The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The European Commission insisted it still trusts the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and that its dispute with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker is only contractual.
The EU's executive branch has launched legal proceedings in Belgium against the firm for what it believes amounts to a breach of contract after AstraZeneca failed to deliver doses of its coronavirus vaccine in a timely manner.
Millions of doses of AstraZeneca have been safely administered in Europe, but concerns linger over a rare type of blood clot seen in an extremely small number of recipients.
The dispute between the EU and the company has further dented the public's confidence in the efficiency of the vaccine, but the European Commission insisted Monday the AstraZeneca serum remains part of its strategy to have 70 percent of all EU adults immunized this summer.
"First of all, the AstraZeneca vaccine is a very important vaccine for our vaccine portfolio," said Stefan de Keersmaecker, the Commission's health policy spokesman. "Thousands of Europeans are currently receiving the vaccine and it is very much part of our vaccine mix at the moment."
De Keersmaecker spoke after two senior EU officials over the weekend said the EU did not renew its order for AstraZeneca vaccine beyond June and would not buy more doses in the future.
De Keersmaecker confirmed that the Commission did not exercise the option to buy an additional 100 million doses on the basis of the current agreement it sealed with the company.
"But I can't tell you about the future at this stage," he said. "What remains important is that we receive the delivery of the ordered doses."
AstraZeneca's contract with the EU, which was signed by the Commission on behalf of the member countries last August, foresaw an initial 300 million doses for distribution among member countries, with an option for a further 100 million.
The British-Swedish drugmaker had hoped to deliver 80 million doses of that in the first quarter of 2021, but only 30 million were sent. According to the Commission, the company is now set to provide 70 million doses in the second quarter, rather than the 180 million it had promised.
"What we are now doing in our court case before the Brussels court, is to make sure that we can obtain the delivery of doses we are entitled to," de Kersmaecker said.
The legal dispute has eroded the relationship between AstraZeneca and the EU, which reinforced its partnership with Pfizer-BioNTech last week by agreeing to a massive contract extension for a potential 1.8 billion doses of their vaccine through 2023.
The European Commission currently has a portfolio of 2.6 billion doses from half a dozen companies.

Chris Hipkins says he wanted to get his facts straight, before accusing a border worker of evading coronavirus testing for five months.
National MP Chris Bishop says the Covid-19 Response Minister knew on April 8 the worker hadn't been swabbed since November, but sat on it for six days.
However, Hipkins told Mike Hosking there was a reason he didn't reveal there were no results on the border worker testing register, for Case B.
"At that time, they were reporting that they had been had regularly testing, their employer was reporting they had been regularly tested, and an investigation was going on to identify who was telling the truth here."
He also spoke about the 500 extra MIQ rooms that will be available per fortnight, mainly for skilled and critical workers.
That includes seasonal workers, construction specialists, international students and refugees.
Hipkins says there are still 20,000 rooms over the next three months for returning New Zealanders.
"We have actually increased the size of the contingency should anything on the trans-Tasman happen and we need to accommodate plane loads of people at short notice, we have the spare capacity to be able to do that."
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I wasn’t remotely surprised to see Gladys Berejiklian describe our bubble reaction to NSW as an overreaction.
I asked Ashley Bloomfield on Friday of course if he was a bit trigger happy and even he said it was a line call.
But no one is more conservative than Ashley, hence we are so backward on things like borders and vaccines and PPE and testing and border security.
Berejiklian is Australia’s most successful premier. Her state is the best economic performer, she is popular, and she has led far and away Australia’s most successful Covid response.
The Ardern like control freaks in places like Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia have been caught out the same way we have.
Locking things up isn’t hard, but it’s been Victoria and WA that have had the most problems.
New South Wales have had very few. The Northern Beaches outbreak was handled well, and this current outbreak is hardly the pending disaster a bubble pause would indicate it is.
Like so much of this stuff, there is too much politics at play.
The government will never admit it, but they’re not keen on the bubble. That’s why they dragged their heels.
That’s why Australia opened to us last year and we took till a month or so ago to respond.
Any chance to say I told you so, inconvenience some people and kill the buzz they’re all over.
The end of Covid is in many respects the end of this government. They’ve succeeded through fear. When the fear goes the borders open and we turn our attention back to the shambles their governance has produced, they’re done for.
This is why Gladys shines. She’s aspirational, she doesn’t panic, New South Wales doesn’t lockdown at the drop of a hat or a single case.
They can and do track and trace, their record is not just the best but they’re proud of it.
There is no reason to freak out our side of the Tasman if they’re not freaking out on theirs.
She is right, it was an overreaction, because she is a better leader, and handles these things with more aplomb.
As we have said before, between the lacks of vaccine roll out the pay freeze, the Australian economy quote unquote from Macquarie leading the world, and a little aspiration from Berejiklian, the big red land to the left is increasingly a temptation.
When the migration numbers start backing that view up, don’t say all the warning signs weren’t there.

A post-match event for defeated Super Rugby team the Chiefs ended with alleged nudity, vomiting and a trail of noisy carnage in a Christchurch hotel.
Just hours after the Crusaders took their fifth consecutive tournament title the losing team gathered for a function attended by the Chiefs players, staff and families.
It has been alleged that guests at the Novotel in Cathedral Square were kept awake much of the night as attendees - players and supporters - returned to the hotel.
They were reportedly seen naked and intoxicated in the hotel's corridors.
Stuff have reported there was a trail of broken bottles and vomit left behind by the "absolutely wasted" partygoers.
Guests complained about drunk people banging on the walls all night.
Chiefs management told Stuff they were "confident our people were not involved".
However, they were said to be taking the allegations "extremely seriously" and were looking into what happened at the hotel.
One guest who complained said the behaviour was "a bit pathetic really".
She told Stuff she complained to hotel staff twice after "players and supporters" returned to the hotel at 2.30am "very drunk".
The woman claimed some people involved were so drunk they were "not able to stand up, and were sitting on the floor leaning against doorways".
She said hotel staff said extra people had been called in to work to help handle the situation.
A Novotel staffer confirmed to Stuff that there had been at least four complaints from guests.
The staffer said the people at the centre of the mayhem were "all over the floor" of corridors.
Hotel managers had to contact the team's management to control the group - some who were completely naked.
The staffer told Stuff some of the group were vaping inside the hotel.
Staff had to clean up vomit and broken bottles inside and outside the building.
Novotel general manager Bradley Conder said there was not any significant noise and it was unclear who was responsible for the fracas.
He would not comment further.
Chiefs chief executive Michael Collins released a statement about the alleged incident.
He confirmed the function took place and was attended by board, staff, players and families.
"Stuff have informed us of several allegations involving our people," the statement said.
"We have since inquired about these allegations and are confident our people were not involved.
"However, we are taking this extremely seriously and will continue to look into it."

There is no shortage of irony that it's Jim Bolger, a conservative, that has committed one of the greater social crimes on this country.
From the comfort of retirement and a Prime Minister's pension, he oversaw the review into labour laws that finally got rolled out Friday.
Even some of the more woke members of the media managed to call it radical.
Bolger, if you remember before the last election, defended it, but the fact 1 in 10 in any given workforce can trigger what is laughably called a fair pay deal is an outrage. 1 in 10 is not a majority, or even close.
The fact you can dismiss the will of 90 percent of your workforce's view for the rambling views of one is a scandal. But that’s what we are headed for.
So contentious was the idea that is why the Labour Party didn’t roll it out last term. It's why the Prime Minister was at pains in several speeches to business to say the fair pay deal would be exceedingly limited that term. Little did business know what these socialists had in mind for the second term.
But wait, there is more.
Cross company deals, in other words industry wide arrangements, where the ability and individual circumstances of employers to pay or agree are cast aside, and that power is handed to the unions.
This is the 70s all over again. We are rolling back the years.
The tragedy is this is a country that periodically tries to address our woeful productivity rating. If you think having vast swathes of employees permanently on strike, or threatening industrial action, is a way to better productivity you’ve got rocks in your head, or you're a communist.
To be fair to Labour, this is who they are and what better time to go for broke than in a second term. And it's not like they didn't say they wouldn't do it.
That, of course, is why we have elections. It's the contest of ideas.
History will show the 2020 vote was dangerously skewed by fear of Covid and a lot of people that were nothing more than glad to be alive. These people having been scared to death by the Ardern-Bloomfield propaganda machine, will be waking up these next two years and allowing themselves to take in slightly more than one topic.
They will realise their country is being stolen in front of their eyes.
These reforms are radical, but even more importantly they are dangerous.
Only upside is it’s a gift to the Opposition. Undoing this is a vote getter, and if I were them, I'd be licking my lips.

Scientists have made a breakthrough when it comes to diagnosing depression.
Scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have developed a blood test which they say can tell patients how severe their depression is, their risk of getting severe depression or bipolar disorder in the future - as well as being able to tell doctors how best to treat said depression.
This is from the same people who in 2019 developed a blood test that could measure pain as well as diagnosing suicide risk.
Dr Alexander Niculescu, the study lead on the project, told Mike Hosking that they looked for molecules that change depending on treatment
"These molecules that we identified are RNA. These are small pieces of nucleic acid that are made from your DNA."
He says that their test has a three out of four success rate, and is more successful for people with higher risk. 
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The cyberextortion attempt that has forced the shutdown of a vital U.S. pipeline was carried out by a criminal gang known as DarkSide that cultivates a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity, a person close to the investigation said Sunday.
The shutdown, meanwhile, stretched into its third day, with the Biden administration saying an "all-hands-on-deck" effort is underway to restore operations and avoid disruptions in the fuel supply.
Experts said that gasoline prices are unlikely to be affected if the pipeline is back to normal in the next few days but that the incident — the worst cyberattack to date on critical U.S. infrastructure — should serve as a wake-up call to companies about the vulnerabilities they face.
The pipeline, operated by Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, carries gasoline and other fuel from Texas to the Northeast. It delivers roughly 45% of fuel consumed on the East Coast, according to the company.
It was hit by what Colonial called a ransomware attack, in which hackers typically lock up computer systems by encrypting data and then demand a large ransom to release it. The company has not said what was demanded or who made the demand.
However, the person close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the culprit as DarkSide. It is among ransomware gangs that have "professionalized" a criminal industry that has cost Western nations tens of billions of dollars in losses in the past three years.
DarkSide claims that it does not attack medical, educational or government targets — only large corporations — and that it donates a portion of its take to charity. It has been active since August and, typical of the most potent ransomware gangs, is known to avoid targeting organizations in former Soviet bloc nations.
Colonial did not say whether it has paid or was negotiating a ransom, and DarkSide neither announced the attack on its dark web site nor responded to an Associated Press reporter's queries. The lack of acknowledgment usually indicates a victim is either negotiating or has paid.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday that ransomware attacks are "what businesses now have to worry about," and that she will work "very vigorously" with the Homeland Security Department to address the problem, calling it a top priority for the administration.
"Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "We have to work in partnership with business to secure networks to defend ourselves against these attacks."
She said President Joe Biden was briefed on the attack.
"It's an all-hands-on-deck effort right now," Raimondo said. "And we are working closely with the company, state and local officials to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren't disruptions in supply."
The person close to the Colonial investigation said that the attackers also stole data from the company, presumably for extortion purposes. Sometimes stolen data is more valuable to ransomware criminals than the leverage they gain by crippling a network, because some victims are loath to see sensitive information of theirs dumped online.
Security experts said the attack should be a warning for operators of critical infrastructure — including electrical and water utilities and energy and transportation companies — that not investing in updating their security puts them at risk of catastrophe.
Ed Amoroso, CEO of TAG Cyber, said Colonial was lucky its attacker was at least ostensibly motivated only by profit, not geopolitics. State-backed hackers bent on more serious destruction use the same intrusion methods as ransomware gangs.
"For companies vulnerable to ransomware, it's a bad sign because they are probably more vulnerable to more serious attacks," he said. Russian cyberwarriors, for example, crippled the electrical...

Scott Morrison has hit back at comments attributed to him in The Daily Telegraph today, claiming the publication misreported quotes about Australia’s COVID strategy.
Posting to Facebook, he refuted a front-page article which claimed he said international borders would remain closed because Australians want to “eliminate” coronavirus.
It also said he had no plans to “abandon a target of zero cases”. Mr Morrison says neither quote is correct.
“Australia’s COVID suppression strategy has not changed to an ‘elimination’ strategy nor is ‘zero cases’ our goal as reported today,” he wrote.
“These statements were not made, were misreported in the article and have now been corrected on-line.
“There will always be cases as we return Australians home from overseas,” he said.
He went on to reiterate that international borders “will only open when it is safe to do so”, adding that there are “still many uncertainties ahead”.
It comes amid reports Australians dreaming of international travel or reuniting with family members overseas have a long wait on their hands.
In the same interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Morrison said he “doesn’t see an appetite” for Australia opening to the world at the moment, adding that he intends to be “cautious” while rolling out the vaccine scheme.
He added that it was still unclear how effective coronavirus vaccines were in preventing transmission.
 “I think what we’re seeing at the moment is the appreciation of the people that the pandemic isn’t going anywhere,” Mr Morrison said.
“All I know is once you let (COVID-19) back in again, you cannot get it out. You’ve crossed that threshold. We continue to roll out the vaccination program, over the course of this year, and in the meantime, I intend to be cautious, it’s in my nature.”
Mr Morrison said there was not yet “considerable clinical evidence that tells us transmission is preventable” after the jab.
“I think Australians want to ensure that the way we’re living at the moment is maintained,” he said.
It follows Finance Minister Simon Birmingham’s comments on Thursday that international borders opening was unlikely to happen soon because there has been a “clear message” Australians do not want to “risk COVID entering this country”.
 “It’s very hard to put a precise timeline or indicator on it because there’s a range of factors again that will influence that,” he said.
“We’re dealing now – in May of 2021 – with arguably a more uncertain global environment with the management of COVID than we had a few months ago,” he added, in reference to a India’s spiralling COVID crisis and “uncertainties” surrounding the vaccine.
India has been beset by the virus, prompting the government to ban anyone from travelling to Australia if they had been to India in the previous fortnight. The ban will be lifted on May 15.
“These create uncertainties, the uncertainties around aspects of the vaccine rollout including the duration of effectiveness of vaccines, what it means in relation to other variants of COVID,” Mr Birmingham said.
“They’re all factors that we will have to take into consideration.”
He concluded, “But we’re not going to be making promises in relation to reopening the borders that are holding out a false hope when there’s a lot of analysis to still be done before we actually get to the point of making that firm decision.”
Mr Morrison last week said his government was working on a prospective vaccine passport system, which would allow those with the jab to travel more freely.
He noted a condition of such a system would be proof that vaccines protect travellers against the transmission of the virus.
The success of the rollout will play a big part in any planned vaccine passport system, which would allow Australians to travel abroad.
China unveiled its digital passport system last month, with other countries including the US announcing similar...

A new funding plan targeting cervical cancer is being described as 
A new HPV self-testing kit is set to be rolled out backed by $53 million of Government funding.
The new kit consists of a simple swab that looks for cancer-causing HPV cells it's set to replace invasive smear tests from 2023.
Women's Health Research Centre Director Beverley Lawton told Mike Hosking its a game changer.
"We can't detract from the fact that this is very good news for women. It's going to save lives, it's going to have less cervical cancer due to this new progamme."
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Former American Magic helmsman Dean Barker is quizzical at the New York Yacht Club's challenge for the 37th America's Cup.
The document comes with a 154-page protocol on how it sees the Auld Mug being contested in future.
However Barker told Mike Hosking they have no influence because they're not the challenger of record.
"To me it doesn't really seem right that if you're not in control that you try and set the rules.
"Team New Zealand's done a fantastic job to win it and defend it, so by right they should have the ability to put their colour on what the next event looks like."
Barker says it appears a case of a potential challenger wanting the get Team New Zealand and INEOS Team UK to hurry up.
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