The Mike Hosking Breakfast

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.
LISTEN ABOVE

Scotland's leader told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Sunday that a second Scottish independence referendum is "a matter of when, not if," after her party won its fourth straight parliamentary election.
Johnson has invited the leaders of the U.K.'s devolved nations for crisis talks on the union after the regional election results rolled in, saying the U.K. was "best served when we work together" and that the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should cooperate on plans to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
But Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, told Johnson in a call that while her immediate focus was on steering Scotland to recovery, a new referendum on Scotland's breakup from the rest of the U.K. is inevitable.
Sturgeon reiterated "her intention to ensure that the people of Scotland can choose our own future when the crisis is over, and made clear that the question of a referendum is now a matter of when — not if," her office said.
Earlier, she said she wouldn't rule out legislation paving the way for a vote at the start of next year.
Final results of Thursday's local elections showed that the SNP won 64 of the 129 seats in the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament. Although it fell one seat short of securing an overall majority, the parliament still had a pro-independence majority with the help of eight members of the Scottish Greens.
Sturgeon said the election results proved that a second independence vote for Scotland was "the will of the country" and that any London politician who stood in the way would be "picking a fight with the democratic wishes of the Scottish people."
Johnson has the ultimate authority whether or not to permit another referendum on Scotland gaining independence. He wrote in Saturday's Daily Telegraph that another referendum on Scotland would be "irresponsible and reckless" as Britain emerges from the pandemic. He has consistently argued that the issue was settled in a 2014 referendum where 55% of Scottish voters favored remaining part of the U.K.
But proponents of another vote say the situation has changed fundamentally because of the U.K's Brexit divorce from the European Union. They charge that Scotland was taken out of the EU against its will. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 52% of U.K. voters backed leaving the EU, but 62% of Scots voted to remain.
When asked about the prospect of Johnson agreeing to a second Scottish referendum, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said Sunday "it's not an issue for the moment" and stressed that the national priority is on recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Gove argued that the SNP's failure to secure a majority in the Scottish Parliament was in marked contrast to the party's heights of power in 2011, when it won a 69-seat majority.
"It is not the case now — as we see — that the people of Scotland are agitating for a referendum," he told the BBC.
The Scotland results have been the main focus of Thursday's local elections across Britain. In Wales, the opposition Labour Party did better than expected, extending its 22 years at the helm of the Welsh government despite falling one seat short of a majority.
Labour's support also held up in some big cities. In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan handily won a second term. Other winning Labour mayoral candidates included Steve Rotherham in the Liverpool City Region, Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Dan Norris in the West of England region, which includes Bristol.

National's slamming draft changes to conservation policies. 
It's obtained leaked documents outlining a number of draft recommendations, from a group set up to review conservation laws.  
The document outlines a number of draft recommendations from one of the Government's working groups.
National Party leader Judith Collins says it asks for a reform of the Department of Conservation, and that the Conservation Act be replaced with a system that better honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty .
The leaked information also suggests a possible transfer of powers in Doc estate to tangata whenua.
She says the information suggests a possible transfer of powers in DoC estate to tangata whenua. 
Collins told Mike Hosking there's a lot to be concerned about. 
"It is pretty clear that this is an attempt by the Government to put in place an entirely radical view of the Treaty of Waitangi, which they haven't discussed with New Zealanders."
LISTEN ABOVE

A second deadly sea snake has been found "alive and wriggling" at a Northland beach less than 10 days since the first discovery in three years made national headlines.
Gareth Fielder found a highly venomous yellow-bellied sea snake at Woolleys Bay, on the Tutukaka Coast, over the weekend.
More than a week ago, Kaitaia resident Samantha Cooper encountered the same type of snake – classed as a native - on Tokerau Beach in Doubtless Bay.
It was the first time a yellow-bellied sea snake had been found since April 2018 at Baylys Beach, near Dargaville.
Sightings of the snakes, believed to breed in the tropical waters of the northern Tasman Sea, are fairly rare in New Zealand - only six to 10 are found a year.
Department of Conservation expert Clinton Duffy said the snake spotted ashore was usually in trouble as they spend their entire life at sea.People should not approach or handle the sea snakes as their toxin is highly dangerous.
Duffy said no anti-venom is available in the country to treat sea snake bites.
Anti-venom is expensive and has a short shelf-life. No one has yet been bitten.
"Don't pick them up. Give them a wide berth. It takes a lot to provoke a yellow-bellied to bite, but if it does, it could well be deadly so it's best to stay away and call 0800 DOCHOT as they are the responsibility of the Department of Conservation," Duffy said.
A yellow-bellied sea snake's powerful neurotoxin – delivered by small fangs in the back of its mouth – means their main source of food, fish, can evade an initial attack but will die shortly afterwards.
The sea snake is a biosecurity risk, although it is deemed native under the Wildlife Act 1953 – as it made its way here under its own steam.
Duffy said DoC would most likely cordon off the area around a found snake because they were not allowed to pick them up either – only qualified snake handlers were able to, and DoC employed none.
Yellow-bellied sea snakes are carried to New Zealand waters on warm currents from Australia and the Pacific Islands. New Zealand waters are too cold for the snake to breed – which involves birthing live young, rather than eggs.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Panic! Maori Takeover!/How Fair is Fair Pay?/Bubble Blues/Post-Match Chaos

The semiconductor industry's constant challenge is to make microchips that are smaller, faster, more powerful and more energy efficient — simultaneously.
On Thursday, IBM announced it has created a 2-nanometer chip, the smallest, most powerful microchip yet developed.
Most computer chips powering devices today use 10-nanometer or 7-nanometer process technology, with some manufacturers producing 5-nanometer chips. The lower numbers denote smaller, more advanced processors. IBM's new chip uses 2-nanometer process technology, a huge leap forward for the components used to power everything from consumers' smart phones and appliances to supercomputers and transportation equipment.
"There are not many technologies or technological breakthroughs that end up lifting all boats," director of IBM Research Dario Gil said in an interview. "This is an example of one."
The way to improve a chip's performance is to increase the number of transistors — the core elements that process data — without increasing its overall size. The new 2-nanometer chips are roughly the size of a fingernail, and contain 50 billion transistors, each about the size of two DNA strands, according to IBM vice president of hybrid cloud research Mukesh Khare.
Having more transistors will also allow more innovations related to artificial intelligence and encryption, among other things, to be added directly onto the chips.
"When we experience that the phone gets better, the cars get better, the computers get better, it is because behind the scenes, the transistor got better and we have more transistors available in our chips," Gil said.
The new chip is expected to achieve 45% higher performance — and about 75% lower energy usage — than today's most advanced 7-nanometer chips. With 2-nanometer chips, cell phone batteries could last four times longer, laptops could get markedly faster and the carbon footprints of data centres could be slashed as they rely on more energy efficient chips.
The 2-nanometer chips are expected to go into production starting in late 2024 or 2025, which won't be soon enough to make a dent in the current global chip shortage.
IBM is not typically the first company that comes to mind when thinking of semiconductors. Unlike Intel or Samsung, the computing giant doesn't do large scale manufacturing of chips. Instead IBM will license its 2-nanometer processor technology to chipmakers.
IBM's research on the new chip will also help it develop its own future tech products that will utilize the 2-nanometer chips.
The announcement comes as the Biden administration is considering investing $50 billion to grow domestic chip research, development and manufacturing, after years of decline in the United States' role in the global semiconductor industry.
"The intent ... is to ensure we have leadership in semiconductor technology in the country," Gil said. "This is proof that we do have that leadership capability in the country, with the 2-nanometer announcement, but people are not standing still. We need to push forward."
- words by Clare Duffy, CNN Business

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.
 
Jobs: 7/10.
"Good week on the employment front. 4.7 percent unemployment is your headline number.  
But labour is tight, and the worry is it's tight in a slack economy."
 
Trevor Mallard: 0/10.
"A disgrace the likes of which we should never have had to witness in such an elevated position."
 
Labour's Backing of Mallard: 0/10.
"They're culpable because they have the solution.
What was it Barry Soper said? Morally bankrupt?"
 
Damien O'Connor: 7/10.
"Common sense award for the week in speaking out against his own party on the Uighur debate.
Of course, it was going to harm trade, join some dots."
 
David Seymour: 7/10.
"Gets the credit for He Puapua, given he got into it first."
 
Judith Collins: 6/10.
"Gets the credit for seeing it for what it might well be and running with it.
As a result, has had the best week for a while."
 
Stuart Nash: 7/10.
"Got there in the end.
$200 million for tourism. And much, much needed."
 
Cook Islands Travel Bubble: 7/10.
"They'll get more out of it than we will.
But open is open, and man do we want more stuff open."
 
Vaccinated Travel: 7/10.
"Deals and green lights all over the place this week from Britain, Italy, the US, and Europe.
You get jabbed, you can get on a plane.
Tragedy is no one will be coming here."
 
The Crusaders: 8/10.
"Another Super Rugby championship.
I know we have to actually play it but come on.”
 
The Warriors: 7/10.
"Seventh, which is top 8, which is playoffs.
And injuries are slowly coming right, and this week it's only Manly.
This is our year."
 
LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW

Another bruising Super Rugby Aotearoa season culminates in the final game tomorrow night in Christchurch.
Standing in the way of the crusaders grabbing a fifth consecutive title are the Chiefs, who started the season poorly and then roared back to life, thanks in large part to the clutch boot of Damien McKenzie.
So how does this one play out? Newstalk ZB and Gold rugby commentators Nigel Yalden and Brian Ashby gave Mike Hosking the run-down.
“Clearly they [the Crusaders] go in as favourites with that record.”
LISTEN ABOVE

The wool industry is getting a makeover and companies are on board for it.
After a report last year which described the industry's problems as grim amidst a record low price, a new national wool standards programme was developed.
Basically, this programme guarantees high standards across the board for a variety of factors such as traceability, sustainability and animal welfare.
National Council of New Zealand Wool Interests Chairman Craig Smith spoke with Mike Hosking.
“I’m really excited about the future going forward.”
LISTEN ABOVE

Redevelopment work is set to start on Auckland's Queen St on Monday, much to the disappointment of one central business group.
The High Court has declined an interim injunction to stop the works, requested by the Save Queen Street Society.
The society believes the 1.1 million dollar makeover to the existing temporary works is unlawful and harmful to businesses.
Heart of the City chief executive Vic Beck told Mike Hosking the court decision is disappointing, but not surprising, and they're going back to court.
“There’s a hearing booked for 20th of July, we certainly hope common sense will prevail and we can actually get an outcome from talking to Auckland council and Transport, that’s certainly the hope and we’ve been trying to do that.”
LISTEN ABOVE