The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Government will start the process of giving every New Zealander an extra five days of sick leave a year before Parliament adjourns for the summer break.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the move shows the Government is getting "down to business" when it comes to implementing its pre-election policies.
As well as the new sick leave rules, Ardern has revealed that the Government will today introduce legislation to implement a new 39 per cent top tax rate bill.
That is after she has moved a motion to declare a climate emergency – a motion highly likely to pass in the Labour and Greens dominated House.
The Government has also this morning announced it will extend its debt hibernation scheme for small business.



But the focus of Ardern's weekly post-Cabinet media conference yesterday was mostly on the new sick leave legislation.
Although the new rules are backed by unions, business groups are not happy.
Retail NZ said the blanket increase to 10 sick days a year is "bad news" for those who work part-time.
And National's workplace relations spokesman Scott Simpson said more sick leave would "only make our economy crook".
"Doubling sick leave just piles more costs onto business at a time when they can least afford it, coming on top of minimum wage increases and the proposal for an extra public holiday," he said.
Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood said New Zealand needs to "move past the tough-it-out culture" when it comes to sick leave. Photo / Andrew Warner
Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood, who was with Ardern at yesterday's announcement, said New Zealand needs to "move past the tough-it-out culture" when it comes to sick leave.
"Covid-19 has shown how important it is to stay at home when people are sick," he said.



Doubling the amount of sick leave for workers was one of Labour's pre-election promises.
Wood confirmed that the legislation, which will be introduced before Christmas, would keep the current maximum entitlement of any unused sick leave at 20 days annually.
The announcement means the bill is expected to pass in mid-2021 and will go through the full select committee process so it's able to receive submissions.
This will not come as welcome news to the Greens, which has previously said it wants to see the bill passed through urgency before the end of the year.
More details on the scheme would be unveiled when it goes before the House.
Wood did say, however, that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment have calculated that it would account for just 0.9 per cent of New Zealand's total wage bill each year.
Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford said doubling the amount of sick days for both full and part-time workers will ultimately disadvantage those who want to work part-time.
He said many of those who work part-time often do so because of family commitments or because of study.
For employees who work one day a week, for example, a 10-day sick leave entitlement is equivalent to 20 per cent of a working year.
"This is a significant cost to employers and ultimately will discourage businesses from offering part-time work to those who want it."
Meanwhile, the Government has also announced it will extend the business debt relief programme for another 10 months.
That scheme meant that Covid-19 hit businesses are able to hibernate their debt for a period of time so they can more easily recover.
Although New Zealand is recovering better than had been expected, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said some businesses need continued support to keep trading.The scheme has been extended out until October 31, 2021.
"This is intended to give businesses time to explore options for continuing to trade, when they might otherwise have been liquidated by their creditors," Robertson said.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Tuesday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) The Feebate's Not Dead Yet/Coming Over Here and Stealing My Job/Congestion Charges Not Dead Yet/Rainy Roads

What a deflating experience it was Friday reading watching listening to all those in the horticulture industry responding to the government’s 2,000 Recognised Seasonal worker decision.
The manipulation I would like to think hasn’t passed most of us by.
The shabby and shoddy way these farmers are being treated is really an outrage dressed up as a solution.
They all said basically what they had to say when you’re dealing with the government and afraid to say what you really think for fear of your livelihood being stuffed completely.
The 2,000 workers is a good start, they said. What they really mean is at 2,000, we are at least 11,000 short and you’re delusional view that thousands of unemployed New Zealanders are falling over themselves to climb a ladder and pick apples merely shows what a bunch of ideologically driven unionised sheltered idiots you are.
To be fair to the government, the accommodation incentives are not bad ideas. Even the idea of tossing a grand at a local who hangs in there for six weeks I can probably live with.
But as I tried to explain through stats and facts last week, the simple reality is we require rightly or wrongly large swathes of foreign labour, not just in the fields of this country but in the kitchens, on trucks and tractors, in labs and offices.
Over 660 different job types are on the skills shortage list.
What the government are doing is playing a dangerous game using Covid as an excuse.
We can’t bring in anymore because there isn’t space, they say.
Crap! The miniscule space we’ve set aside and refused to grow isn’t full at the best of times, and they refuse to grow it at all
The industry, in fact, a number of industry’s are falling over themselves, pleading to be allowed to offer their own isolation facilities  to expand capacity,  and the government keeps saying no. And they say no because it suits their agenda.
They have a gun to the heads of various industries: pay more or you get nothing. They’re trying to reinvent the makeup of the work force and it won’t work because it’s never worked and a pandemic driven smoke screen isn’t changing that.
It’s a crime that a government in an agricultural country is prepared to watch hundreds of millions of dollars of produce potentially rot and waste just to gerrymander their agenda by holding the farmers of this country to ransom.

A returning Kiwi has used her time in MIQ to raise 1.2 million pounds towards a new shared-bike scheme.
The app, HumanForest, allows users to unlock a bike and ride for ten minutes for free, in return for ads shown in the app when it opens.
It's co-founded by Caroline Seton, a Kiwi who's returning from overseas and currently crowd-funding for the company's next step.
She told Mike Hosking that this is her first foray into start ups. 
Seton says that the 10 minute time limit is free, and then people would pay for the rest of their time - but the average bike ride in London is 14 minutes. 
"It's really making what was previously quite expensive quite affordable."
Seton says she had moved back here for good, and she hopes to explore launching the app in Australasia. 
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If it's true that you should leave on a high, then Tim Southee and his test-playing compatriots are getting out at the right time.
The Black Caps crushed the West Indies at Bay Oval to take an unassailable lead in the three-match T20 series that finishes tonight. Southee won't be there – he's leaving along with Ross Taylor and Kyle Jamieson to prepare for the test series starting Thursday – but the skipper leaves safe in the knowledge that not only is his team well equipped for a clean sweep, but they are also building enviable depth.
The most obvious manifestation of the depth was the star of the show, Glenn Phillips, who was possibly on the outside looking in had Kane Williamson been available and had Colin Munro not chosen the glitz of the Big Bash over the more bucolic delights of New Zealand domestic cricket.
"He's got that X-factor about him," Southee said after the right-hander blitzed 108 off 51 balls then starred in the field with a direct-hit run out and a spectacular catch in the deep. "We saw how good he can be."
Such was Phillips' dominance over proceedings it was easy to forget that this series is his first in national T20 colours for more than two years. Easy to forget, too, that his first forays were not particularly successful, with a top score of 56 in 10 trips to the crease and a difficulty scoring off anything other than width.
"You never know when your next opportunity is going to come," Phillips said. "I was much more prepared for this time around.
"I started [my career] well, but I got the yips and had to take a step back to move forward again."
Describing himself as an "entertainer", Phillips talked about how New Zealand's long line-up allowed him bat like it was the "death overs" much earlier than usual.
There's still a bit of the unaffected, wide-eyed kid about Phillips, who turns 24 next week. Born in South Africa but raised in New Zealand since the age of five, the enormity of his achievement – he became just the fourth New Zealander to score a T20I century, set the record for the fastest, and set a world record for a third-wicket partnership with Devon Conway in the process – was still sinking in when he spoke immediately after the game.
"Oh my goodness. Absolutely unreal," he said.
For the first time all day he got something wrong. His innings was very real and it brought home the fact that for one of the rare times in New Zealand cricket history, there are genuine options outside the usual suspects.
Options, you'd guess, the West Indies would like themselves.
Captain Kieron Pollard was clearly frustrated by his side's lack of application, saying his team lost their way after the first 10 overs. Rather than a lack of fundamental skills, Pollard indicated that "mindset" was the biggest issue.
"That's not the standard we want to set," he said. "We need to be up for the fight."
They have one more match to show they can scrap.
Text by Dylan Cleaver, NZ Herald

The good news on the Royal Commission's report into the Christchurch shootings is that we get to see the detail in a bit over a week.
The worrying thing is a lot of it will be suppressed for 30 years. Some of it because it makes sense to, but surely questions are going to be raised if we don’t get the answers we want.
The most important thing is for answers and understanding as to why it happened, whether it happened due to fault or not, and who's fault that is.
I think we can fairly safely conclude already that mistakes were made. As we outlined last week, the fact a single bloke without obvious means can wander to the parts of the world he did without a single security agency asking questions is ripe for exploration.
There are questions around his firearms licence. There seems confirmation that a gaming friend and the friend's parent were the references, when references have to be from family. This would appear to expose the police and the system badly.
Now, those people's names are suppressed, the police names are suppressed, and you can understand why. Classified material is suppressed for fairly obvious reasons as well.
But if blame is apportioned, is it going to be dressed up as systemic failure?
Is a gun licence failing, the failing of the individuals? Or the force in general?
And if it's individuals, will we ever know if those individuals are held to any sort of account?
And if it’s the force at fault, same question applies, does the buck stop at the top? Or do we just reassure everyone that although mistakes were made, reviews have been held, routine has been tightened up, with the vague promise that something like this can never happen again?
I look at Pike River. A decade on, a Royal Commission later, the questions still aren't answered. The claims still get laid, and mistakes are still outlined. Just last week the Peter Whittall offer of payment was still being admonished. The grief is still very real.
Is this report going to be another decade plus of angst, upset, unresolved questions, and lack of answers? Do the redactions lead to suspicion, and a lack of closure for those who deserve it most?
You get the sense that already with these suppressions recommendations that we are being lined up for a watered down, duck for cover sort of document that has been driven by the desire to be seen to be doing the right thing, as opposed to actually doing the right thing.
For the victims' sake, I hope I am wrong.

A coronial inquest into six sudden epilepsy deaths will hopefully give families the answers they need.
It comes after New Zealand's drug buying agency Pharmac faced criticism for switching the brand of the drug, known as Logem, affecting 11,00 patients.
Families believe the drug change was the cause of these deaths.
Bella Gubay, whose child has epilepsy, says it would be good to see someone take responsibility.
"No one from Pharmac, no one from the Ministry of Health, no one from Medsafe put their hand up and said 'we're going to take action now to stop anyone else from getting hurt', and that's the real outrage."
She told Mike Hosking she hopes Pharmac will speak about the harm the change in medication has caused.
"People have almost broken their backs, children have almost lost eyes. This has been an absolutely tragic event for hundreds, if not thousands, and Pharmac haven't really commented on that."
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Responding to importers' calls for help, Northport is talking to shipping lines about how it could ease Auckland's port imports logjam, a predicament it says highlights Northland's importance in a strong supply chain.
Chairman Murray Jagger said the natural, deepwater port south of Whangarei has the capability now, and the potential for growth, to support a resilient upper North Island freight network and that's been reinforced by the congestion at Auckland and its spillover to the Port of Tauranga.
Container service at Ports of Auckland continues to be "severely degraded with major delays" according to its website. It also advised the Auckland Council-owned port's vexed, half-implemented automation system had been suspended on Friday due to issues, the Herald reports.
Last week ships were waiting up to 10 days to be unloaded at the country's main import port, while ships avoiding Auckland were offloading imports at Port of Tauranga, New Zealand's main export port as it dealt with its busy season.
Jagger says despite having a smaller container terminal than Auckland's, they're willing to take some ships.
"If there is a way in which we can assist, all stops will be pulled out to make something happen."
He says there's a window of opportunity to start growing a second import port in Northland.
"What this has done is identify the need for a resilient North Island supply chain."

Heat records are set to be broken in Queensland this week as a severe heatwave rocks southern parts of the state.
Temperatures are expected to hit the mid-40s across much of Queensland’s southern inland regions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with Birdsville expected to reach 47C and towns such as Goondiwindi and Cunnamulla heading for a top of 46C.
The border town of Goondiwindi is heading for maximum temperatures of 45C on Monday, 44C on Tuesday and 46C on Wednesday, and if it does it will break its record for the hottest three consecutive days.
Authorities are on high alert for bushfires with the fire danger rating peaking at severe in the Channel Country and Maranoa and Warrego regions on Tuesday.
Northern NSW is also expected to be hot early in the week with Moree heading for three consecutive days of 44C and Bourke expecting a top of 48C on Tuesday.
The November heat record for Moree is 44.5C, which is a chance to be broken on Monday.
Sky News metrologist Rob Sharpe said the heatwave would be broken by a cool change expected to hit the region on Thursday.
“The heat continues for southern Queensland, in fact it intensifies, with records a chance to break in the far southern inland around Roma, the southern ranges and also in northern NSW,” he said.
“For Queenslanders it's a bit of a long haul. That heat is lingering with a severe heatwave for far northern NSW and southern Queensland.”
Mr Sharpe said for the Darling Downs, Granite Belt and northwest slopes and plains it was an extreme heatwave that would continue into Wednesday.
He said a cool change would come through into Thursday morning for the east coast but the heat would not go far.
“That heat does not go far, it goes into the west, so by Sunday that heat returns again for southeastern Queensland,” Mr Sharpe said.
It comes after more than 20 heat records were broken across northern parts of South Australia and Victoria, and NSW, including the NSW state record.
text by Jack Paynter, news.com.au

The nation's top infectious disease expert said Sunday that the U.S. may see "surge upon a surge" of the coronavirus in the weeks after Thanksgiving, and he does not expect current recommendations around social distancing to be relaxed before Christmas.
Meanwhile, in a major reversal, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said the nation's largest school system will reopen to in-person learning and increase the number of days a week many children attend class. The announcement came just 11 days after the Democratic mayor said schools would shut down because of rising COVID-19 cases.
"We feel confident that we can keep schools safe," he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC's "This Week" that the level of infection in the U.S. would not "all of a sudden turn around."
"So clearly in the next few weeks, we're going to have the same sort of thing. And perhaps even two or three weeks down the line ... we may see a surge upon a surge," he said.
Fauci addressed the school issue, saying that spread "among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected. So let's try to get the kids back, but let's try to mitigate the things that maintain and just push the kind of community spread that we're trying to avoid," he said.
Fauci also appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he made similar remarks, adding that it's "not too late" for people traveling back home after Thanksgiving to help stop the spread of the virus by wearing masks, staying distant from others and avoiding large groups of people.
"So we know we can do something about it, particularly now as we get into the colder season and as we approach the Christmas holidays," he said.
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States topped 200,000 for the first time Friday. The highest previous daily count was 196,000 on Nov. 20, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Since January, when the first infections were reported in the U.S., the nation's total number of cases has surpassed 13 million. More than 265,000 people have died.
Fauci said the arrival of vaccines offers a "light at the end of the tunnel." This coming week, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss a rollout of the vaccine, he said.
He added that President-elect Joe Biden should focus on distributing vaccines in an "efficient and equitable way." Fauci also said he planned to push the new administration for a rigorous testing program.
"We've got to go beyond the symptomatic people and get a better understanding of the asymptomatic transmission," he said.
Health care workers will likely be among the first to get the vaccine, with the first vaccinations happening before the end of December, "and then as we get into January and February and March, more and more," he said.
"So if we can hang together as a country and do these kinds of things to blunt these surges until we get a substantial proportion of the population vaccinated, we can get through this," Fauci said.
Other experts agreed that the coming weeks would be difficult, especially since so many traveled over the holiday and held in-person dinners indoors.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Americans who traveled this past week should try to avoid people over 65. She said that those who were around others for Thanksgiving "have to assume that you were exposed and you became infected and you really need to get tested in the next week."
In New York, some elementary schools and pre-kindergarten programs will resume classes Dec. 7, a week from Monday, the mayor said. Others will take longer to reopen their doors.
The plan for reopening middle and high schools is still being developed, de Blasio...