The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The two new Auckland Covid cases in the community have the same South African strain of the virus as the Northland woman infected at the Pullman Hotel.
The pair are an adult and a child, Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed this morning.
Genome testing overnight had shown the pair were linked to the first infection at the Pullman Hotel, which was the highly infectious South African strain.
That meant they had potentially come into contact with the returnee with the South African strain while staying at the Pullman, Hipkins told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking.
The first results of the pair's close contact had come back negative. There were six close contacts in total.
The infected pair had not moved far since returning to their home after being in managed isolation.
Hipkins said they were a family that were not particularly active.
There had been extensive testing underway for all returnees that had left the Pullman. Around 300 people had already tested negative.
"There does appear to be something at the Pullman Hotel," he said.
It was unlikely there would be a change in alert levels at this point "but everything is always under review".
Hipkins said it was unfortunate that the information about the infectd pair was shared before the Ministry of Health made an announcement about the latest test results last night.
He said at that point the ministry only had preliminary results so had chose not to release the information.

A few ideas on how MIQ should be working. Currently, not only is it run badly, it’s not run to its full potential.
It’s run with fear as a driving force and fear limits your ability to think, excel and expand.
Firstly, the experts the Bakers and the Gormans are right. The fact they are virtually all in major centres is insanity, especially with the new strains.
More of New Zealand needs to be used. More military facilities need to be used
Flights from certain countries for now need to be stopped. Tests on day 0, 3 and 12 work well, but isolation post-MIQ is now necessary.
Everyone is in the room and stays in the room for 14 days, full stop - Australia has it right.
I would carve out sections for business. I would allow a small number or perhaps a group of businesses to provide private facilities overseen by the government. This would allow workers and students to re-enter the country into isolation without the numbers jam we currently have
I would allow an exemption system for private isolation. It would cost and the fines would be gargantuan, Australia has it and it works. It allows people with jobs opportunities and money to come and go.
Yes, there is an egalitarian backlash, but this is about moving forward, not being bogged down with whinging.
The bubble with Australia would be up and running and running. The key here is MIQ: if MIQ worked and was run properly, we wouldn’t have the leaks.
If we didn’t have the leaks we wouldn’t be constantly chasing our tail running nine hour ques for testing and generally having fear run rampant in various communities.
And when MIQ works, you can travel with confidence. You’ve been able to travel with confidence to Australia for months now, it’s just our fear that’s held us back.
And in traveling freely to Australia, you’ve just freed up a significant portion of MIQ spaces, thus allowing yet more new Zealanders to return home.
None of this is rocket science. None of its new, it’s all been suggested, a lot of its been done elsewhere
But what we have is a half-baked, fairly poorly delivered model that is ripe for the polishing.
If we wanted more, if we were more aspirational, this is all more than doable. Vision and determination are all that’s lacking at leadership level, and the rewards would be instant and tangible
Attitude is everything. Ask why shouldn’t we instead of why should. Ask it that way, and we are off.
   
  

Is having a popular New Zealand band on a scratchie morally wrong?
Six60 have done a deal with Instant Kiwi to have their own $3 scratchie.
Critics say that the scratchie promotes problem gambling, especially to a younger audience, but the band say they did it so that the profits will go to multiple charities.
Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Fraude told Mike Hosking that while pokie machines are the most harmful form of gambling, scratchie cards are age restricted as they are more harmful than other forms - as they are a continuous form of gambling that delivers an instant result. 
Fraude agrees they are doing this for charitable reasons. 
"It is disappointing to see they chose a gamblin product to raise money for these causes when it is such a significant social issue in New Zealand."
She says their faces on the tickets could normalise gambling for people, and they could have chosen another way to donate money to charity.
Fraude says people cannot be blamed for gambling, as it is an addiction for many people. 
"It's not about pointing the finger at people, it's about considering the product." 
LISTEN ABOVE

The Prime Minister says an Aussie travel bubble is looking increasingly difficult to get over the line by the end of March.
Jacinda Ardern says that's on a country-to-country level, and they haven't ruled out moving state-by-state.
It comes after Australian officials on Monday put a 72-hour stop to the one-way quarantine-free bubble with New Zealand.
Ardern says work on a two-way arrangement is ongoing - and they're continuing to pursue it.
She says if we are to enter into a transtasman bubble arrangement, we need to give confidence we won't see closures at the borders with very short notice.
Listen above as Australian correspondent Steve Price speaks with Mike Hosking.

New Zealand's tech sector is challenged by a lack of talent.
In her state of the nation address yesterday, Judith Collins spoke of the need for New Zealand to embrace  opportunities around technology.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck told Mike Hosking getting the "geeks" is the challenge.
"Tech companies around the world would love to set up in New Zealand, but the country doesn't have the talent pipeline to enable the sector's growth."
Beck says the tech sector represents New Zealand's greatest opportunity to move people into high paying jobs
He says Covid-19 means the "tyranny of distance" is no longer a challenge for New Zealand - with much of the world working from home.
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The head of the police union is at odds with the Police Minister over recruiting new officers.
After a fresh deployment of 60 police in March, there won't be any new officers until at least September because Police have put a halt on training.
A source has told Newstalk ZB the delay is the result of Police Minister Poto Williams denying an advance of a five-year budget funds from the 2017 Government.
In a statement, Poto Williams says fewer people have left the police force in recent years, meaning there's less need for new recruits.
But Police Association president Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking they still need to fill those gaps.
He says because attrition is currently so low, they probably only need 400 recruits a year, where the need was previously about 1000.
LISTEN ABOVE

What an embarrassing business for the Prime Minister yesterday.
First, the old trick of making an announcement that says nothing. Medsafe "may" clear the Pfizer vaccine next week for use here. May? What's that mean?
That was the announcement, someone might do something. The media asleep yet again, announces "vaccine roll out details have been revealed" when no such thing has happened.  
"May" is not a thing. And even if they do clear it, it was then reported the vaccine would be rolled out after that. After what? When? You'll not there was no date.
Why was there no date? Because they don't know.
The whole non-announcement was a result of Australia and their authority clearing the vaccine on Monday. And having said we are in lockstep with Australia that made us look foolish, if not plain dishonest.
The same sort of dishonesty when Chris Hipkins told us we were first in line for the vaccine, when clearly, as Judith Collins quite rightly pointed out yesterday, we can't even see the line.
Speaking of Hipkins, he told us last week that the travel bubble with Australia by March was looking ropey, and yet the Prime Minister said yesterday that it's still being pursued. So, which is it? And why is it so hard to get a story straight?
But then, the ultimate humiliation as Ardern, as she so often does, tries desperately to regain the narrative by giving Scott Morrison a bit of a serve over the border.
We can't, she proclaimed, have borders shut on a whim. In that she's right, but she failed to mention, for it is far too embarrassing to do so, why Australia did what they did.
Because for the past half dozen months we have refused to come to the party over the bubble. There has been no sensible reason for this other than fear, based on their own ineptitude. They've blamed various states, the same way they currently still blame the Cook Islands for preventing us travelling to the island quarantine free.
The truth has been laid bare this week with Northland. MIQ isn't up to it, we run a slack system full of holes, and we refuse to address it.
Morrison was merely reminding us that the slip ups are as much ours as theirs and being driven by fear is no way to run a country.
Morrison's point, two can play this dumb game.

We can't afford to lag behind other countries when it comes to Covid vaccinations.
The Government's waiting on Medsafe's approval of the Pfizer vaccine, which could come this time next week.
National MP Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking we can't be complacent, and have fallen behind Australia.
"We are in a position where we should be vaccinating people but we're not. We say we're in lockstep with Australia, but we are quickly falling behind."
But Labour Minister Stuart Nash told Mike Hosking there's a week between this country and our trans-Tasman neighbour.
He says we need to work through our own regulations to ensure the vaccine's safe.
"There would be nothing worse than rolling out a vaccine that didn't live up to the promises."
LISTEN ABOVE

The Senate has rejected a Republican attempt to dismiss Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial, a vote that allows the case on “incitement of insurrection” to move forward but also foreshadows that there may not be enough votes to convict him.
The 55-45 procedural vote to set aside an objection from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul puts the Senate on record as declaring the proceedings constitutional and means the trial on Trump's impeachment, the first ever of a former president, will begin as scheduled the week of Feb. 8. The House impeached him two weeks ago for inciting deadly riots in the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat.
At the same time, it shows it is unlikely there will be enough votes for conviction, which requires the support of all Democrats and 17 Republicans, or two-thirds of the Senate. While most Republicans criticized Trump shortly after the attack, many of them have rushed to defend him in the trial, showing the former president's enduring sway over the GOP.
“If more than 34 Republicans vote against the constitutionality of the proceeding, the whole thing’s dead on arrival,” Paul said shortly before the vote." Paul said Democrats “probably should rest their case and present no case at all.”
The senators took oaths Tuesday to ensure “impartial justice” as jurors in the trial, proceedings that will test Republican loyalty to the former president for the first time after the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.
Many Republican senators, including Paul, have challenged the legitimacy of the trial and questioned whether Trump's repeated demands to overturn Joe Biden’s election really constitute “incitement of insurrection."
So what seemed for some Democrats like an open-and-shut case that played out for the world on live television is running into a Republican Party that feels very different. Not only are there legal concerns, but senators are wary of crossing the former president and his legions of followers. Security remains tight at the Capitol.
On Monday, the nine House Democrats prosecuting the case against Trump carried the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection” across the Capitol in a solemn and ceremonial march along the same halls the rioters ransacked three weeks ago.
The lead House prosecutor, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, stood before the Senate to describe the violent events of Jan. 6 — five people died — and read the House resolution charging “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Republicans came to Trump's legal defense.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked if Congress starts holding impeachment trials of former officials, what's next: “Could we go back and try President Obama?”
Besides, he suggested, Trump has already been held to account. “One way in our system you get punished is losing an election.”
For Democrats the tone, tenor and length of the trial so early in Biden's presidency poses its own challenge, forcing them to strike a balance between their vow to hold Trump accountable and their eagerness to deliver on the new administration's priorities following their sweep of control of the House, Senate and White House.
Chief Justice John Roberts is not presiding at the trial, as he did during Trump’s first impeachment, potentially affecting the gravitas of the proceedings. The shift is said to be in keeping with protocol because Trump is no longer in office.
Instead, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt., who serves in the largely ceremonial role of Senate president pro tempore, was sworn in on Tuesday.
Leaders in both parties agreed to a short delay in the proceedings, which serves their political and practical interests, even as National Guard troops remain at the Capitol because of security threats to lawmakers ahead of the trial.
The start date gives Trump’s new legal team time to prepare its case, while also providing more than a month's distance...

The head of a Māori-led inquiry into Oranga Tamariki who slammed it for "inexplicable breaches of human rights towards Māori" will now be at the forefront of its transformation.
Dame Naida Glavish is one of four Māori leaders chosen by Children's Minister Kelvin Davis to form the newly-established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board.
The announcement comes just days after Grainne Moss resigned as head of the agency, which has been under intense scrutiny and criticism since a video was published of the uplift of a week-old Māori baby in Hastings in 2019.
That event led to no less than five reviews of Oranga Tamariki and its child uplift practices: an internal review, and inquiries by Whānau Ora, the Chief Ombudsman, the Children's Commissioner, and the Waitangi Tribunal.
The number of children in state care and the number of uplifts has fallen under Moss' watch, and partnerships are being created with iwi to prevent their tamariki from going into care or keeping them within extended family.
But many prominent Māori leaders remained deeply distrustful of Oranga Tamariki and felt that transformational change was yet to occur.
Davis refused to express confidence in Moss, although he denied he had any say in her resignation.
The new board will advise Davis on the agency's relationships with families, whānau, and Māori; professional social work practices; and organisational culture.
"The Government is committed to fixing the child care and protection system and ensuring that Oranga Tamariki becomes an enabler; the organisation that people trust and go to for help," Davis said.
"This group will help us achieve that."
Glavish, who was on the Māori Party list in the 2020 election, chaired the governance group that oversaw the Whānau Ora review into Oranga Tamariki, which revealed hundreds of stories of babies being removed from their whānau, some involving armed police turning up without notice.
At the time Glavish said it confirmed "systemic failure, discrimination and inexplicable breaches of human rights towards Māori".
Glavish said then they were calling for a complete overhaul of Oranga Tamariki, the Family Court ex-parte (without notice) order process, the law that facilitated uplifts, and she wanted to see the immediate resignation of chief executive Grainne Moss.
Glavish was also part of a group wahine Māori leaders - including Dame Tariana Turia, Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi, Dame Areta Kopua, Lady Tureiti Moxon and Merepeka Raukawa-Tait - who filed an urgent claim last year against Oranga Tamariki in the Waitangi Tribunal.
Given that 60 to 70 per cent of children in State care are Māori, the claim advocated that 60 to 70 per cent of the resources go to Māori under a new Mokopuna Māori Authority.
Joining Glavish on the board are National Māori Authority executive director Matthew Tukaki; former President of the Aotearoa Association of Social Workers Shannon Pakura, who was also former Chief Social Worker for the Department of Child, Youth and Family; and Tā Mark Solomon, former longtime chairman of Ngāi Tahu and current chair of the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for the South Island.
Davis said the "accomplished, senior, and well-respected members" would be instrumental in ensuring Oranga Tamariki provided the best possible care for tamariki.
"Given the nature of Oranga Tamariki's work, public trust and confidence are crucial for it to meet its core responsibilities and serve those children, young people, whānau and communities it comes into contact with.
"Over time allegations, issues and concerns have been raised regarding Oranga Tamariki and its practice and culture; its lack of coordination with other NGOs; and its relationship with many Māori communities.
"These issues are having a negative impact on the ability of the ministry to fulfil its role and it is important that they are addressed.
"Oranga Tamariki needs...