The Mike Hosking Breakfast

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confronted a stunning series of defections Friday local time amid allegations of sexual harassment that left the high-profile Democrat fighting for his political survival, angry and alone.
By day's end, the three-term governor had lost the support of almost the entire 29-member New York congressional delegation and a majority of Democrats in the state legislature. None of the desertions hurt more than those of New York's two U.S. senators, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
"Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York," the Democratic senators wrote in a joint statement. "Governor Cuomo should resign."
The escalating political crisis has spawned an impeachment inquiry in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, and threatens to cast a cloud over President Joe Biden's early days in office. Republicans have seized on the scandal to try to distract from Biden's success tackling the coronavirus pandemic and challenge his party's well-established advantage with female voters.
Biden, a longtime ally of Cuomo and his father, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, has avoided directly addressing the controversy, although it's becoming increasingly difficult.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday declined to say whether Biden believes Cuomo should resign. She said every woman who has come forth "deserves to have her voice heard, should be treated with respect and should be able to tell her story."
The senators' statement, which cited the pandemic as a reason for needing "sure and steady leadership," came shortly after Schumer stood alongside Biden at a Rose Garden ceremony celebrating the passage of the Democrat-backed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
A defiant Cuomo earlier in the day insisted he would not step down and condemned his Democratic detractors as "reckless and dangerous."
"I did not do what has been alleged. Period," he said, before evoking a favorite grievance of former President Donald Trump. "People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth."
Never before  has the brash, 63-year-old Democratic governor, who had been expected to run for a fourth term in 2022, been more politically isolated.
Some in Cuomo's party had already turned against him for his administration's move to keep secret how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 for months, and the latest wave of defections signaled a possible tipping point.
Cuomo's coalition of critics has expanded geographically and politically, now covering virtually every region in the state and the political power centers of New York City and Washington. Among them are New York City progressive U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the leader of the House Democratic campaign arm, U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney; Buffalo-based U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins; and a group of Long Island-based state lawmakers who had been Cuomo loyalists.
"The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside," Maloney said.
Ocasio-Cortez, in a joint statement with U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, said that after a new groping allegation against the governor, she was concerned about the safety and well-being of the governor's staff.
"We believe these women," they said.
Cuomo on Friday insisted that he never touched anyone inappropriately, and said again that he's sorry if he ever made anyone uncomfortable. He declined to answer a direct question about whether he's had a consensual romantic relationship with any of the accusers.
"I have not had a sexual relationship that was inappropriate, period," he said.
The state Assembly greenlit an impeachment investigation Thursday as lawmakers investigate whether...

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) The World's Moving On/Men, You're Grounded/Great Weekend of Sport/Get On the Speed Bus

Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa are due to resume racing in the America's Cup today with a promising wind prediction of between 11 and 14 knots.
Tens of thousands of spectators flocked to the America's Cup Village at Wynyard Quarter and a record number of boats joined the flotilla on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon.
Sadly, the wind stayed away and racing was abandoned after a series of delays.
AUT's sailing professor Mark Orams said the wind forecast today of between 11 and 14 knots looks like a really reliable forecast. The bottom limit for racing is 6.5 knots and the upper limit is 23 knots.
The breezy conditions are forecast to continue for the new few days.
LISTEN TO NEWSTALKZB'S LIVE COMMENTARY OF THE AMERICA'S CUP FROM 4PM TODAY
Today's course will be decided later this morning, as defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa attempt to break the 3-3 deadlock in the 36th match for the America's Cup.
For all the disappointment, there was a fantastic atmosphere on the Auckland waterfront with bars, restaurants and cafes humming after Friday's shift to Level 1.
One couple who came up from Christchurch for the weekend racing, Wayne and Diane, said despite the day's setback they still had a great day.
Diane said she had worn red socks in anticipation they could see Team New Zealand take out both races but sadly it wasn't to be.
"We've just enjoyed the day and the happy vibe everyone had," she said.
Another couple, Iona and Colin, planned to make a day out of the racing but because of continued postponement they thought it was best to head home."We're going to go home and hopefully watch it on the TV, in comfort and with a breeze."After today's disappointment, Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling said: "You can't choose the weather can you."
text by Bernard Orsman, Courtney Winter

The Government is being challenged on its spending on renewable energy, after the revelation that coal imports last year passed a point not seen in New Zealand in 15 years.
Newly released data shows close to 1.1 million tonnes of coal was imported into New Zealand last year.
That's higher than the total of coal imports for 2017 and 2018 combined.
It's also the most coal shipped into New Zealand in any year since 2006, according to new data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
The Act Party has put the blame for the increase squarely in the lap of the Government.
Its climate-change spokesman, Simon Court, said if the Government had not banned the exploration for natural gas three years ago, New Zealand wouldn't need so much foreign coal.
Victoria University climate expert Adrian Macey told Mike Hosking this shows when it comes to renewable energy, New Zealand is lacking behind other countries.
"Over the last 10 years, we haven't really done much to up our wind power and our alternatives.
"Unless we invest heavily now in renewables, we're going to have to keep doing this." 
Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman says the data shows the Government needs to get serious on its renewable energy spending.
But Energy Minister Megan Woods is defending the import statistics.
She told the Herald that declining gas production and warmer weather – which impacts hydro energy production – have led to higher than usual coal imports.
She said that this very issue was exactly why the Government was looking to spend more money on pumped hydro projects.
In the same year New Zealand was importing record levels of coal, the Government made a number of moves to reduce the use of coal within the country.
In February last year, the purchasing of new coal-fuelled fireplaces was banned in a bid to improve New Zealand's overall air quality.
The month before that, the Government announced it would spend $4.8m on replacing old coal boilers in schools with more-energy-efficient alternatives.
And in December last year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared a climate change emergency.
Meanwhile, coal imports into New Zealand that very same month were 41 per cent higher than they were in December 2019.
"The Government's marketing-led environmentalism has been mugged by scientific reality," Court said.
He added that the 2018 ban on energy companies exploring for natural gas has caused the spike in coal imports.
"Our trading partners have reduced emissions by using natural gas and turning off old coal-fired power stations and industrial heating.
"But no one is interested in finding new gas reserves here due to the Government's ban on new exploration."
Although gas production in New Zealand was down last year, quarterly energy data from MBIE showed that there was actually a slight uptick in the amount of gas used to power electricity last year.
Woods said lower than usual hydro-powered energy – as a result of warm, dry conditions impacting hydro lake inflows – forced electricity providers to use more coal last year.
Another factor was: "declining gas production at the Pohokura gas field".
Norman said the reason for the increased use of coal in 2020 shows why the Government needs to spend more money on renewable energy sources.
"Otherwise we end up relying on coal and gas to pick up the load, which is what happened in 2020 and 2019."
But Woods said the Government already has plans to spend more money in this area.
She said the higher than usual coal imports last year highlights the importance of the Government's NZ Battery project – a feasibility study focused on addressing the "dry year" problems that lead to coal having to be used as an energy source.
At the moment, the Government is looking into this project and how it would work.
But before the election, Labour mooted...

Qantas has revealed ticket bookings have surged since the federal government announced its latest round of support for the sector, which its rival has dubbed “QantasKeeper”.

The nation’s largest airline says domestic flight bookings have increased 40 per cent in the past 24 hours after the federal government pledged to subsidise 50 per cent of the cost of 800,000 tickets.
“The federal government’s announcement of half-price fares has already helped boost interest in travel and confidence that domestic borders will remain open,” a Qantas spokesman said.
The pre-emptive sales surge comes despite the half-price tickets to 13 destinations not going on sale until April 1 for journeys starting in May.

Earlier, Qantas hit back at claims made by rival airline Regional Express that the flying kangaroo was raking in the bulk of government support for the aviation industry.

Appearing on morning television on Friday, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said Rex was in no position to point the finger at the nation’s largest airline, saying the country carrier has received ample support during the pandemic.
Mr Joyce’s comments follow an outburst from Rex deputy chairman John Sharp, who said most of the 800,000 discounted flight tickets announced in Thursday’s aviation package would be gobbled up by Qantas and the rest of the sector would be left to fight for the scraps.
Mr Sharp also labelled the latest round of federal government support at “QantasKeeper”.

But Qantas’s top boss argued that Rex received seven times the aid Qantas did as a proportion of each company’s respective revenue during the coronavirus pandemic.
“You can’t feel sorry for Rex because Rex has gotten all this money from the government previously,” Mr Joyce said on the Today show.
“They got as a percentage of revenue seven times the aid that Qantas got last year, which is the equivalent of Qantas getting $7bn.”
Mr Joyce also noted Rex was probably one of the only airlines to still make money during the year, as its regional routes were still able to operate and be shielded from the impacts felt in the international travel market.

Qantas in a statement on Thursday said it anticipated it would be able to offer 550,000 of the discounted seats, with elevated travel numbers set to help 7500 employees who were stood down because of the pandemic.
“Rex made money last year, no other airline in the world I think did, but with that government support and government help,” Mr Joyce said.
“So they’ve had a lot of support from the government. They should be thanking the government for what they’ve done, but obviously too much is never enough when it comes to Rex.”
Mr Sharp on Thursday said regional Australia was largely ignored in the package.
“It’s really a Qantas package,” he said.
“I think it is a good concept, but I think it has some major unintended consequences because it ignores the fact that there are some fantastic tourism destinations in regional Australia that won’t be serviced,” he said.
The Qantas group services about 70 per cent of Australia’s domestic airline market.

Should we follow the UK and reduce tax on kegs of beer?
The Brewers Association of New Zealand is lobbying the government to reduce the excise tax on kegs by 50 percent to support the hospitality sector.
The UK have announced another year of a freeze on all excise tax for alcohol, and despite the fact we drunk more last year, sales of beer actually went down by 1.7 percent.
Dylan Firth is the executive director of the Brewers Association of New Zealand. He joined Mike Hosking to talk about the tax.
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It's been a rocky start to Super Rugby for the Blues.
They fly down to Wellington for a game, and then Auckland goes into lockdown.
So they stay and train in Wellington and Waikato, while all getting tests.
Then some go to Whangamata and get caught up in the earthquake and tsunami warnings, now they're back here at level 2 for their first home game this weekend against the Highlanders.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald joins Mike Hosking to preview their first home match.
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Every Friday morning, Mike Hosking is joined by Tim Wilson and Kate Hawkesby to wrap the week in news.
LISTEN ABOVE.

A veteran PE teacher says school curriculum demands are taking their toll on physical education.
New research by Otago University suggests schools should commit two and a half hours to PE every week, to ensure young people get enough exercise.
Spotswood College's Phil Gayton is backing the idea, saying it would help make exercise habitual.
Gayton told Mike Hosking he's been a PE teacher for more than four decades, and remembers a time when two hours a week was mandatory for all students.
"The mandate part of it has also gone, so some school have basically no physical education at all."
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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.
The America's Cup.
9/10.
"It could not be a better contest.
And it has the magic ingredient of sport, you just don’t know how it's going to play out."
Scott Morrison.
8/10.
"Did us all a favour by exposing the lie around the Trans-Tasman bubble.
The govt is busted with their BS.
If the Prime Minister of Australia has no idea why his people aren't shopping in Queenstown, no one does.
We've been had."
Ashley Bloomfield and the Cricket.
3/10.
"Went to the cricket in a private capacity, you know the way just any old Joe from the Hutt can?
You can turn up at the cricket, wander into the changing rooms, and have a selfie with Jimmy Neesham.
What do you mean you haven't done it?"
Athletes Getting an Early Jab.
7/10.
"Yes, why not?
Let someone get on with their lives, and it's not like there are hundreds of thousands of them."
Harry and Meghan.
2/10.
"Self serving, indulgent, and dishonest.
The contrast between their world view and that of his grandmother could not be greater."
The Vaccine Rollout.
6/10.
"Was it a rollout?
Or was it a vague precis of what may, or may not, happen if a whole lot of other stuff comes to pass?"
National's Election Review.
4/10.
"Apparently it's in a hidden chamber, behind six doors, 17 locks, and an AI face recognition system."
Joe Biden.
6/10.
"Mixed week. He got the $2 trillion worth of slush money through.
But his dogs were appalling..."
Piers Morgan.
9/10.
"Yes, he's over the top. Yes, he was probably a bit obsessed with Meghan.
But he is hot talent, and in a media world of blamage, he saved a show, and freedom of speech is under real fire.
So all power to him."
LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW