere, and we went nowhere against an OECD that went backwards. Standing knee-deep while others drown doesn’t seem to me to be a thing. 

I mean you'll take it. But I would've thought that comparing yourself to the ordinary is not quite as fulfilling as actually moving forward. 

But the really big one is the OECD going backwards, and the 'why'. 

I surmise the 'why' is the death of critical thinking. Kids no longer think for themselves and it's only going to get worse. 

The reports raise issues around disruptive classrooms, the old screen-time issue, and of course the fact that kids don’t read. 

This is global. We have multiple generations of non-readers and reading is the key to everything. 

Mix the lack of reading with AI, which will answer whatever you want, and basically, we are headed for intellectual oblivion. 

Like the calculator before it, technological advance is efficient and gets you the answer. But the link to critical thinking is "do you know the answer is right"? 

Of course you don’t and you don’t care either. 

No one asks questions No one is inquiring. The rise of gormlessness is frightening. 

It's there in the PISA reports – our kids are going backwards. Not reading, not adding and not firing up the ol' brains. 

In the intellectual swamp that is global education, we aren't too bad. So instead of worrying about that, we decide to pretend it’s a good news story. 

But being okay, or average, in a world of the hopeless isn't what I call achieving. 

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The self-taught engineer turned his love of rockets into a multibillion dollar space company, and Rocket Lab is now the third largest launcher of payloads to orbit. 

He's competing directly with the likes of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX, managing to hold his own against the billionaires, and can be credited as the reason New Zealand has a space industry in the first place. 

Although the future of the industry may seem uncertain, Beck's confident in his ability to chart a path forward.  

"The space industry right now is an amazing place," he told Mike Hosking.  

"It's just growing rapidly. Like, it was $360 billion, they reckon it's going to be $1.7 trillion in the next five years."  

"It is really, you know, a new bastion of ... industry and growth."  

Going from being a small player starting his own company to a major corporation answerable to shareholders was a steep curve, Beck said, but one they were able to handle. 

"We've always run the company, you know, incredibly frugally," he explained. 

"We are never gonna outspend Jeff and Elon, so we have to be, you know, much more careful with how we build the company." 

"We have to out-hustle them and out-innovate, and that's the only way we can survive."  

And that ethos of hustling to survive has become a great advantage for the company, Beck's self-described 'workaholism' and drive flowing through into the very culture of Rocket Lab. 

"If you look at the resources and what we try to chieve in the time frames – it's insane," he told Hosking 

"We built two spacecraft that are currently on their way to mars right now, we did that in a couple years ... ten years ago that would be like, a half a decade NASA project, and we did it in two years." 

"The Rocket Lab hustle is everybody's expected to get out their spades and just start digging under the barrier or, you know, climbing over the top of it, or whatever it takes." 

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Launched in 2022, free-spending LIV caused shock waves and bitter divisions in the golf world, before losing the backing of its deep-pocketed Saudi investors earlier this year, prompting a scramble to stay afloat. 

The organisation has filed a Chapter 11 petition, which allows a company to reorganise operations while avoiding the initiation of any lawsuits, debt collection, or other attempts to enforce closure. 

Former PGA Golfer Marcus Wheelhouse told Mike Hosking it's possible a new model will emerge from the other side of this, though it will be smaller. 

He says the key is whether the brand will survive from a reputation point of view, as they owe a lot of people and organisations money. 

Wheelhouse says they have a lot of challenges ahead.  

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All Blacks winger Jordie Barrett details how they'll tie up the South Africa series in Baltimore this weekend. 

Sir Peter Beck explores the extraordinary rise of Rocket Lab and going up against the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to be the number one launch company. 

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Both sides are coming off a 20-hour flight from Johannesburg to Washington following Sunday’s third test, which shortens the preparation window for the final clash of the series in the US.

“It’s still a test match against the Boks for the All Blacks, but it’s certainly been a whirlwind 48 hours. We poured a whole lot of mental and physical energy into the test in Soweto, come off second best and four hours later we’re sitting across an aisle on a chartered flight with the Boks straight to Baltimore,” Barrett told Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB.

“We’re firmly on the ground now, we had a good training session this morning and test week is well underway.”

The All Blacks have lost captain Ardie Savea, stand-in captain Luke Jacobson and Barrett’s backline partner Quinn Tupaea for the fourth test after all suffered injuries in Soweto, adding to the injury toll for the tour. The Springboks have meanwhile made just two backline changes from the side that won the third test.

Coach Dave Rennie will name his All Blacks squad tomorrow with Barrett in the running as captain, with the likes of Codie Taylor and Patrick Tuipulotu.

Asked if he had spent any time considering whether or not the Baltimore test doesn’t count to the series because it was being played outside South Africa, Barrett said he believed that a drawn series is still alive.

“Certainly not. Like this Greatest Rivalry [series] was always a four-game series. There was a lot been talk about trying to win a test series in South Africa and that’s what we wanted to do ... this rivalry series is a four-game series and we’ve got an opportunity to go two-all against a team who’s been well established back-to-back world champions. We’ve only been together for a little while and we’ve got a chance to go two-all against them and that’s the opportunity that excites us for this weekend.”

Barrett, who has started every test for the All Blacks under Rennie, said the side were heading in the right direction under the new coach.

“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the past month and you do learn a lot about yourself against the best team in the world and on the road. I’m confident we’re heading in the right direction, that’s where we want to go and if we want to go to that place we’re probably going to end up playing the South Africans in a quarter-final in a Rugby World Cup.

“We are not overly pleased to be down 2-1 in the series, but look, we haven’t lost all hope in this group and there’s a lot of positives to come out of our last three games against the Boks. We’re not far away.

“What was it 33-16 in that first test at Ellis Park and we felt like South Africa probably had the wood over us for about 55 minutes. Couple of moments they get a yellow card and we win by two or three tries and we walk away from that test match all happy and we probably felt like we played better in game two and lost by seven points. And that’s just the way test matches are working at the moment and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it again in game three but there’s an opportunity for us to level the series two-all this week in the States. So it’s a completely different kettle of fish.”

Barrett added that the South Africa leg was “the most memorable and enjoyable tests you’ll play as an All Black”.

“I think just the country in general and their history and the relationship with the All Blacks and there’s certainly a great rivalry also between the two countries and enough flying at the moment in terms of their rugby. They’re back-to-back world champions. They’re a country that probably haven’t been as united in the past but it seems like rugby is bringing everyone together at the moment and they’re certainly riding a high. It’s tough playing in their conditions but it’s also the most memorable and enjoyable tests you’ll play as an All Black as well.

“As hard as the last three weeks have been for me, I’ve absolutely loved it.”

Cameron McMillan has been a sports journalist since 2003 and is NZME’s Deputy Head of Sport.

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Its latest housing outlook predicts a more measured, household income-led recovery, rather than previous borrowing-led booms.  

Chief economist Mark Smith expects national house prices to remain around 15% below the peaks of late 2021, which are unlikely to return until late 2029. 

He told Mike Hosking things got so hot because interest rates were at record lows, population growth was very strong, and buyers didn't have much choice, and those things have now flipped. 

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Ministers are now deciding what recommendations to keep from the Ministry for Regulation's completed review.

It highlights areas hindering food and drink operators, including alcohol licensing, high fees, and too many regulators.

Hospitality New Zealand CEO Kristy Phillips told Mike Hosking current rules are inconsistent across the country.

She says bringing it to one department will mean more gets done.

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The Herald's Project Canterbury report, out today, looks at the businesses, civic leaders, infrastructure providers, and investors driving the region's growth. 

ChristchurchNZ CEO Ali Adams told Mike Hosking the region has natural advantages helping fuel growth in sectors like aerospace and dark sky tourism, with an international airport just 20 minutes from the city. 

But she says things like a health precinct came from the earthquakes, and has been pivotal for the city attracting companies. 

But with plenty of room to grow further, the region is expecting some growing pains. 

Adams told Hosking attracting skilled workers will be the next challenge. 

She says there's amazing tertiary institutions in the region, but the sectors of growth rely on people studying science, technology, engineering, and maths, and that's dropping off. 

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It's launched its new Don't be a Stranger campaign, targeting Kiwis' friends and relatives across the UK, Canada, and Australia.  

This cohort spent a total of $2.6 billion visiting this country in the year to June.  

Tourism New Zealand's Brodie McLeish told Mike Hosking they're trying to find different levers they can use. 

She says about 93% of Australians see their campaigns, so they're going after a different audience this time. 

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There was a young woman in her 20s, in the beauty industry, training as a nurse and will go into the private sector. She has a plan and good on her. 

As part of this particular conversation though, she says she can never see herself owning a house. 

Of our five kids, one or possibly two, I suspect they feel the same, and yet the National Party's 5% deposit announcement made over the weekend changes all of that. 

Of all the policy released so far from any party, this is by far the most consequential. 

There is no Government-owned supermarket, they won't be breaking up gentailers, or buying BNZ back. This campaign has been full of fanciful nonsense. 

But the 5% is not only real, it's doable. It's so doable it looks likely the Labour Party will copy it and, above all else, it's the most important thing a policy can be – practical. 

5% of a $700,000 house is $35,000. For most young people they can see that. 

20% of that house is $140,000. That’s not real. 

At last, the biggest issue around housing is solved. It used to be solved, and we used to do this routinely, until we ballsed it up in yet another example of taking a problem that never existed and messing it about. 

20% was never needed. The only thing preventing 5% deposits was Adrian Orr and the Reserve Bank and an unhealthy fear of carnage. 

Even if you end up for a period in a flat market, as we have now with negative equity, it will pass. It always does. 

Even if housing in New Zealand never grows at 10% a year ever again, it will grow. And what I know, as sure as night follows day, is we love houses. We dream of owning our own place. 

That is the constant in this whole mad debate that too many people have made too complicated. 

Banks should never have been dictated to by the central bank because retail banks know what they're doing. 

Between a government-insured scheme and KiwiSaver and retail banks, there should never have been a hurdle as large as it was. 

There should never have been a generation for whom owning a piece of their country was seemingly beyond them. 

The 5% policy sorts it. The trick now is to get that message out to people like the trainee nurse, who still don’t know how close they might be.   

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She's serving three life sentences for murdering her husband's parents and an elderly aunt with a poisonous mushroom laced beef wellington.  

Corrections authorities say it's intended to reduce her risk of developing type two diabetes, which is associated with rapid weight gain, while she's in solitary confinement.  

Australian Correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking Patterson inherited millions of dollars from a dead relative.  

He says she has a home worth two million dollars, so should be paying for the Ozempic herself. 

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They discussed National's plan to widen access to 5% first home deposits, the Green Party's plan to break up the supermarket duopoly, carbon credit auctions, and the latest education results. 

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The fast food giant spent more than $580 million on New Zealand produced ingredients last year, with around 90% of the ingredients it uses here being locally sourced. 

This includes 17 million kilograms of Canterbury potatoes, 10.5 million eggs, and more than 6,400 tonnes of beef.  

McDonald's NZ Head of Impact and Communications, Simon Kenny told Mike Hosking they're very fortunate in New Zealand that virtually everything on the menu can be sourced locally, and that's always their first point of call. 

He says in other markets, such as Asia, North America, and Western Europe, ingredients are sourced from all sorts of places.  

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Saturday's qualifying final against the Dolphins sold out within minutes of general tickets going on sale – around 25,000 fans set to pack the stadium. 

CEO Cameron George told Mike Hosking the Dolphins are a good side, but they've trained well and the boys are up for it. 

He says there is no easy game and they've had tight games with the Australian side in the past, but they believe in themselves. 

"We're at home and we're ready to rumble." 

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The Squash World Championships are coming to New Zealand in 2028, and our champ Paul Coll couldn't be more excited.  

Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen talk carbon auctions, first home buyers' policy, and Labour Party election costings on Politics Wednesday.  

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It's being held at Auckland's International Convention Centre in February, running concurrently with the inaugural World Club Championships.  

The world number two is already adapting his schedule for the event, which will lead into the sport's Olympic debut in Los Angeles later that same year. 

Coll told Mike Hosking he's putting in the work to figure out how to perform under the pressure that comes from unfamiliar conditions, the looming Olympics, and home court expectations. 

But he says at this stage it's just pure excitement – he's looking forward to 2028. 

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It's predicting solid economic growth out to 2028, citing the fact business confidence is holding up, the Performance of Manufacturing and Services Indexes are back in black, tourism's growing, and credit activity's increased. 

Chief Economist John Pask says performance is improving across the board.  

He told Mike Hosking there's still some concern in regard to the upcoming election and political risks surrounding policy changes, but businesses are basically saying that they are concerned, but they're moving forward.  

Pask says elections are important, but they're not the be all end all, as it were. 

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The party's pledging to re-set the International Visitor Levy, putting aside $100 million a year for conservation and $50 million for tourism.  

The rest would go to councils, divvied up based on how many international visitor nights they host.  

Local Government New Zealand President Rehette Stoltz —who's the mayor of Gisborne— told Mike Hosking this allocates it fairly across the country.  

She says $600,000 or $700,000 represents a 1% rate rise for some smaller councils. 

There are some councils who are unhappy with the proposal, with both the Mayors of Auckland and Queenstown saying they would be better off under a bed tax. 

But Stoltz says there's a chance future discussions could fix where the policy falls short. 

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PISA results find it's narrowed in the last four years, largely because disadvantaged students performed better. 

It also shows New Zealand students remain above the OECD average across all three subjects, ranking ninth in reading, tenth in science, and 16th in mathematics. 

Education Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking attendance is vitally important. 

She says when PISA was last done in the Covid year of 2022, attendance was around 39%, compared to this year where it's 64.3%. 

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It's very ACT, i.e. fiscally disciplined. Every $1 million on roading needs to be $1 million on roading, not 99% on roads and 1% on art. 

The art is an issue for several reasons, mainly for me because most of it is unimpressive. 

I'm not actually against art per se. I like art. I prefer private operators to pay for it, but I wouldn't die in the ditch trying to cut it. 

It makes sense. We have no money, we need more roads, and so it's fairly obvious you make every dollar go as far as it can. 

And I suspect broadly most people feel the same way, so it's an easy headline and a political point to make in a campaign. 

But public art can be amazing. The trouble is a lot of ours isn't. 

On the highway out of Christchurch heading towards Kaiapoi there is some good work. At what they call Spaghetti Junction in Auckland there is what loosely looks like red light stalks. They're awful. 

On our way home on the new highway north of Auckland there are a bunch of Māori soldiers or chiefs, sort of metal cutouts that are rusted. 

It’s a look. I don’t like it, which is the other bit about art. It's fraught. 

There is also obviously an overt Māori fixation around it. There's not a lot of Siddell's or Sydney's about the place. There are more conceptual, race-based interpretations that you might argue may not get a lot of commissions if it wasn’t for the NZTA. 

So you have the battle between to do it, or not, and also if you do do it, is it any good? 

But to the ideology, ACT are about efficiency and that’s good, given our parlous state fiscally. 

The defence came from the transport wonks who said, "look, its only 1.4% of the overall budget", the inference being that we shouldn't worry about it because it's nothing. And yet, do the math. 

For every 72-odd roads, that's another free road if you don’t spend your 1.4%. Would you rather have another road or a bunch of eclectic sculptures? 

I think the inescapable conclusion is art is for better days, more affluent times, in countries that have productivity levels way better than ours and that have handled their finances better than ours. 

Art is a reward, not a must have. 

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There'll be three new hosts behind the wheel, Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman, and Thomas Holland taking over from Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. 

Holland and Engelsman have hosted the YouTube channel Throttle House together for over a decade, while Bourgeois is a well-known social media trainspotter and mechanical engineer. 

The trio has big shoes to fill, and Holland told Mike Hosking they've been careful while making the show, as they know how much it means to so many people. 

"The whole team focused on, I guess, making the show that we would want to watch were we not on it," he explained. 

"I made sure that was in my mind the whole time, going like, is this good enough for me if I was watching it?" 

The inter-host dynamic was a huge draw of the original show, and fortunately there seems to be no lack of chemistry between the new hosts. 

Bourgeois told Hosking their first conversation would be familiar to most car enthusiasts —a discussion of who's driving what— but the building blocks of friendship grew quickly. 

"We're having laughs, we're going through into these chemistry tests, we're having drinks together in the bar afterwards." 

"It feels like our friendship was actually kind of ready to go and it was rocketing away by the time we were filming the first episode." 

They're hopeful the new iteration of the show will receive the same support as the last, Engelsman saying they have a lot of ideas for the future. 

"We went through so many for what would be in this series that were either not possible because of seasonality or timing, that now we can tackle if there is a season 2 and more," he told Hosking 

"I think there's more hope than there's ever been for a successful reinvention of the show, while honouring the formula and then the musical note that it hits with the audience." 

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22-year-old Sheridan Burmester's heading overseas for a major international campaign, competing in tournaments across Vietnam, Bali, and India.  

He's also heavily invested in growing the game back home in New Zealand, similarly to things like darts, which has growing mainstream appeal.  

Burmester told Mike Hosking they just need some support and recognition to supercharge the sport. 

He says a lot of people don't know anything about pool being global or that you can even compete in the game.  

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Fifteen Kiwi restaurants were awarded stars in June, with the Michelin Guide promising to attract 36 thousand extra overseas visitors annually. 

A Tourism New Zealand business case, including overseas evidence, shows this could bring turnover growth of up to 50% for venues. 

Inati co-owner Lisa Levy told Mike Hosking since the announcement, they've seen bookings far in advance they've never seen before. 

She says tourists obviously plan around their holidays, but they're seeing a lot more domestic tourism as well as international. 

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We've got another carbon auction happening today, and David Seymour believes we should bin them. 

The new Grand Tour hosts have big shoes to fill, and Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman, and Thomas Holland tell us how exactly they'll fill them. 

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The Government's approved the Stella Passage development under the fast-track to add to its container berths and wharves. 

Payments will be made to the local marae as part of cultural mitigation. 

Port CFO Simon Kebbell told Mike Hosking they're very grateful for the fast-track avenue. 

He says this is critical infrastructure for New Zealand and we can't spend seven years trying to get critical infrastructure over the line.  

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The Government's putting $5 million into six campaigns to attract North American, Chinese, and Australian tourists to the regions at off-peak times.  

Tourism Minister Louise Upston says showcasing regional food, wine, and experiences spreads the benefits of tourism growth into more communities.  

Auckland Unlimited Destination Director Annie Dundas told Mike Hosking one of the biggest challenges is tourists sticking to the main destinations.  

She says it's an opportunity to show what's happening in other areas. 

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The Government currently sets a minimum auction price for carbon units, which right now sits around $71. 

ACT's campaigning on scrapping the arbitrary net zero 2050 target and instead tying our emissions cap to a trade-weighted average. 

David Seymour told Mike Hosking no rational buyer will pay the Government's price, when the same units are significantly cheaper on the secondary market. 

The last six Government-run carbon auctions have failed to sell a single unit. 

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Preliminary election results in Saxony-Anhalt show the AfD party is three seats short of an outright majority. 

The party is assessed by domestic intelligence as "far-right extremist", a classification the party rejects. 

Europe Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking if in government, the AfD would have control of security. 

She says the party —which is very pro-Russian— would be privy to all the information federal authorities have on Russia. 

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It's investing $23.5 million in two Taranaki projects from its $200 million Gas Security Fund, including drilling a new well and accessing deeper gas at an existing field. 

Both with be run by Todd Energy, and there are 17 other proposals sitting on the Government's desk. 

Shane Jones told Mike Hosking there needs to be incentives. 

He says people are unwilling to invest on their own and a take a risk if there's a prospect the sector will be closed down again. 

The Government's touting thousands of homes could be powered if the gas investment is successful. 

Todd Energy's projects could produce an additional four petajoules a year – equivalent to the energy consumed by 120-thousand homes.  

Jones told Hosking it could unlock up to 19.9 petajoules of additional gas reserves. 

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The PM is in to talk Palau, carbon auctions, the Waitangi Tribunal and MAPAS reports and yet more angst over housing projects within fast-track.

Jason Pine and Andrew Saville talk the All Black's loss and whether Baltimore means anything, the Warriors finishing the regular season in 2nd place and the F1 in Monza.

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Former All Black Josh Kronfeld joined Mike Hosking to discuss where they went wrong. 

"You know, just little mistakes when we didn't need little mistakes, you know, poor decisions when we didn't need a poor decision, and then just individuals just at the wrong moment who've been great at what they do, just not being quite there," he said.

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They discussed the Green's supermarket plan, a trade deal with Canada, the Waitangi Tribunal report, and National's goal to expand the first-home loan scheme. 

Luxon told Hosking there would be low risk to the Government from expanding the first-home loan scheme.

"The real problem that people are finding is not servicing the mortgage - it’s actually getting the deposit together.”

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But Casey Costello, the minister in charge of tackling transnational and serious organised crime said weekly consumption fell in June to 27.7kg, 18% lower than the average over the previous four quarters.

"Around the world, you know, huge changes in the drug supply are happening very quickly, and big increases in drug consumption," Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm told Mike Hosking. 

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The Waitangi Tribunal review is on Tama Potaka's desk and has been for a while.

It hasn’t gone to Cabinet. Why not?

The report into what they call MAPAS (the Maori and Pacific Admissions Scheme) for medical school at Auckland and Otago university was a coalition deal between Act and National to review it.

They have done it. It's on Associate Health minister Matt Doocey's desk.

Has it gone to Cabinet? No.

Why?

Could it be National aren't all that gripped by race-based issues and don’t want to rock the boat before polling day?

The medical school programme is a scam. It's defended by the universities because they want the gap closed in terms of race representation in medical studies.

In simple terms if you are a Maori or Pacific Islander, your entry to medical school is easier than if you are not. That is indisputably discrimination.

What makes it worse is access to medical school for non-Maori or Pacific Islanders is extraordinarily high.

You need a score into the very high 90's to even get close. There has been much debate over the years as to whether that actually produces great doctors or not.

As a result Auckland take a slightly different approach to Otago over admissions, but the truth remains race gives you an easier pathway.

Their defence also suggests that once in you still have to achieve, no matter who you are and that they also run a rural programme that favours students from regional backgrounds.

My argument is race and geography should play no role. What I want in a doctor is competence and professionalism. Do they know what they are doing?

My GP's have been women, Asian, Indian, male, British, Irish, older and younger. None of it mattered.

Some were quite obviously good, some weren't. Their medical acumen was, and is, what I'm interested in. I assume it's even more relevant by the time you are on a surgery table getting cut open.

It will be interesting to see what the report says. I find it hard to believe the conclusion isn't inevitable i.e race is discrimination, and this Government promised that sort of thing would stop.

So, where is the report? Why isn't it public?  

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"We've come out of a pretty long trough in the context of profitability that we've seen across the New Zealand listed companies," Forsyth Barr head of research Andy Bowley told Mike Hosking. 

"But, it's unlikely to be uniform, and as we've seen over the last couple of years, it can be somewhat choppy when we look at it from a company to company, and sector to sector basis."

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You'll hear Sir Paul Holmes' last Breakfast show, Leighton Smith's final Mornings show and Larry Williams' Drive swansong. 

Plus, hear audio of Jack Tame and Heather du Plessis-Allan's debut on the station. 

And you'll hear memories from our suite of hosts. 

100 Years of ZB - Celebrating a century of New Zealand's conversation. Archival audio from the collections at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.  

New episodes every Sunday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts - powered by Newstalk ZB. 

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Cars: 7/10 

New car sales are up 20%. If that isn't a sign of confidence, I don’t know what is. 

The excise debate: 3/10 

Fantastically disappointing. Labour at $4.6 billion is sad, but not surprising. The Government at $1.6 billion and borrowing. Come on, we wanted, needed, and expected better. 

The bond markets: 4/10 

It's why we shouldn’t have done the excise business. Money is expensive and getting more so, and no one seems to see debt for what it is – a big fat red flag. 

Aeroplane gate: 4/10 

Honestly, the coolest flyover ever until the wowsers got hold of it. And the wowsers don’t even know how to fly a plane. 

Less booze: 6/10 

I think it’s the future. The numbers are down and they will never recover. Between health, fitness, and GLP-1s, the world is different. 

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Papers released publicly for the first time reveal the Government considered axing their mad carbon auctions. 

But, and here comes the disappointment, they didn’t. 

They considered dropping them because every time they mucked with the ETS, the confidence in a market they were trying to create was cratered. 

This is not just them, but the previous Government also, who were wedded to the idea that an invented market could work, despite the fact it didn’t. 

Multiple Governments have tinkered and fiddled. They have set prices and reset prices, but each and every auction has basically been a failure. 

Just quickly, if you don’t follow this stuff, there are four auctions a year. You buy credits, if you're a polluter, to offset your environmental damage. 

The trouble is no one turns up; there are no bids and the really bad thing about that is there is no revenue. 

If this actually worked there could be $2 billion worth of income. 

I can't remember how many times I've asked Governments about this, from Robertson to Watts. They all said the same thing, all defended it, and yet the irrefutable proof was, and is, they simply don’t work. 

Credits can be bought and sold in a variety of ways. You can plant trees, you can trade other people credits, but when you are literally dealing with an idea that is invented out of thin air and you have no faith in anyway, why on Earth would you turn up and pay the Government money? 

Obviously, the answer is you wouldn’t, and you didn’t. 

Hence the Government got to the inevitable bit where someone other than me asked "do you reckon this thing is worth sticking with?" 

Under Labour I was not surprised they didn’t kill them because that’s what ideology does to you. It blinds you to logic and common sense. 

But the current lot you would have hoped knew better. Well, as the papers show, they almost did and yet couldn't quite get there. 

So at the next auction, which by the way is September 8th, have a look and see what happens and call me if the answer is anything other than... nothing.   

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They discussed flight cancellations and the stress of being a parent while your kid travels, at what age you should stop handling your kids' problems, and calls from the Electoral Commission. 

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For the first time, we have an official team at the World Championship in Scotland, with Abbey MacDonald and Jay Reeve flying the flag.  

MacDonald is aiming to set a record, as no woman has ever hit the 63-metre back wall of the pond, but her personal best is around 74 meters.  

She told Mike Hosking there's no monetary prize for winning the competition, just absolute glory, which is all she's wanting to achieve.  

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The US has declared it will accelerate its military presence in Australia following meetings between the Australian Defence Minister and American counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington DC. 

About a thousand US Navy personnel are set to be based near Perth from next year to support American submarines operating out of nearby naval bases. 

Former Minister Wayne Mapp told Mike Hosking the Pacific is a long-term issue for the US, and it needs Australia as the bulwark to kind of underpin defence. 

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We preview the decider All Blacks test in South Africa, and discuss whether or not the Warriors can win the minor premiership. 

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson Wrap the Week, talking flight cancellations, parenting, and Mike's call from the Electoral Commission.

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They've sealed their top two spot, sitting atop the ladder and leading the Panthers by just one on points differential. 

Saturday will see them host Manly at Mt Smart, while the Panthers face the Tigers on Sunday. 

Former Warrior Motu Tony told Mike Hosking when playing, the point differential isn't much of a consideration. 

He says you just go for the win and hope the training you've done over the season will come to the fore – whatever the outcome might be in terms of points differential, that's what you live with. 

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The score is tied at one-all, and although there's still one test after this weekend's clash at Soweto, this is technically the series decider. 

Fabian Holland has dropped to the bench for this test, and he told Mike Hosking they need to clean up their discipline – that was how they led the Springboks into the game and that showed on the scoreboard. 

He says another big area is going to be set pieces, especially scrums and the lineout, as they kind of let themselves down there last week.  

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New Zealand and the ‌US will jointly fund a major port upgrade on the island of Penrhyn in the Cooks – a former military base. 

China had previously expressed interest in seabed mining in the area. 

Retired Major General John G. Howard told Mike Hosking we likely didn't spend as much on foreign investment in the past, but it's where we need to spend in order to build our national security resilience.  

He says we'll never be able to compete with superpowers, but the port upgrade is not a material figure against our GDP, and the effect will outweigh competition and build that resilience.  

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The Bill will let Police order people out of public spaces for rough sleeping, begging, and disorderly behaviour. 

The Justice Select Committee suggested changes include lifting the minimum expulsion age from 14 to 18 and reducing fines from $2000 to $1000. 

Committee Chair, National's Tom Rutherford told Mike Hosking two contentious changes his party didn't agree with, also got through. 

He says this includes narrowing the definition of begging and allowing people to come back to the area after receiving a move-on order. 

But Rutherford says he's overall happy where it's ended up, as they've made some pragmatic changes. 

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That’s what the media not only does, but loves. They would perceive it as bad news and they can't pedal bad news enough. 

But in the numbers are the real story. 

The 3000 is made up of closures and liquidations. A closure can mean nothing more than a person leaving the country or closing one establishment to open another. That happens all the time. 

It's not a sign of anything other than mood or inspiration. 

It's important to also remember that there are more openings than closures. That’s the real story, so in essence the hospitality scene is actually growing. 

Not that a headline about 3000 closures would ever tell you that. 

Ironically, it's also perhaps an insight into the reality of hospitality, which is to say it's a very easy entry into business, given a lot of hospitality is hole-in-the-wall sandwich-type stuff, often by migrants, that comes and goes. 

So on one hand we are growing and on the other it's an in-and-out sort of operation that is not really reflective of a wider economy, or its story. 

The next part of the stats dump is liquidations. They tell us liquidations are up 42% year on year. That sounds bad, until you hear the next number, which is 1.3%. 

The 1.3% is the percentage of businesses that actually end up liquidated, which of course is hardly any. 

98.7% are not liquidated, so the 42% is off an extremely low base and not, if you were being honest, worthy of a headline. 

But remember the key here; it's all about bad news. 

Do you want a worse one? 

Takeaway liquidations were up 143%. That's a shocker, except, remember that takeaways is a subset of overall liquidations and the liquidations only represent 1.3%. So imagine how small the actual number of fish and chip shops this actually involves is. So, 143% of what? 

So, to the narrative. If a headline is all you ever see you will believe we are a dump, it’s a mess and things aren't improving. And yet the truth is a whole different thing. 

In these numbers and the narrative is the modern-day story of news and information; what's real versus what they want you to think is real. 

It sadly requires work on your part to get to the real story. 

And in this case, it is nowhere near as bad as they make out. In fact, it's almost entirely the opposite. 

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The American critic has been tasting thousands of wines every year for decades, and his tick of approval is worth its weight in gold in the industry. 

And a few years ago, he put that weight behind New Zealand's wine production, buying his own vineyard in Martinborough – Mirae.  

Suckling told Mike Hosking that the purchase was serendipitous, as he'd never planned on owning a vineyard.  

"I was in Martinborough ... this was 2022 after Covid, so I hadn't been in ten years, and so I wanted to come back," he explained. 

"I went with a mate of mine who's a Kiwi ... and I'm like mate, let's go and check out the best vineyards in New Zealand." 

"I didn't remember it as such a magnificent place, but in the back of my mind I kept on thinking, wow, you know, this could be the last place on Earth to make great fresh wines." 

And so when he saw a for sale sign on a vineyard called Kiwa, it was love at first sight. 

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Reserve Bank Governor Dr Anna Breman explains their decision to lift the OCR by 25 basis points. 

Arguably the number one wine critic in the world, James Suckling talks about investing into the NZ wine scene and why we're one of the last frontiers able to produce great wine. 

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Casey Costello has been appointed the first Organised Crime Minister, setting up a five-member panel of government agency chief executives, co-chaired by the Police Commissioner and Customs Controller. 

She told Mike Hosking it's about building stronger international relationships with governments and strengthening legalisation. 

Costello says 14 tonnes of cocaine was intercepted in the Pacific in the first six months of this year, so it must be stopped before it reaches New Zealand's borders. 

She says work will start before the election so the new Government can hit the ground running. 

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Master Builders' annual State of the Sector survey finds 68% of its members report a strong or steady pipeline of work – up slightly on last year.  

Recent homeowners are also more confident, with 91% saying they'd recommend building to others, and three quarters experiencing no delays.  

CEO Ankit Sharma told Mike Hosking the recovery around the country varies. 

He says Auckland and Wellington are still in the early stages, but southern and regional New Zealand is doing well. 

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The Government has released the findings of an independent Crown Review into the February disaster at the Moa Point wastewater plant. 

It doesn't blame a single technical fault but finds significant gaps in accountability and risk management.  

Andrew Little told Mike Hosking routines have been built around things not being done properly, and it's not an issue unique to the capital. 

He says people get used to receiving reports stating what's wrong and nothing gets done, which becomes a repeating cycle. 

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The central bank's raised the cash rate another 25-basis-points to 2.75%. 

Anna Breman says they'll need to assess the impact of the past two OCR hikes before deciding whether to hike again. 

But she told Mike Hosking yesterday's hike was needed to rein in high inflation. 

She says if the OCR had been left unchanged yesterday, the Reserve Bank may have had to act much more aggressively later. 

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The methanol producer is closing its Taranaki plant after more than 30 years. 

It cites the continued decline in domestic natural gas and no clear pathway to meaningful new supply. 

Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking they'd already predicted Methanex would close and had factored this into their LNG plans. 

She says they decided the gas Methanex uses being released back into the market wouldn't be enough to solve our problems, believing another option is still needed. 

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He is undoing himself in front of us. As he does, he reminds us why he has basically done as little as possible these past few years, because when he does he is either in office blowing the place up, or putting out policy in Opposition that makes literally no sense. 

He has blocked petrol excise increases for three years. 

The bill for that is $4.6 billion. He said yesterday he didn’t think that number was right, even though it is. He had an idea what the number was but wouldn’t say. 

Cool policy. 

By the end of the day, he wasn’t ruling out borrowing it. Now, you can't borrow it because in another policy he told us we were returning to surplus by 2028/29. You can't run a surplus as you borrow more. 

Do you think he realises this? 

Then we get to the pay equity bit, which they haven't told us how they are paying for. That’s $12 billion. 

So $16 billion and counting and all paid for by a capital gains tax that, so far, will produce exactly nothing given housing is flat. And even if it wasn’t, it takes years to fire up. 

Oh, and the capitals gains is already paying for free doctors visits we don’t need, or mainly, want. 

To try and come to his defence, is there $4.5 billion worth of stuff you can cancel and cover the excise hole? That's a lot of money on something that gets cancelled and given we are already running things tight, because we have no money, you inevitably come back to the borrowing bit he mentioned late yesterday. 

I cannot overstate the danger of more debt. In the next couple of years, the world is going to go through another financial crisis, driven by debt and overcapped nonsense around chips and AI.  

You do not want to be a small economy at the bottom of the world in a sea of debt reliant on people bailing you out. It is literally the path to ruin. 

We already pay $9 billion a year interest on our debt and people like Fitch have warned us our credit rating is on watch. 

Yet Hipkins has diametrically opposed policies that get us to surplus and have us borrowing more, all at the same time. 

It's all embarrassingly amateurish, short-sighted and dangerous. 

I cannot overstate the idiocy if you think any of this is a path forward. 

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They discussed delays to fuel tax hike and state of the Land Transport Fund, where Labour would get the money to fund its policies, and the latest Roy Morgan poll. 

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Motor Trade Association August data shows total light vehicle registrations rose 7.6% on the same time last year. 

New vehicles represented 58 percent of sales, with hybrids the most popular fuel type. 

The data highlights BYD, Chery, Jaecoo, and GWM recorded significant gains, helping Chinese brands increase their share of new vehicle sales to 18.7%. 

Motor Trade Association CEO Lee Marshall told Mike Hosking they seem to have the right product at the right price at the right time. 

Based on the numbers, he says there's no doubt that's talking to people. 

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Hayden Paddon celebrates a podium finish for his first rally on gravel in since 2018. 

Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell talk fuel excise, where the money is coming from to fund Labour's policies, and the latest Roy Morgan poll on Politics Wednesday. 

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He and co-driver John Kennard have claimed their second podium in their fourth outing of the season, driving the shared third car for Hyundai. 

It was his first WRC event on gravel since 2018, and the result puts him in eighth – despite the fact he's only competed in four of the eleven rallies so far. 

Paddon told Mike Hosking it was certainly a surprise to be as competitive as they were considering it was their first time on gravel in a number of years. 

He says it was one of those rallies where everything clicked and felt easy. 

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Investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams will fund a privatised competition, starting next year, where they will hold the licence for the league and teams. 

Wootten's insisting the national body will retain plenty of say in how the league is formed and overseen. 

She told Mike Hosking that was really important to them, as they want to make sure the new league is set up and operating with the ambition they've all talked about. 

The parties are currently working through all the key details, Wootten saying they want to make sure there's absolute clarity in regards to expectations. 

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Latest figures from Stats NZ show that for the year to June, total alcohol consumption per capita fell to a record 6.98 litres of pure alcohol – among the lowest in the OECD.  

Beer accounts for about 60% of the booze consumed, with wine and spirits making up around 20% each. 

Brewers Association Executive Director Dylan Firth told Mike Hosking it's a reflection of the economy.  

He thinks people are more cash-strapped, with most New Zealanders already drinking moderately. 

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Most economists expect the OCR to rise from 2.5% when the decision is announced at 2pm. 

One or two further hikes are forecast before Christmas. 

BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Mike Hosking he expects the Monetary Policy Committee to reach a consensus on the increase, but it’s possible not everyone will agree. 

He says the Reserve Bank hinted strongly in July that we would see additional rate increases, and there's been nothing in the numbers since to change that. 

However, Jones says a pause will eventually be needed to see how the economy's handling the higher rates. 

He says that time isn't now, but probably when the rate reaches 3%. 

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Fast-track in and of itself is working. The Tauranga Port has the green light after literally years of regulatory BS that had it tied up in court, going nowhere. 

If you put RMA v fast-track, then fast-track wins hands down and our country will be better for it. 

But housing is becoming political. The latest situation is in Waimauku. 

In Pukeatua they want 1600 homes. A petition has been signed by hundreds, furious at what they see. 

It joins Delmore in North Auckland, Pegasus in Christchurch, and the Arrowtown development, all of which have the same blueprint – a lot of houses and angry locals. 

Obviously, you can lay the charge of nimbyism, and in some cases it may well be true. 

The very thing that stopped so much progress is back for more under new rules: moaning locals. 

Shane Jones has spotted it though he argues, and I think correctly, that what NZ First had envisaged was more infrastructure, not so much housing. 

What this country needs is more bridges and roads and mines and factories. Yes, it needs houses, but not in the same proportion. 

Mayors have now joined forces and are after change, and if you want to look at this purely from a political point of view, then the Government would be wise to listen. 

Somewhere between the neighbours hating everything new and a Delmore with 1000 houses getting wastewater trucked out until 2050, is an answer. 

But it can't be so hard to shift housing out of fast-track and leave it for the big stuff. 

I think Chris Bishop gets it as well. The fact Pegasus in Christchurch never actually got to an expert panel tells you he sees the trouble ahead. 

If Delmore can be given the go ahead then why would Pegasus not? Well, problem solved by never giving it to the panel in the first place. 

Fast-track needs, apart from anything, reputational heft. It needs to be seen to be doing good. 

Housing clearly is getting in the way. 

Sort it now and save yourself a headache post-election. 

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He's been on and off in the music scene for about a decade, but stepped back from the spotlight after the release of his 2022 debut album 'Let It Burn'. 

Now inspiration has struck again, with Yule set to release his second album, 'Surrender', later this month.  

"After the album, I just needed to take a little, little break and invest in other parts of my life," he confessed to Mike Hosking. 

Despite how fulfilling and rewarding releasing the album was, it was also a big push, and Yule admits to becoming a bit jaded. 

"This is where the story is, is that kind of classic musical story where you lose sight of why you started doing it to begin with," he said. 

"I think when you're a musician or independent musician and you wanna do it as a career and monetise it, you become the accountants, the record label, the publisher, the content creator, and very quickly you're doing less and less of the writing and the performing and the creative stuff that you did when you enjoyed it." 

"I think taking that space away and then to come back and do it on my terms in a way that I wanna do it, and find the joy again."  

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Our Privacy Commissioner wants to review the law as the rising use of smart glasses spark concerns. 

Kiwi musician Miller Yule is back with new music after three years, so he's in the studio for a song and a chat. 

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The jewellery chain's reporting a 376% increase in annual statutory net profit from its global business. 

New Zealand retail revenue is up 3.1%, bringing it to $112.4 million. 

Michael Hill International CEO Jonathan Waecker told Mike Hosking that since times are tough, Kiwis are being more considerate with their money. 

He says it's important they buy high-quality things that really bring them joy, and they're picking Michael Hill more than anyone else.  

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The party wants make changes to the existing resident visa, increasing the window when holders can start moving freely in and out of the country from two years to five. 

To retain their visa, the holder would need to be physically present for at least 730 days within any rolling five year period. 

But Queen City Law's Marcus Beveridge told Mike Hosking there's no need for this at all – the current system has enough flexibility and has worked well over the last 30 years. 

He also believes it would torpedo the Golden Visa, as a big part of it is the ability to come ang go as you please. 

Beveridge says the changes would tie people down here, describing it as the "kiss of death". 

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The AI tech, including Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley ranges, can record video, audio, and capture location data in real time.  

Michael Webster says we need to look at our legal framework to strike the right balance between its benefits and the harmful consequences.   

He told Mike Hosking they look like normal glasses, making it hard for people being filmed to object.  

Webster says users should ask themselves – would the person recorded find it creepy? 

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It's promising to give every graduate nurse a job offer once they pass their exams. 

The policy would cost $525 million over four years, using currently unallocated funding increases set aside in each Budget to cover health system cost pressures. 

Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall told Mike Hosking it includes a four-day-a-week job – traditionally offered to graduates so they can spend some time continuing studies. 

She says they've been offered three days a week under this Government, with the aim of cutting costs. 

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The excise was due to rise 12-cents a litre in January, but has been pushed back a year and cut to five cents. 

The Government now needs to put an extra $1.4 billion into the Land Transport Fund. 

Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking it's not the right time to raise fuel taxes. 

But she says GDP growth will be double this year's in 2028, while inflation is also forecast to be coming down by then. 

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One Nation continues to dominate polls following their victory in a Secret Harbour byelection in Western Australia, rates of car thefts sky rocket, and the pothole problem.

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The PM is in the studio talking fuel excise, the social media bill and a new challenger to him in Botany!

Andrew Saville and Jason Pine dissect game two of the All Blacks vs South Africa, plus the Warriors securing a top two finish.

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Economist Cameron Bagrie told Mike Hosking that while our debt issues need to be solved, on a global level we aren't out of the norm. 

"The government books are a lot healthier than what we're seeing in an awful lot of other countries around the globe, but we're, we're a shaky island, so we get a bit of a shock every sort of 10 years, so we can't afford to take debt probably too much beyond 50% of GDP."

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“Frankly, it’s just not right that we have a heavily subsidised tertiary education system, you take the benefit of that, you go off and decide you’re going to give your effort to another economy and then you’re not going to pay your debt,” Luxon told Hosking.

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But, Newstalk ZB lead rugby commentator Elliott Smith isn't concerned. 

"I think this is what we expected out of the series, Mike, a ding dong battle, and that's exactly what we've got," he told Mike Hosking.

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It's assumed by most that the cash rate will be increased 25 points to 2.75%.

It's also assumed there will be another one by the end of the year. What happens after that has a “who knows” feel about it.

What I feel, to a degree, is a groundhog-ish sort of vibe.

We have been here before. We were here before the war. The momentum was building, the recovery was on and we started to feel good about the place.

Then Trump blew it up.

It turns out, if Westpac are right, the period of the war (April, May and June i.e Q2) wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be.

They argue we will see negative growth of -0.1%, so in other words, it's flat and a return to real growth in this current quarter. This is all good!

What the Reserve Bank worry about is inflation. Perhaps they shouldn't be as much as they might be? No it is not in the band, but it's tracking that way.

Business and their desire to bump prices has hit a wall. We simply won't pay and we'd rather not buy than pay more.

The exceptions are rates, power, insurance and imported stuff like oil and also, previously, food.

The Reserve Bank can look through oil a bit. Insurance is starting to be under control. Even power for some is starting to fall in price as generation costs fall.

Food at 1.9% is sorted. Rates of course are an ongoing scandal but, and this is where Kiwibank are right, there is enough there if you were of a mind to just take a beat and let this play out a bit further.

In other words, given we are back where we were about a year ago i.e on the move and feeling better, why would you take a hammer, or at least a negative view of it all, and squeeze when you don’t really need to?

Why risk choking off what little we currently have?

To my mind it is a persuasive argument. It's perhaps a weakness in the Reserve Bank riding instructions, the singular focus on inflation.

But we are currently coalescing under the broad idea of "here we go again", "it's coming right" and "at last, better days ahead".

Please, just for Wednesday, don't wreck it. Is that too much to ask?

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Louise Upston says 200,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit New Zealand between now and the end of June and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited expects the cruise sector to contribute more than $200 million to the local economy this season.

But, NZ Cruise Association CEO Jacqui Lloyd told Mike Hosking the benefits aren't limited to the major centres.

"I think it's the regional spread that cruise provides, the international spend that comes into smaller regions around the country that don't necessarily usually see, a lot of international visitation areas like Tauranga, Napier, Picton, Dunedin."

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It covers the iconic moments from rugby, cricket, the Olympics, rugby league, football, motorsport, netball and many others. 

Mike takes you through how ZB covered the sporting moments that stopped a nation - like the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

You'll also hear the big sporting names ZB spoke to over years. 

100 Years of ZB - Celebrating a century of New Zealand's conversation. Archival audio from the collections at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.  

New episodes every Sunday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts - powered by Newstalk ZB. 

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The social media ban for under 16s is a global bandwagon that we were already late to. 

And by the time it arrived on Monday, it turns out the party that wrote it didn't have the numbers. 

Of a three-party Government, two parties wouldn’t back it and so they went to the major party on the other side of the House. 

They had 79 questions. No one has 79 questions, and the second one, even if you did have 79 questions, should not be about Te Tiriti. 

So, so far, so messy. And you can quite rightly ask the question at this stage whether our Parliament is in fact wildly out of step with the majority of New Zealand. 

My gut says a ban is popular. No, it is not effective in its entirety. 

Yes, a French court has blocked theirs. 

No, Australia has not got it right when they led the world off on the idea. 

But socially and morally, big tech is increasingly seen as a pariah and a bottom-line fiend that does whatever is necessary to stoke their engine of commerce. 

So the sense of it is we want to be seen to at least give this a good crack. At least be seen to be on the right side of the increasingly alarming stats around kids and harm and online life. 

And yet Labour, who should not have been needed, got there in the end and said, 'we've read all 79 answers (yea right) and we will back it to the first committee'. 

And then it turns out that didn’t matter because the Government doesn’t have time anyway. 

What a gargantuan waste of energy. 

No, it's not dead. Yes, it will still be an issue next year. And yes, in some way, shape or form we will probably get it across the line. 

But this thing started as an MP's bill, not a party idea. After it spent several years being “thought about”, it finally got revealed to a group of politicians who didn’t want it and wouldn’t vote for it. 

And by the time it got the numbers to get underway, time was up! 

On an energy-in/energy-out sort of equation, it's right up there in the waste-of-time stakes. 

So if you got excited, and this week looked a bit historic, see you next year. 

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Social media: 3/10 

Between National and their lack of numbers and Meta and the Attorney Generals folding, it was tech – 1 vs the rest of us – 0. 

NZ wine: 7/10 

Wasn’t that an uplifting story? Australian wine is tanking at a time when our sales continue to rise, and volume and value are on the up. To be fair, yellowtail does remove stains in your sink. 

MBIE scandal: 1/10 

As bad as it gets and yet with no consequences. Only in the public service... 

Dolly Parton: A life of achievement 

In some respects, the highlight of the week, ironically. Universally loved, bigger than what made her famous, more clever than you might have imagined, and a story of longevity and continued relevance. 

Beyond politics, in a country deeply divided, and a life you could barely fault. 80 was too young, but surely the quality is what counts. 

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By my count, 13 of our best are off. 

Eight to Australia, four to the UK, and it could be 16 by the time it's all over. 

Like Super Rugby, hockey, and cricket, netball is not, it seems, commercially viable in a national organisation type of way. 

TV rights are an issue, and they are an issue because the inescapable truth is a lot of us aren't that gripped by the sports anymore. 

The world is full of entertainment and the more accessible it is the more we drift off to new interests. 

I read a worthy piece by a bloke called Dr Chris McMillan, who bemoaned private money coming to potentially save these sports. 

He argued private money is not good because it put owners before players and, most of all, before the wider community. 

The trouble with academics of course is they don’t live in the real world. 

What does he want? Netball run as a national organisation going broke (they are millions in the hole), or a millionaire with good intentions saving the sport? 

You should read his piece. He tells you everything that's wrong and tells you these are tricky issues but offers no solutions. 

The solutions are simple and they are global. Virtually all great, popular, and successful sports are run with private money. 

My sport, the NFL, is almost entirely, bar one of the 32 teams, owned by rich folks who are normally old white guys. The sport is booming and the players are wealthy beyond most expectations. 

Sport is actually a simple formula: you need eyeballs, TV rights, and a competition that attracts attention. 

The NRL is your best local example: a record TV deal, massive fan base, plenty of hype, and an expansion plan. 

Sport isn't the problem. I increasingly think not even the running of the sport is a problem. 

In NZ the problem is population. If Super Rugby can't make money, nothing locally can. We are too small and the fan is too international. 

But if there's a model that can help locally it’s the people with a cheque book. Sport is business. 

Arguing it's community-based goodwill is like arguing AI isn't taking your job.   

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New Zealand and Australian officials are discussing letting players cross the Tasman without losing test eligibility. 

It comes after revelations only two Kiwi franchises have been profitable without NZ Rugby support since 2019, and the NRL landing a $5.3 billion TV deal.  

Bruce Sharrock, Senior Rugby and NRL Agent from 'The Team', told Mike Hosking he applauds the fact that conversations seem to be happening to change the shape of the professional game. 

He says New Zealand is the only union he's aware of that hasn't privatised the professional game, and at the end of the day, he thinks that's where it has to head. 

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The second test of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry is kicking off this weekend, and the Kiwi side will be aiming to back up last weekend's 33-16 victory. 

Will Jordan has been named on the right wing for the clash, and told Mike Hosking in professional sport, the mental side of things is a bigger fish to fry.  

He says the Springboks will have the edge after their loss, so it's important that they have the same kind of desperation and urgency as they did at Ellis Park. 

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They shared their favourite memories and paid tribute to the late Dolly Parton and discussed the week Mike and Kate have been having with Kate under the weather.

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Will Jordan joins us out of South Africa to preview the All Blacks' second test. 

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson remember Dolly Parton and discuss Kate's illness and Mike's week spent looking after her as they Wrap the Week. 

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It's picking a 25 basis point increase to the Official Cash Rate, bringing it to 2.75%, then 3% later this year. 

But with unemployment up, wage growth around 2%, and weak housing, it argues rates should stay put. 

Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr told Mike Hosking we need the economy to recover, and rising rates don't help that. 

He says they understand the Reserve Bank is worried about the recent spike in inflation and want to be on the front foot, but they believe we should be more reactive.  

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The Central Otago, Queenstown Lakes, and Otago Regional councils were on the cusp of signing a deal delivering critical initiatives – including exploring a bed tax. 

It's now off the table after the Government proposed replacing the bed tax, raising questions about its long-term plans. 

Central Otago Mayor Tamah Alley told Mike Hosking they're pretty gutted the deal they thought was good to go has been halted, but they're pretty confident there will still be a deal. 

She says they just have to be really clear on what their responsibilities and obligations would be under a new deal when they get to the point of signing something.  

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The Wellington Chamber of Commerce has announced its election priorities, calling on parties to restore confidence and attract more investment in the capital. 

It's outlined six key steps including accelerating housing, reforming local government, and backing creative, digital, and export growth. 

Chamber Chief Executive Hayley Horan told Mike Hosking it's not a laundry list – each item is interconnected and designed to foster for long-term private sector growth. 

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Labour's promised no hikes to the fuel excise over the first three years if elected and will consider pushing back National Land Transport fund projects to compensate. 

National's announced it doesn't plan to go ahead with an excise lift scheduled for January. 

But Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking they can't put it off forever like Labour wants to do. 

She says its plan would mean potholes everywhere, bridges washed away in major cyclones, and roads that can't be fixed up. 

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They deliberately misled MPs. That's what the committee found. 

Just think about that – it wasn't an accident. This isn't a maybe they did/maybe they didn't scenario. 

They deliberately misled them. 

The punishment is... there is no punishment. Unless you believe the committee saying what it did is punishment enough, which, as it turns out, is exactly how it unfolds. 

This is unique to the public service. You fail at the job, you fail to be independent, and you fail to be honest, but short of being outed as such, that’s where it stays. 

Nowhere else in the New Zealand workforce can that happen the way it has. 

Smallish side note, which also gives insight into the public service; they claim they didn’t want to say anything about the IT project being dead because they were negotiating a commercial exit with various other players in the project. 

They could have, but didn’t realise, talked to MPs in private to inform them of this critical piece of information. 

These people were at the top of the public service tree and yet didn’t realise how the system works. 

You see it, ironically, in the Parliament all the time with MPs. They don’t know how Parliament works and they don’t understand rules and standing orders. It reminds you of just how many people go to work in this country and aren't really interested in being that good. 

The public service has had a rough time of it. The claim is they are not fans of the Government and events like this merely show the suspicion is well-founded. 

It's an odd and worrying mix between Machiavellian behaviour, arrogance that they think they know best, and sheer dishonesty. 

There's no good way at looking at how this played out. 

And yet this is unique to the public service. The service we all pay for and the service I'm sure any number of unions would defend on an almighty ideological hill. You can do what McDonald and Blakeley did and still get to turn up the next day. 

It's inexplicably absurd. 

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US intelligence chief John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow via Latvia, but neither the Trump administration nor Russia is publicly commenting. 

Footage on social media also appears to show a diplomatic motorcade travelling through the Russian capital. 

Retired Australian Major General Mick Ryan told Mike Hosking he believes Donald Trump is after Vladimir Putin's support to get out of the a very tight spot in Iran. 

He says any help Russia may offer would be designed to leverage Trump's help in getting a favourable solution in Ukraine.  

Ryan told Hosking that Russia's in big trouble in Ukraine, and it can only make significant process by using nuclear weapons, or by getting Trump back on side.  

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Wool Impact and Campaign for Wool NZ have formally merged into the New Zealand Wool Collective. 

It's a new sector-led body focused on growing the product's value in the country. 

Chief Executive Ross McIsaac told Mike Hosking the merger was a logical step. 

He says wool's financial potential isn't being realised, and there's a lot of work to do. 

McIsaac says it's not only for core products such as carpets anymore, there's a range of items where it can be useful, which supports a higher price point.

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They reported a 30% increase in underlying profit from last year, rising to a record $111.2 million, and a revenue of $403.8 million. 

Container volumes rose by 5.5%, cars rose 17.7%, and containers moved by rail surged 76%. 

As a result, the Port will pay a $55 million dividend to Auckland Council, an increase of $3 million. 

CEO Roger Gray told Mike Hosking they're proud to be supporting Auckland as it continues to grow. 

He says in August alone they've seen 25,000 cars arrive through the Port, and the cruise season is starting on Saturday – both of which are very positive.  

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Do we have a postcode situation with grocery prices in this country? Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden talks prices and competition. 

Retired Australian Major General Mick Ryan is a welcome addition to the show as he details the latest with Ukraine, Russia, Iran and the US. 

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Online supermarket Paddock to Pantry's data analysis finds the same staple items sold under the same supermarket brand can vary by as much as 32%. 

It reckons since the South Island has a lower population, those living there are paying more because there is no competition. 

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden told Mike Hosking they're trying to get small players to compete to stop post code pricing. 

He gives the example of Paddock to Pantry, which now delivers countrywide, and competes with the cheapest in the market. 

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Westpac's August overview points to an uplift in activity after a subdued June quarter.  

It forecasts 2% growth over the year, jumping to 3% in 2027.  

Chief economist Kelly Eckhold told Mike Hosking that the growth the country's achieved in the last few quarters is coming from good sources such as exports and tourism. 

But he says there is a concern it will put pressure on margins and prices and push inflation up as we go through recovery next year. 

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A report commissioned by DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association has found dairy exports reached almost $29 billion in 2025 and supports more than 51 thousand jobs. 

It finds the dairy sector is a backbone of much of regional New Zealand's economy, wages, and job market.  

DairyNZ Head of Economics Mark Storey told Mike Hosking revenue should continue to flow, as demand for dairy is rising. 

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The cap is 4%, unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

Of all the price pressures that are out of control, rates would have to be the worst. 

As we have heard this week, insurance is starting to curtail, if not fall, in some areas. 

Power is actually falling for commercial users, although not to what it should be. Certainly, the cost of generation is down and once the build out of solar and wind is complete there can be no excuse not to see prices drop domestically. 

Food is back down within the Reserve Bank band. 1.9% was your last reading. 

Petrol is all over the place but beyond our control, which basically leaves rates. 

Look at the last inflation read and look at the part that rates played in driving it up. And the difference between rates and all the other examples I have just given is there is no sign of it ever ending. 

Oh they have excuses! "There is no shortage of jobs to be done." And even if you strip out the frippery, the nice-to-have nonsense, the multi-cultural nods to Lord-knows-what, you are still left with genuine and real tasks that need attending to. 

But the reason those jobs are so overdue and urgent is because they were never done in the first place because the frippery always took precedence, and it took precedence because it got headlines and they knew the ratepayer was a never-ending pot of money. 

Well, no more. 

What makes it tricky of course is councils will have to fund work through debt. The trouble is for too many they are tapped out. 

They drained that well, as well. So in a purely numeric way they are between a rock and a hard place. But then they have no one to blame but themselves. 

They will hope Labour wins the election of course, because Labour will open the tap up. 

Which leads to the question, if Labour let councils charge bed taxes and let them charge whatever rates they want, is that a broken promise given they said there is only one new tax? 

Anyway, 4% is restraint and reality and fiscal discipline. 

Not a moment too soon. 

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The tariffs will impose duties ranging up to 50% across 700 products, matching new American tariffs on Canadian goods. 

It follows trade talks blowing up over the weekend, with Canada claiming unfair last-minute changes from the US. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking the retaliatory tariffs apply to steel and aluminium, as well as dairy, seafood, construction materials, paper products, and home appliances.  

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They discussed the social media ban and Labour's stance on the subject, Five Eyes, election campaigning, and paid tribute to the late Dolly Parton. 

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Wholly AI-generated tracks will not be eligible, though recordings using it in a supporting role will remain authorised. 

It comes after a song produced with AI became the most-played track on radio and reached number four on two ARIA charts in July. 

APRA's Head of New Zealand Operations Anthony Healey told Mike Hosking it's a bold statement that likely will be followed. 

He says without things created by humans, there are no large language models or AI products. 

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It comes as Aucklanders turn their heads to the opening of the highly anticipated City Rail Link on September 13th. 

Research shows London's Night Tube has provided the city a huge economic boost, with more than 80 thousand people using the service each night. 

Former nightlife promoter Mirik Milan told Mike Hosking it's something Auckland could consider. 

He says it's important to be able to access venues at night, while woman also report feeling unsafe using services after dark. 

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Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80. We celebrate her career and life throughout the show, and play old clips of her previous interviews with Mike. 

On Politics Wednesday, Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen discuss the social media ban bill and Labour saying there's not enough time left in the year for it after they agreed to support it.  

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The annual report —as measured by the independent non-partisan platform Committee for Auckland— compares Auckland to other cities around the world.  

Our biggest city scored well on innovation, international business events, and the number of people coming here.  

It did less well on productivity, keeping talent and tech starts ups on shore, and is in the bottom 10% when it comes to transport emissions.  

Committee Director Mark Thomas told Mike Hosking if we want to improve, the Government needs to move a lot quicker. 

He says it took a year to get a tech institute underway in Auckland, and if we want to try and match our peer cities around the world, we have to do a better and faster job. 

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Its underlying earnings before interest and tax rose 17% in the year to June, surpassing $105 million. 

Its total revenue was down 5% on almost $853 million, and the next financial year's outlook's taken a hit as the company weighs two takeover offers. 

CEO Grant Webster told Mike Hosking the Middle East conflict certainly put a dent in things, but they were tracking even better.  

He says they should hopefully still get really strong growth over summer. 

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A new report shows Australia's exports have sunk to a 22-year low, exporting less than 600 million litres for the first time since 2004. 

New Zealand volumes increased to more than 300 million litres over the same period, as global consumption of alcohol falls for the third year in a row. 

Invivo Wines Co-Founder Tim Lightbourne told Mike Hosking sav is wildly popular with buyers in the UK and US. 

He says during hot summers, it looks like the shelves have been ransacked. 

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The Government's move will restrict council rate hikes to no more than 4%, excluding water charges, and is expected to come into force in 2029. 

Councils would be expected to prepare for it from next July. 

Local Government Minister Simon Watts told Mike Hosking no one lives in a suburb called "average". 

He says in Waitaki they're facing a 17% rates increase, which is $600 extra on a $3,500 bill. 

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It was an impressive launch of the social media regulation; an audience, good speakers, impassioned politicians, and a particularly effective video featuring Erica Stanford and a group of teenagers who outlined their personal experience and concerns about social media and, with the exception of one, who said they would not let their siblings near it if they had a choice. 

A stat I hadn't heard was 40% of kids say they wish social media had never been invented. That gives pause, I would've thought. 

Although the audience was clearly stacked and the speakers all said essentially the same thing, I did wonder what it must be like to work at Meta or any one of the big tech players who, by and large, globally are seen these days as pariahs. 

They're constantly in court over any number of issues and almost permanently being fined for breaches. 

How many times do you reckon Zuckerberg gets hauled in front of a Senate committee in Washington before he pauses long enough to wonder about what he has made? 

Anyway, what we look to do is little different from anyone else, as far as I can tell. 

In Australia it is not a panacea. In France a court has blocked it for now. The best I think we can hope for is it at least allows parents to say to their kids, if they want to, that it's the law. So that helps a bit. 

For the purist, you can argue that it doesn’t actually work. It will never actually work. 

But for the purist, you should've seen the room yesterday. I think the purist is very much the minority. 

Big tech has Trump on its side, and they see it as anti-American, even though it's no such thing. 

But in totality it's almost a collective moment in time. No matter what country you are in broadly speaking big tech, social media and its algorithms have massively overplayed their hands and people are sick of it and sickened by it. 

It would be lovely to have free speech and to choose our course of our own free will. But the reality is the damage is too high. 

The lack of guardrails is too glaring. 

And so we join the growing number of what may well be a modern version of an historic line in the sand. 

And time will show we were on the right side of it. 

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After 45 years of performing, the Kiwi musician is celebrating 60 years with a "career-spanning" tour in late October and early November. 

The tour will feature all his classics as well as some new music from his album 'Some Night, Somewhere,' releasing in October. 

Johnson has released over a dozen albums over the years and has yet to run out of inspiration, telling Mike Hosking the music comes with a moment. 

"I've never been a writer that sits down and says, now I must write," he explained. 

"I just like, I've got a guitar in my hand now, so you know, you never know, I might just start writing something." 

"I'm not really an interventionist God-type person, as Nick Cave puts it, but there's something definitely spiritual about the way music comes and what it does to people."  

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A new report on the India FTA says we're likely being conservative when it comes to how much it could lift exports. 

Kiwi musician Greg Johnson joins the show from LA to promote his 60th birthday tour, a new album, and give an exclusive performance of his new single.  

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Queenstown's Essence has taken restaurant of the year and is one of just six nationwide awarded the esteemed three hat rating.  

Auckland's Ahi, Cocoro, Tala, and Paris Butter, along with Hawke's Bay's Craggy Range were the other five, and Tala's founder and chef Henry Onesemo was named Chef of the Year.  

Cuisine Magazine Editor Kelli Brett told Mike Hosking it's an exciting time for hospitality, with the best yet to come. 

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The agreement is moving through Parliament, before it's ratified.

The International Business Forum and Westpac have released new research on how the deal will contribute to value.

Forum Executive Director Felicity Roxburgh says it shows Government forecasts of 0.1% GDP growth in the next decade undersell the benefits.

She told Mike Hosking they can't put a good number on it, but India is on track to be the world's third largest economy by the end of the decade.

Roxburgh says their middle class will exceed the entire population of the EU or ASEAN, so it's a big opportunity for New Zealand.

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'CryptoWinter' is looking to cash in on the country's digital asset sector – worth more than $9 billion dollars.  

It brings together industry leaders, government representatives, and innovators to discuss the country's digital asset strategy and ways technology can drive investment.  

Blockchain New Zealand Executive Director Trevor Topfer told Mike Hosking New Zealand has a big opportunity in the ever-changing financial world.  

He says if we don't get moving, then we won't have a currency in the new financial system and will have to import technology. 

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The agency's released data for almost 740-thousand shifts last year, showing around a quarter of shifts across 615 wards were below the target staffing level at some point. 

Nurses Organisation CEO Paul Gaulter says Health New Zealand should resource and staff to need. 

But the agency's Chief Nurse Nadine Gray told Mike Hosking patient safety is their top priority. 

She says they expect high-quality care to be offered to every patient who walks through their doors. 

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National's introduced a Bill which would legally require platforms like Instagram and TikTok to bar under-16s from making accounts.  

The bill puts the pressure on social media companies to comply, establishing an online safety regulator and setting up a penalty regime. 

ACT and New Zealand First don't support it, and Labour's yet to decide.

Education Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking she's worked hard to give Labour everything it needs to come to a view on it. 

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National has introduced a Bill which would legally require platforms like Instagram and TikTok to bar under-16s from making accounts.  

It would impose an online safety regulator and introduce significant financial penalties for companies' failure to comply. 

ACT and New Zealand First don't support it, and Labour has still to decide its view. 

Technology Users Association Chief Executive Craig Young told Mike Hosking this is not an issue the Government can legislate away. 

He says looking at Australia, eight out of ten teens are still on social media – the same number as before that country's ban. 

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The Prime Minister is on after ruling out any new taxes, proving this election is between tax or not.

Andrew Saville and Jason Pine talk a brilliant weekend of sport between the AB's, the Warriors going top of the table and Liam Lawson.

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The importance of this is based on the simple premise that this election is about one thing, which is the state of the place.

Is it getting better, or not?

Do you see a brighter future, or not?

Forget all the other issues and policies because they're frippery. All that matters is the state of your wallet, your finances, your lifestyle, your hopes and your aspirations.

The Government will argue they inherited a mess and it was so big that it takes time to turn it all around.

For a while they had us onside. We believed them, mainly because it was true.

History will show what labour did 2017-23, and particularly 2020-23 is one for the record books.

Things were coming right until the war then the momentum was lost.

It's now back, to a degree. GDP is growing and major sectors like manufacturing and services are in expansion. Jobs are still an issue and confidence is fragile.

So their job is to re-convince you that they had it in hand but Trump got in the way. "Just stick with us and she'll be right".

So, to the poll Horizon did in the early part of this month.

31% say yep, it's Trump's fault. 17% say it was Labour. But 29% say it's on this Government.

Now like all polls, you can read it a million ways. The 31% who say Trump and the 17% who say Labour makes 48%. That is not a majority.

31%, 17% and the 29% blaming the Government makes up 77%, so that’s 23% who don't know.

Between the "don’t knows" and the 48% you can talk your way to victory. But if the 23% of "don't knows" go with the 17%, at 40% that's a lot of people who don’t believe you and you're in trouble.

You could be positive and suggest that the 29% who think it's on the Government is not actually that many, so their argument is landing well.

But they would need to swing a few of the "don’t knows" their way to make sure.

Either way, this is what this vote comes down to. The evidence, although there and growing, is not cemented in enough yet to feel really confident.

On these numbers I would rather be the Government than not.

But on these numbers it is still all there to play for.  

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They next face the Springboks on Sunday, but have to clear the Lions before they head to Cape Town. 

Newstalk ZB's Rugby Editor Elliott Smith says it'll be a tricky match, but the All Blacks can't be breezy about the game, if they want a second victory over the Springboks this weekend. 

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It's a sudden switch up from recent weeks with the National party discussing both a bed tax and bank tax as potential prospects. 

Christopher Luxon says the party's unable to deliver either without creating cost for New Zealanders. 

He told Mike Hosking that he stands by that decision, saying 'no new taxes, no new levies, that's our position going in to the election'.

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The party's seeking to return to surplus by the end of the decade and lower net debt to 20% of GDP over time. 

Its plans hinge on a fully implemented Capital Gains Tax.

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins told Mike Hosking that it's not expected the sliding property market will continue.

He says even the current government's budgeting for property prices to return to a long term average growth of around three percent.

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The Act Party's promising to do so, as part of its new 'equal rights for all' election policy.

The change would give property the same standing as other fundamental rights and require courts to interpret laws consistently.

Pidgeon Judd property lawyer Joanna Pidgeon told Mike Hosking that there are fears it would trigger constant legal challenges.

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It covers times of national tragedy, times of intense national interest and the international events that defined the country and the world.

Mike also dives into our coverage into something the station is famous for - politics. 

You'll also hear the moments of global joy - and how Newstalk ZB was there to bring the audience 

100 Years of ZB - Celebrating a century of New Zealand's conversation. Archival audio from the collections at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.  

New episodes every Sunday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts - powered by Newstalk ZB. 

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Note: This podcast contains audio of tragic events such as the February 22nd Christchurch Earthquake, the Pike River tragedy and the September 11 terror attacks. Some of the audio may be confronting. 

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GDP: 9/10 

The Infometrics Q2 read is the final nail in the misery merchants' coffin – the turnaround is real. 

Chris Hipkins: 4/10 

Between the streaming bill he didn’t know he had and the Prime Minister interviews he didn’t listen to, does this look like a guy who is razor sharp and ready to rumble in an election campaign? 

Ginny Andersen ruling out all taxes: 7/10 

Big call and had to have made Chlöe choke on her oats. 

The ceasefire: 2/10 

Is that Trump's worst hour yet? Think of all the things he said versus all the things that didn’t happen. It's almost as though he makes it up or doesn’t have a clue what's going on. 

Liam Lawson: 9/10 

Oh, the irony of hand injuries and Zandvoort. Can we really rule a podium out? 

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