The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Italy ordered two Russian Embassy officials expelled Wednesday and arrested an Italian Navy captain on spying charges after police caught the officer allegedly giving classified documents to one of the Russians in exchange for money.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told a joint session of the Italian Parliament's foreign relations committees that the documentation concerned NATO information and that the incident was a “hostile act of extreme gravity."
“It is not just our security at risk, but that of the entire NATO (alliance), and we cannot accept this," he told lawmakers.
The Foreign Ministry said it summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Razov to protest the “grave incident" after a sting operation on the outskirts of Rome allegedly caught the Italian and one of the Russians in a “clandestine operation” to exchange the documents for cash late Tuesday.
Italy’s Carabinieri paramilitary police said the Italian frigate captain had been arrested. The Russian observed with him, a member of the Russian armed forces stationed at the Russian Embassy in Italy, was initially detained but not immediately placed under arrest given his diplomatic status.
He was ordered expelled along with another Russian Embassy official allegedly involved, Di Maio told lawmakers. Di Maio didn't provide details about the suspected role of the second Russian.
The Russian Embassy in Rome confirmed the detention of a diplomat who belonged to the military attache’s office but wouldn’t comment on the incident.
“In any case, we hope that it wouldn’t affect bilateral ties,” it said in a statement.
Italy’s special operations forces in Rome staged the sting “during a clandestine operation between the two, surprising them red-handed immediately after the handing over of classified documents by the Italian official in exchange for a sum of money,” said the Carabinieri statement.
The Carabinieri said both were accused of “serious crimes concerning espionage and state security.”
Speaking in a conference call with reporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin was unaware of details of the incident, but noted that “we hope that the quite positive and constructive character of the Russian-Italian relations will be preserved.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry voiced regret about the diplomats’ expulsion in a terse statement carried by Russian news agencies. It added that its “possible steps in connection with the situation that doesn’t conform with the level of bilateral ties will be announced later.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab conveyed support for Italy in a tweet.
“The UK stands in solidarity with Italy and its actions today, exposing and taking action against Russia’s malign and destabilizing activity that is designed to undermine our @NATO ally," he said, retweeting a Di Maio tweet announcing the expulsions.

There is racism in Britain, but it’s not a systematically racist country that is “rigged” against non-white people, according to the findings of a government-commissioned inquiry published Wednesday. .
Anti-racism activists greeted the inquiry's conclusion with skepticism, saying the 264-page report from a panel of experts from fields including science, education, business and criminal justice downplayed the discrimination and disadvantage that ethnic minorities face in Britain.
The Conservative government launched the inquiry in the wake of anti-racism protests last year. The report states that while “outright racism” exists in Britain, the country is not “institutionally racist.” It says race is becoming “less important” as a factor in creating disparities, which also are fueled by class and family backgrounds.
“We found that most of the disparities we examined, which some attribute to racial discrimination, often do not have their origins in racism,” the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities said.
“Put simply, we no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities. The impediments and disparities do exist, they are varied, and ironically, very few of them are directly to do with racism," said the commission, which was established in July.
The report noted that children from many minority backgrounds do better in school than white students, and that the pay gap between all ethnic minorities and Britain's white population has shrunk to 2.3%.
Critics, however, said the commission’s report painted a partial and unrealistically optimistic picture. It was headed by education consultant Tony Sewell, who has long expressed doubts about there being systemic racism in British society.
“This is not a genuine effort to understand racism in Britain,” Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black studies at Birmingham City University, said. “This is a PR move to pretend the problem doesn’t exist.”
Like other countries, Britain has faced an uncomfortable reckoning with race since the death of George Floyd, a Black American, at the knee of a U.S. policeman in May 2020 sparked anti-racism protests around the world.
Large crowds at Black Lives Matter protests across the U.K. called on the government and institutions to face up to the legacy of the British Empire and the country’s extensive profits from the slave trade.
The toppling of a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston in the city of Bristol in June prompted a pointed debate about how to deal with Britain’s past. Many felt such statues extol racism and are an affront to Black Britons. Others, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, argued that removing them was erasing a piece of history.
The coronavirus pandemic has also highlighted racial fault lines, with Britons from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds dying from COVID-19 at more than twice the rate as their white compatriots.
And two decades after London’s Metropolitan Police force was found by a public inquiry to be “institutionally racist,” Black people are three times as likely as white people to be arrested and twice as likely to die in police custody in Britain despite a series of police reforms.
The commission made 24 recommendations, including setting up an office for health disparities, sending low-level drug offenders into the public health system rather than the criminal justice system, and ensuring police forces better represent the communities they serve.
It argued against removing statues, but said the education system should “tell the multiple, nuanced stories of the contributions made by different groups that have made this country the one it is today.”
The commission also recommended against official use of the acronym BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic), calling it “unhelpful” because it lumps together members of very different groups.
The prime minister said the...

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.
Minimum Wage Increase.
6/10.
"Obviously good for those who get it.
But who really pays for it? Can they afford it? And if they can't, how many jobs go by the wayside?"
Top Income Tax Rate Lift.
3/10.
"Successful economies aim to tax less, not more."
Light Rail.
2/10.
"Of all the things this government has failed to deliver, I pray this is another.
It's stupid, wasteful, and as likely to revolutionise travel as their equally mad train from Hamilton, isn't."
Pike River.
6/10.
It cost more, it took more time, and for what?
Closure? Hopefully.
But what else? Was it always a forlorn hope and an empty political promise?"
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
9/10.
"The final seconds against Canberra showed he's as good as you get.
And the Warriors with a win to remember are the real deal."
Liam Lawson.
8/10.
"A dream start in Formula 2.
And Formula 1 an increasingly real prospect."
Scott Robertson.
7/10.
"Wouldn’t you hire him if you were England?"
Opposition to New Zealand Rugby's Silver Lake Deal.
4/10.
"Are we looking a gift horse in the mouth?
Half a billion in a sport desperate for money, the ability to revolutionise the game and income streams, and allegedly the Players Association hold the cards.
What's wrong with this picture?"
Short Working Weeks.
 
7/10.
 
"Widely considered a success, aren't they?"
 
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New Zealand could be a lot more prosperous, if we modelled ourselves on Silicon Valley.
NASA Chief Scientist Dennis Bushnell believes the IT age has created a golden opportunity for this country.
Bushnell say there's no longer a need to have everyone concentrated into the same area.
He says people that invent the future can live, interact and operate from anywhere so their decision comes down to where is a wonderful place to live and that's New Zealand's edge.
"People can utilise other people's work worldwide from anywhere now in the virtual world we live in."
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Restarting Auckland's light rail project has raised more questions than it's answered.
The Government is setting up a unit to get the project back on track, involving Aucklanders in a six-month process.
Light rail was a Labour campaign promise back in 2017.
National's transport spokesman Michael Woodhouse told Mike Hosking a four-year delay would be laughable, if it wasn't so serious.
"We still don't know what's happening, how it's going to be used or funded -- and what sort of mode is going to be used."
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Milford Sound might be one of the few destinations that gets better in the so-called 'off-season'.
The torrents, and scenic rivulets are world famous. Of course, chipper guides will tell you that the Bowen and Stirling falls only get better with rain.
It's known as the wettest place in New Zealand, but - should you be hoping for blue skies - the traditional off-peak season through midwinter is the least-soggy. In June and July the precipitation tops out at 420mm of rain a month, half of the monthly average for December.
Don't forget to pack a coat.
As one of New Zealand's biggest natural draw cards for international tourists, it takes more than a bit of rain to put off the bus-loads of visitors which arrive via the State Highway 94 pass daily.
Real Journeys' ship the Milford Mariner sails past Stirling Falls, Milford Sound. Photo / Supplied
However this year operators have reported a drought in tourists. Cruise company Real Journeys has reported a 75 per cent drop in visitors since New Zealand's borders closed and the taps were turned off for international tourism.
CEO Stephen England-Hall which recently took the reins of parent company Wayfare, has come up with a way to lure Kiwis back.
From 1 April, Real Journeys is giving away one thousand $1 fares to New Zealanders.
"Jumping aboard a Milford Sound Cruise is the best way to appreciate the scale of the 'eighth wonder of the world'," says England-Hall. Normally, $69 the two hour scenic cruise takes in the sights on a two-hour return sailing into Anita Bay and the Tasman Sea.
Adventure before the adventure: SH94 might be one of New Zealand's most scenic drives. Photo / Unsplash, Timothy Chan
Operating three ships - the Milford Haven, the Milford Mariner and the MV Sinbad - the company offer itineraries from two hour laps of the sound to overnight adventures on the water.
Just as epic is the "adventure to get here," he says. The three-hour drive From Te Anau via the M94 and Homer Tunnel.
See realjourneys.co.nz/milford-no-joke for details. Tickets go on sale from 1 April until 6 April or until sold out, for sailings between 1 April to 30 September 2021

The joke on the text machine over The Wiggles coming here, magically having got their MIQ places, was that Jacinda Ardern had wanted Neve to see the show.
You can't read a lot of those out, because it's not true, and you could argue it's a bit mean spirited. Turns out we should have read the lot.
If you're not up with it, official papers show The Wiggles got into the country amazingly once the Prime Minister took an interest and asked for a “practical solution."
The Wiggles had tickets sold, visas booked, but no MIQ places. The Ministry quite rightly told them space was full, keep refreshing the page, and join the queue like everyone else.
The Prime Minister was being lobbied by the promoter, who spun the most extraordinary amount of BS around jobs created, saved, promoted, money generated, equipment hired. Look up the story, it's full of gripping detail of how thick they laid it on.
Anyway, Ardern wants a practical solution, Chris Hipkins gets involved, and wouldn’t you know it, The Wiggles get the space they need. The system full to overflowing, amazingly found them, within a 24-hour period, some room. Who would have thought?
Once again, I ask the very simple question I have been asking for about a year. All those who think this government doesn’t operate on spin, BS, pressure and headlines, surely at some point have to wake up to the fact they are being played like fiddles.
Yet again those who wanted to visit dying relatives, had urgent business or appointments, ex pats keen to get home, and all those sitting waiting in the line, again got shafted. Because the Prime Minister is about image.
The Prime Minister is about spin. The Prime Minister is about what looks good for the Prime Minister. The Wiggles looked good.
If only we could all write to the Prime Minister and get a MIQ place, eh? If only we could all get the Hipkins tap on the shoulder within 24 hours and get some MIQ space?
Is having groups come in and perform good? Of course. Should MIQ be more expansive than it is? Of course.
But it isn't. And The Wiggles didn’t due their due diligence. They blew it, then panicked.  Their "out" was a Prime Minster obsessed with image, end of story.
The only thing I am surprised about is, given they must have known this was going to be part of an OIA request and eventually the whole story would be told, are they really that thick? Or that arrogant? Are they so out of touch they think this won't damage them?
They're Teflon. New Zealanders are so grateful to be alive and saved from Covid that a Wiggles show, arranged Putin style, would be seen as good news.
Are we honestly still that gullible? And if we are, for god's sake, wake up.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Thursday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) I Want to Get Off/More Lies/Mark the Week/April Foolsvagen/How We Want to Work

Is the government quietly saying "I told you so”?
Under their bubble scenario, you’ve arrived this week in Queensland, you've taken time off work, and you thought you'd treat yourself to a long Easter weekend.
But whoops, it's locked down – well, some of it until tomorrow. Whether in reality it would lock you down I guess is now open to debate. For example, if you were in Brisbane, wouldn't you have scarpered to the Gold Coast or Mooloolaba?
Anyway, I am assuming under the reciprocation of the bubble, our border might be shut. And according to chief fear monger, Chris Hipkins, you would be on your own. No government help would be available.
Why he thought it necessary to say that a couple of weeks back in the latest round of their excuse making, I've got no idea. As a general rule when you go overseas, you don’t spend a lot of time on the phone to the government.
But this is a good, practical example of the sort of thing the government are talking about. Just what would you do if you were in Queensland? Would it put you off travelling? If you want to extend it out a bit and head towards the government's end of conservatism, is this a good enough reason not to have a two-way bubble at all?
It’s a crap shoot, isn't it? You could just as easily have chosen Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne, Cairns, or Perth, and your holiday would remain untouched.
Does the fact you're in Queensland and in a lockdown make you have regrets? Can you adjust your time off to suit?
Obviously if you're one of those sitting there going , "oh thank God we don’t have a bubble, and this is exactly why I wouldn’t go, even if we did have one," that's fine. Live your own life and make your own choices.
But the reality is this sort of thing, whether it's in Brisbane, Melbourne, or Auckland, is going to happen for the foreseeable future. It is not a reason not to get on with life.
It's certainly not an excuse, which is what the government is desperate to find. Any reason not to move forward. The Cook Islands announcement of an announcement Friday is all you need to know what a jack up this really is.
In life, it's all about attitude. Anything is an issue if you want it to be.
If I was stuck in Queensland right now, there would be no regrets, and no phone calls to Hipkins. It's life and we need to get on with it.

What happens in National's caucus meeting, stays in National's caucus meeting -- including on the issue of water fluoridation.
National is backing Government plans to shift the decision from local city and district councils to the Ministry of Health, provided DHBs are consulted.
Leader Judith Collins has dismissed reports that she opposed the party's position.
Speaking on Politics Wednesday with Mike Hosking, National MP Mark Mitchell says caucus made its decision based on the science, but he can't discuss who said what behind closed doors.
"I have no idea, we don't know who talks to who in the Press Gallery. We're just focused on our job of holding the Government to account." 
He says the party wants to see District Health Boards consulted, but he won't say how specific MPs voted.
"The science shows that clearly there's health benefits to having fluoride in our water, especially for our children, and that's where caucus landed on it."
Meanwhile, there could be a little bit more relief on the way for struggling tourism operators.
Tourism Minister Stuart Nash is visiting Kaikoura today -- in the latest stage of his national tour of holiday hotspots.
He says the trip will include an announcement about part of a new tourism initiative.
Nash told Mike Hosking he'll also be meeting with local operators, about how they're coping during the border closures.
"To get a feel for how things are on the ground, to visit them, to show the Government does absolutely support them 100 percent."
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