The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Prada Cup final between Luna Rossa and Ineos Team UK has been confirmed to resume this weekend, with Race 5 and 6 of the series taking place on Saturday.
The challenger series finale was postponed this week due to the snap lockdown in Auckland following the re-emergence of Covid-19 in the community.
The final series will now resume on Saturday, February 20 with Auckland now at alert Level 2.
Luna Rossa lead Ineos Team UK 4-0 in the best of 13 series.
Commentator and analyst Chris Steele joined Mike Hosking to discuss what to expect from this weekend's racing.
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Power was restored to more homes and businesses in Texas on Thursday local time after a deadly blast of winter this week overwhelmed the electrical grid and left millions shivering in the cold. But the crisis was far from over, with many people still in need of safe drinking water.
Fewer than a half-million homes remained without electricity, although utility officials said limited rolling blackouts could still occur.
The storms also left more than 320,000 homes and businesses without power in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. About 70,000 power outages persisted after an ice storm in eastern Kentucky, while nearly 67,000 were without electricity in West Virginia.
Snow and ice moved into the Appalachians, northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, and later the Northeast. Back-to-back storms left 38 centimetres of snow in Little Rock, Arkansas, tying a 1918 record, the National Weather Service said.
The extreme weather was blamed for the deaths of over three dozen people, some while trying to keep warm. In the Houston area, one family died from carbon monoxide as their car idled in their garage. A woman and her three grandchildren were killed in a fire that authorities said might have been caused by a fireplace they were using.
In Texas on Thursday, just under 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power, down from about 3 million a day earlier. The state's grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said the remaining outages are largely weather-related, rather than forced blackouts that began Monday to stabilize the power grid.
"We will keep working around the clock until every single customer has their power back on," said ERCOT Senior Director of System Operations Dan Woodfin.
Woodfin warned that rotating outages could return if electricity demand rises as people get power and heating back, though they would not last as long as outages earlier this week.
Adding to the state's misery, the weather jeopardized drinking water systems. Authorities ordered 7 million people — a quarter of the population of the nation's second-largest state — to boil tap water before drinking it, following record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and pipes.
Water pressure has fallen because lines have frozen, and many people left faucets dripping to prevent pipes from icing over, said Toby Baker, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to shut off water to their homes, if possible, to prevent more busted pipes and preserve pressure in municipal systems.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he expects that residents in the nation's fourth-largest city will have to boil tap water before drinking it until Sunday or Monday.
Some Austin hospitals faced a loss in water pressure and heat.
"Because this is a statewide emergency situation that is also impacting other hospitals within the Austin area, no one hospital currently has the capacity to accept transport of a large number of patients," said David Huffstutler, CEO of St. David's South Austin Medical Center.
At Houston Methodist, two of its community hospitals did not have running water but still treated patients, with most non-emergency surgeries and procedures canceled for Thursday and possibly Friday, said spokeswoman Gale Smith.
Emergency rooms were crowded "due to patients being unable to meet their medical needs at home without electricity," Smith said. She said pipes had burst in Methodist's hospitals but were being repaired as they happened.
Texas Children's Hospital's main campus at the Texas Medical Center and another location had low water pressure, but the system was adequately staffed and patients had enough water and "are safe and comfortable," spokeswoman Jenn Jacome said.
FEMA sent generators to support water treatment plants, hospitals and nursing homes in Texas, along with thousands of blankets and...

Almost a fifth of Auckland e-scooter riders who ended up in hospital were drunk, according to a new study which found that the devices were four times more dangerous than bikes.
The study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today, compared data about e-scooter and bicycle injuries treated by Auckland City Hospital over a year and found the hospitalisation rate for e-scooter riders was about four times higher than for cyclists.
In the year to October 15, 2019 there were 69 people treated for injuries sustained while riding an e-scooter and 109 while riding a bike.
Lead author Matthew McGuinness, who was working at Auckland Hospital at the time, said the study came about because staff were noticing a lot of people coming in with e-scooter injuries and they wanted to find out if it was because they were more unsafe or if it was because there were alot of them around all of a sudden.
McGuinness said the team calculated the hospitalisation rate for e-scooter injuries as 326 hospitalisations per million hours spent on an e-scooter using data from Auckland Council who was monitoring the trial of the devices.
The best comparison was a previous study which found that, for cyclists in the Northland–Auckland region between 2003 and 2007, the hospitalisation rate was 78 per million hours spent cycling, he said.
"This comparison suggests a greater than four-fold higher risk of injury from e-scooters in the Auckland region," the study said.
And that doesn't take into account anyone else injured in an e-scooter collision.
McGuinness said he could not say for sure why that was but believed e-scooters were probably not used in the same way as bicycles.
"They are obviously novel so people are having a bit of fun on them rather than, with cycling, people using them for transport to work."
Most scooter injuries were caused by falls not involving any one else while most bicycle injuries resulted from collisions, the study showed.
Despite that, there was no real difference in the severity of injuries.
"The over representation of isolated falls is possibly due to the inexperience of e-scooter riders and the influence of alcohol," the authors wrote.
They found 18.8 per cent of all e-scooter riders hospitalised were over the legal drink driving limit despite less than half of them having their blood alcohol level tested. That compared to 6.4 per cent of cyclists who had alcohol in their blood.
The authors said the low number tested for alcohol likely resulted in an under representation of the true percentage of alcohol-related injuries in the data.
McGuinness said the fact 55 per cent of e-scooter injuries occurred after 5pm was likely linked to the high proportion of riders with alcohol in their system.
The study also found only about 10.1 per cent of e-scooter patients were wearing protective gear compared to 78.9 per cent of cyclists.
The authors concluded the high hospitalisation rate suggested e-scooter transport was currently "not as safe as cycling".
With the mode of transport becoming more common more restrictions were needed to keep riders safe, they said.
The study suggested councils consider zero tolerance for alcohol when riding them, laws regarding protective gear, restrictions on using e-scooters after 5pm and changes in road laws.
McGuinness said changes already made since the study was carried out backed up their findings.
Auckland City Council had imposed a 9pm curfew on the use of e-scooters in entertainment areas and an 11pm limit elsewhere in the city, he said.
"Based on this study I think both those things are really important and will hopefully decrease the number of hospitalisations especially in intoxicated people."
E-scooter hire company Jump, now also provides a helmet with each scooter but McGuinness supported making helmet use a law as it is for bike riders.
McGuinness said he expected the...

New Zealand's birth rate has reached its lowest point on record, while deaths have also dropped during the Covid 19 pandemic.
As of 2020, the average woman had 1.61 births over their lifetime - well below the replacement rate of 2.1
Fertility rates in New Zealand were relatively stable between 1980 and 2012, but have generally decreased since then.
There were about 58,000 births in 2020, down three percent on the previous year. 
Massey University sociologist Paul Spooney told Mike Hosking the drop is concerning.
"A lot of old people and not many young people does mean  that we're going to have to think of alternatives, as we are this year, to having workers."
He says population growth in New Zealand is tied to immigration rather than live births.
"We've had a period of very high net migration growth between 2013 and the lockdown in 2020, we added over 400,000 people to our population."
Women in Gisborne and Northland had the most children while Otago and Wellington women had the least.
There were about 32,000 deaths last year - down five percent.
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Serena Williams has been denied her opportunity to match Australian Margaret Court's record of 24 major singles titles after she was beaten by 23-year-old Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
The highly anticipated women's singles semifinal at Rod Laver Arena had a noticeable buzz from crowds returning to the stands for the first time after a five-day lockdown, the result of a small coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne which led the state government to impose snap Covid-19 containment measures.
Osaka won the match 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Australian Open final for the second time. She has now won 20 consecutive matches, last losing in February last year.
"I don't know if there's any little kids out here today, but I was a little kid watching her play," Osaka said of Williams on court after the win. "Just to be on the court playing against her for me is a dream."
Williams, 39, embraced Osaka after the match. She then waved to the crowd as she departed, putting a hand over her heart.
Williams was asked in a post-match news conference if the gesture meant farewell.
"I don't know. If I ever say farewell, I wouldn't tell anyone, so," she said.
Visibly emotional, Williams left the news conference after the next question.
After the news conference, Williams posted the following on Instagram: "Melbourne and my Australian fans- Today was not ideal outcome or performance but it happens... I am so honored to be able to play in front of you all. Your support -your cheers, I only wish I could have done better for you today. I am forever in debt and grateful to each and everyone single one of you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I adore you."
Williams' last major title was at the 2017 Australian Open, when she was eight weeks pregnant. This is her first loss in an Australian Open semifinal, having previously gone 8-0 at that stage in the tournament.
Osaka, the reigning US Open champion and winner of the 2019 Australian Open, is undefeated in grand slam quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. All of her career titles -- including her three majors -- have come on hard courts. She now has a 3-1 career record against Williams, including when she defeated Williams in the infamous 2018 US Open final.
Osaka is the heavy favorite in the final on Saturday. She will face No. 22 seed Jennifer Brady of the United States, who defeated No. 25 seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the second semifinal. In their last meeting, the US Open semifinals five months ago, Osaka defeated Brady 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3.
At age 25, this will be Brady's first major final.
On the men's side, Novak Djokovic reached the Australian Open final for the ninth time by beating No. 114-ranked Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
It was tight for the first seven games — before Djokovic reeled off eight straight points to win the first set — and again when Karatsev went on an all-or-nothing roll late in the second set.
Sensing a shift in support for the underdog — there was a loud, vocal crowd at Rod Laver Arena after a five-day span when fans were barred during a local COVID-19 outbreak — Djokovic moved up a gear and finished off his opponent 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
He's now 9-0 in semifinals at the season-opening major, and one win from a ninth Australian title.
"The more I win, the better I feel coming back," the top-ranked Djokovic said. "The love affair continues."
Djokovic will have a day off Friday when No. 4 Daniil Medvedev and No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is coming off a five-set win over Rafael Nadal, meet in the other semifinal. He said he'd have a rest and get the popcorn ready to watch and see who he gets to face in Sunday's final.
Given his past success in Melbourne, Djokovic should feel confident going into another championship match. He already owns an all-time record eight Australian titles, and he's aiming for an 18th major title, which...

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Friday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) It's the End Times/Mark the Week/Ad Ban Banalities/Paid to Catch Covid/It's Tracing. Not Tracking

People flying from New Zealand should be required to pay a new departure tax to help fund climate-change efforts, the Environment Commissioner says.
In a just-released report, Simon Upton has recommended three other bold steps to ease tourism's pressure on the environment, including tightening rules around freedom camping.
Tourism Minister Stuart Nash says it's too early to respond in detail to the suggested measures.
But he added the $41b-a-year industry - the country's largest export sector until 2020 - would not be returning to a pre-pandemic "business as usual" state.
A major industry group has also welcomed many of the ideas - but questioned whether it was the right time to hit travellers with another tax, given it would already be a challenge to re-establish global tourism connections.
Still, Upton has argued the pandemic's pause could be used to tackle some long-standing social and environmental issues facing the sector.
"There is broad support for the idea that protecting tourism livelihoods in the short term should not morph into a slow but inexorable return to the status quo in the long term."
He said the mooted departure tax would reflect the environmental cost of flying internationally from New Zealand.
The revenue, he proposed, could support the development of low emissions aviation technologies, and provide a source of climate finance for Pacific Island nations.
While the report didn't recommend any set fees, it did explore some hypothetical charges for travellers, depending on how far they were flying.
For people flying to the UK or the east coast of Australia, one lower-bound estimate based on a tax rate of NZ$35 per tonne of carbon dioxide suggested charges as low as $60 and $6 respectively.
Under upper-bound estimates - equivalent to the UK's Air Passenger Duty, but with distances reconfigured for New Zealand's key visitor markets - the charge for short-haul flights to Australia and the Pacific could be $25 for economy and $50 for other classes.
Trips to medium-haul destinations like South-East Asia could see economy passengers charged $90 and premium passengers $195 - while, correspondingly, long-haul trips would come with fees of $155 and $340.
His report found that, by applying a range of rates to passenger movements for New Zealand's 10 tourist markets in 2019, a departure tax could generate between $100m and $400m annually.
Upton argued that any departure tax would be a small percentage of the cost of most trips - and would apply to Kiwis so as not to discriminate against foreign tourists.
While the fees might discourage some people from coming here, he said, research supporting the report had indicated New Zealand was a "must-visit destination" for many people, with demand not being overly sensitive to an increase in airfares.
Upton argued that a climate-related tax could even enhance New Zealand's reputation if it was seen as more sustainable than competing destinations.
Elsewhere in the report, Upton proposed that any future Government funding for tourism infrastructure should be conditional on a set of environmental criteria - and also be aligned with mana whenua and what local communities wanted.
The report found that in places like Akaroa, some locals benefited from tourism - but others had little say and feel imposed on - something backed up by a national survey suggesting 42 per cent of Kiwis thought tourism put too much pressure on New Zealand.
The analysis also noted how, in 2019, the Government spent upwards of $200m supporting tourism - but less than $50m mitigating the environmental pressures that result from it.
Upton also thought it critical to clarify and strengthen the tools the Department of Conservation could use to address the loss of wilderness and natural quiet at the country's most spectacular attractions.
That included tightening up rules around commercial activity on...

Organised crime and gang members with firearms will be targeted by police over the next six months in response to an apparent escalation in gun violence.
For years, frontline police have warned about the increasing number of illegal firearms being seized in raids - particularly for drug investigations - and the risk those weapons pose to staff.
And although New Zealand's criminals have long carried firearms to intimidate one another, police and underworld sources say criminals are now more willing to use them, the NZ Herald reports.
This apparent escalation is put down to the arrival of motorcycle gangs such as the Comancheros and Mongols after the deportation of senior members from Australia, where turf war is far more common.
Police Association president Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking they're targeting gang members and criminals who use firearms.
"The face that people see are those patched gang members - the Comancheros, the Rebels, the people that have turned up and escalated that gang gun violence."
He says Asian organised crime is very big in New Zealand, and they're behind a lot of drug imports.
"They're using firearms as well. But also we have different cartels - we've had Mexicans operating recently in New Zealand, so you do have to look wider." 
Cahill says tens of millions of dollars of gang assets have been seized - and there's more to come.
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Oh the irony: as the announcement of the withdrawal of the last of our people from Afghanistan was made this week, the New York Times writes of the Taliban resurgence and how Afghanistan is once again on the brink\.
The reference given it’s the New York Times is more based around what the new us president does.
Say all you want about Donald Trump but he was hardly a war monger. He is right in saying he never started any wars – well, maybe within his own party, but certainly never a military one.
And he was more in favour of leaving the world to its worries and focusing on domestic matters under his broad based America first idealism.
So what does Biden do? Afghanistan is America’s longest war; they posted hundreds of thousands of troops and lost thousands in the process.
In many respects it is yet another example of the futility and shallowness of American foreign policy. Bowl on in, ask questions later.
The premise was sound. America had been attacked on its own soil, George W Bush was after blood and culprits, and so the invasion began.
Like a lot of those sorts of attacks, there aren’t many militaries that can meet American fire power in terms of resistance.
But that part of the world is about the long game. America’s model is “arrive Monday, blow it up, change the government, go home Friday”.
So although the Taliban were expelled, they were never gone, and over the past 20 years, about 40 nations in one way or another, including ours, were roped in to make some sort of contribution.
There wasn’t much we could do about that. Although futile, we could hardly have said no.
We are part of Five Eyes, we are an American ally, we would need them in dark days and because of that, that is the price you pay to belong to the club. When they ask, the answer is always yes.
They say we did some good work in terms of restoration. The fire fights that saw the inquiry back here into so called war crimes was a needless and costly distraction that comes with the complexities and ugliness of war.
They did of course change the government, but could you really call that a success?  Was free and fair democracy really restored? Was the new government clean and above board?
Overall, has it been worth it? 20 years and counting, and after 20, as the times reports, the Taliban are back, they’re surging, and Afghanistan is on the brink.
That would make the answer fairly obvious, wouldn’t it?

Prince Philip is said to be "in good spirits" after being admitted to hospital in London last night.
He was hospitalised after feeling unwell and will be under observation for a few days, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, was taken to the private King Edward VII's Hospital in Marylebone as a "precautionary measure" advised by his doctor, according to the Daily Mail.
He was in "good spirits" and walked into hospital without help after being driven there by car, reports say.
The decision to hospitalise him came from "an abundance of caution". The Queen, 94, remained at Windsor Castle and is continuing with her royal duties, receiving a Royal Naval update from the First Sea Lord.
Prince Philip's illness is not related to Covid-19. It comes after it was announced on January 9 that he and the Queen had received their first doses of the vaccine, being high risk because of their old age.
The Palace has not confirmed whether they've received their second vaccine, which is meant to be given 12 weeks later to boost immunity, though some have had theirs sooner.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in London, on Tuesday evening.
"The Duke's admission is a precautionary measure, on the advice of His Royal Highness's doctor, after feeling unwell. The duke is expected to remain in hospital for a few days of observation and rest."
The British prime minister Boris Johnson sent his best wishes to Philip for a quick recovery.
A spokesperson for the PM said, "The Prime Minister sends his best wishes to the Duke of Edinburgh as he undergoes a few days of rest in hospital."
This afternoon, police officers were seen guarding the private central London hospital where the duke is being treated.
He will celebrate his 100th birthday on June 10, around the same time that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting their second child.