The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Retailers are feeling more optimistic about the year ahead, with confidence reaching a two-year high. 

Retail NZ's latest Retail Radar report finds 73% are confident their business will survive the next 12 months. 

A similar number expect to meet or exceed their sale targets in the final three months of the year. 

Chief executive Carolyn Young told Mike Hosking the year has been a bit up and down, largely impacted by the pesky fuel prices. 

She says if we could get those under control, there's the sense the economy might move in the right direction for both consumers and businesses.  

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Netball New Zealand believe the long-term interests of the sport have been protected by pulling the plug on the domestic league advocated by Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams. 

The proponents of a new privatised competition were blindsided by the NNZ Board's decision to end negotiations. 

But Chief Executive Jennah Wootten told Mike Hosking there was extensive dialogue and meetings about the range of issues that made negotiations challenging, and both parties were clear about what those challenges were. 

She says by the end, they'd flexed in a number of areas they felt were appropriate, but there were some fundamental differences in their views that they didn't feel were in the long term interests of the sport. 

Going forward, Wootten says they're working very closely with netball zones and teams, and they're all united in what they need to be doing for 2027 and beyond. 

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High marks for New Zealand from international students. 

Education NZ's latest Experience Survey finds 90% rate their overall experience positively, up from 87% last year, and the highest since the survey began in 2019. 

At least 93% rate their teachers and tutors as supportive and respectful. 

Chief Executive David Downs told Mike Hosking our international education is probably the best of any country in the world in terms of what we can offer students. 

He says they like the education definitely but they also like living in New Zealand, and really importantly, they feel a sense of safety and welcome here. 

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Soaring fuel prices aren't the only thing driving demand for electric vehicles. 

Motor Trade Association data reveals Plug-in Hybrids and Battery Electric Vehicles together reached 3,317 registrations last month, up 174% on a year ago. 

EVs also made up 22.7% of new light vehicles, against 8.9% the previous October. 

EV City owner Dave Boot told Mike Hosking the surge in interest goes beyond rising petrol costs. 

He says availability is also a major factor, with more than 30 new Chinese EV models entering the market in the past year. 

Boot also says the figures don't yet reflect the full scale of demand, as sales surged in March, but many of those vehicles hadn't even been built then, taking up to six months to arrive and be registered. 

He says that means the latest registration figures are still catching up with demand. 

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John Key not only appeared on our show Friday, having put out a video reminding us all what is at stake this Saturday, he also appeared on a podcast suggesting Luxon has been the victim of a hit job by the left and the media. 

I think he is right. I would also suggest the media is the left, and the left is the media. 

But, and it's a big "but", it makes no difference. It is what it is, and to his credit, Luxon has not complained about his treatment, often using the line "it's like a farmer complaining about the weather". 

I do worry about John Key and his role. He left office ten years ago and he clearly is still the National Party's greatest asset. 

What's that say about the National Party?   

I thought about this last week when I watched Obama get rolled out as part of the midterms. He is as electric as he ever was. 

But you can equally ask the question, given Trump got to the White House also a decade ago, why hasn’t he been replaced by someone new and just as charismatic? 

Is it the times? Does the world not produce leaders anymore of any real consequence? 

A similar thing happens in Australia. They still roll John Howard out and he still carries more weight than you might want to admit in a party that has badly fallen by the wayside. 

Is it nostalgic? Is it not so much the character of the individual but the times themselves? They just happened to be at the top during those times so when we hear them, we are transported back to a better place. 

It's memory lane and we like it better than what we have now. 

And is what we have now the result of leaders who aren't up to much, or is it the march of the modern world? Whether it be social media and AI and humanoids, could any leader could make it any different? 

Howard is too far removed to be an issue for the current leader of the coalition and for Obama, he is still current because the Democrats don’t have a leader. Would Obama fade if Gavin Newsom officially ran? 

But does Key haunt Luxon just a little bit much? 

Has Luxon not shone because he never lived up to the Key reputation? 

Or is Key right, and no one could have survived the beating of the left and the media?     

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The stakes are high for Donald Trump and his Republican Party as American's head to the polls just before us next week, on Wednesday.  

The midterm elections will determine control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, shaping how much power Trump has to push through his agenda for the remainder of his presidency. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking Trump's approval rating is at an all-time low, with the worst numbers for any president before a midterm. 

As a result, he says, the Democrats look to have a strong likelihood of taking control of the House. 

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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday 2nd of November, we dig into the AA report showing we've hit the lowest road toll in over a century. 

The Prime Minister and National Party leader Christopher Luxon joins Mike for two hours for his Leader's Breakfast, discussing what he's achieved, broken promises, and looking ahead to a new government. 

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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National's Leader denies they're being too negative in their election campaign. 

Their campaign has focused on the potential outcome of a Labour-led coalition, with a particular focus on Green Party Co-Leader Chloe Swarbrick and her desire to be Finance Minister. 

Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast his message is very simple: stick with a plan that's working. 

He says they're doing the right things, and the future looks incredibly bright, so don't put that at risk with a Labour coalition. 

"There's a risk. You've got four parties, you've got six leaders, and you got nine new taxes on the table and an $18 billion hole. I'm telling you what they will do is they will do exactly what they've done before – they will spend more, tax more, borrow more." 

"They are not the answer to the, to the problems that we've been dealing with." 

He says New Zealand is at a crossroads and they've worked too damn hard for the last three years to get it into this shape, so don't put it at risk.  

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Christopher Luxon is brushing off latest poll results that have them behind Labour on all but one of the key issues this election.  

The Ipsos Issues monitor ranks how much voters trust political parties to deliver on issues. Inflation was the leading concern and Labour the frontrunner, with 38% to National's 24%.  

Health, petrol prices, the economy, and unemployment round out the top five, with Labour on top of all four. 

The National Leader told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast polls say all sorts of things in any given week, and people should go look at the data. 

He says the economy is better under the National-led coalition than it was under Labour – same with inflation.  

"My job is to actually get under the hood, fix the fundamentals, make sure that they're actually done right and sorted because actually, it's not sexy stuff, it's not popular stuff, it's the stuff that actually does matter to make it work for the future." 

Luxon says they've seen growth in things like tourism, exports, and construction since their government came to power.  

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The Waitangi Tribunal is set to undergo some changes if the Coalition Government is re-elected. 

National Leader Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast the tribunal is a longstanding feature of New Zealand's Government, but the country needs to ask the question of what its role is. 

“[It] could be no role, could be evolved role, adjusted role," he said. 

He defended his government’s record on Māori and Treaty issues, saying it had sorted through things like disbanding the Māori Health Authority, ending co-governance of public services, and putting English into Government agency departments. 

Of the tribunal, Luxon said there is "certainly going to be a plan to change it in some form or another" if re-elected. 

"Whether it's gone could be an option," he said. 

Both ACT and NZ First want to disband the tribunal once all remaining historical Treaty claims are settled, but Luxon said the parties have not yet had a conversation with National over a plan. 

"I appreciate those parties may have their views about that, what we all agreed is that there's got to be a question about what the role is, actually to be questioning the role is something we're all committed around doing." 

"It could be that it gets disbanded, it could be that actually there's a different orientation or a different role for it, I don't know, but I want to look at that and go through that sensibly," he said. 

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