Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking is threatening to move to Australia if New Zealand doesn't reject the Government's "left-leaning progressive thinking", garnering mixed reactions on social media.
Hosking called the Government an "ideological outlier" in a column for the NZ Herald on Thursday morning, ahead of Finance Minister Grant Robertson's Budget announcement at 2pm.
"The world isn't rejecting left-leaning progressive thinking for no reason, they're rejecting it because it doesn't work," Hosking wrote for the Herald.
"We'll get there, next year or at the next election. If we don't, I'm off to Australia."
His column, which has been widely circulated on social media, delighted many of his left-leaning critics - while many of his right-leaning supporters and listeners said they too were keen to move across the Tasman.
"Mike Hosking says he's going to Australia if Labour are [sic] re-elected. I offer to buy his one-way ticket to Sydney," one Twitter user said.
https://twitter.com/vz_/status/1395135372129017857
I don't think Mike Hosking will find it hard to find someone to pay for his airfare," another wrote.
"I'm sure there's a plane sitting on the tarmac with your name on it," said another.
But some agreed with Hosking - one woman saying she was "sick of this Govt rhetoric".
"Any Kiwi with a brain will follow," wrote another. "Sadly Labour has wrecked our economy and carved it in a shape none of the next generations will appreciate."
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancelled her weekly interview slot with Hosking, claiming changes to her schedule.
The weekly Newstalk ZB morning slot had been observed by New Zealand Prime Ministers for more than 30 years.