The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Sir Ray Avery, a former New Zealander of the Year, is calling for an inquiry into our Covid response. He is not alone.
He argues it's urgent, he is not alone. He argues we don’t have a plan for a pandemic, he is not alone. The government says now is not the right time. That's what this government does a lot of, talk and stall.
We got new revelations yesterday over what the Cabinet knew about lack of testing around the border workers.  You'll remember the border workers, the lack of testing, and the outbreak that got Auckland locked back down.
The revelation at the time was the government were telling us a comprehensive programme of testing had been rolled out when no such thing had happened. 36 percent of workers had been tested, remember that?
Upon being busted, the government argued they thought testing had been fully rolled out. New material shows that's not true either. Not only weren't workers getting tested, Cabinet were told repeatedly they weren't, despite the fact the government said they were.
Pick a word for that. Dishonesty, would be mine.
Remember Ashley Bloomfield, who took the main heat for it, used the word dissonance to explain it? I'm not sure the briefing papers, that at no point say the testing programme is fully rolled out, is dissonance. It's Cabinet Ministers being lazy, if not thick.
Something is either fully rolled out, or it isn't. If it doesn’t say it is, it isn't. And, of course, nothing stopped any of them at any time saying "Hey Ashley, these papers don't tell me if testing is fully rolled out, so is it fully rolled out?" Not hard, eh?
When you add the scandal around testing kits, PPE or lack of it, the lack of testing, you've got quite the haul of inquiry material to be going on with. So why aren't we?
In Victoria, they’ve had the hotel and response inquiry. So as badly as they cocked it up at least they're not afraid of accountability.
What about our lot? Are there questions, both general and specific, over how we handled this? You bet there are. So what are they afraid of? How bad can the truth be?
And is their inaction amid growing calls from the likes of Sir Ray Avery, the first of this term's lack of delivery?

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Thursday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Action Required Now/Why the Greens Never Get Anywhere/Biden Blanks/Lawnmower Weirdness/Rescheduling On-Air

National's MPs are underway with bidding for roles within Parliament.
Judith Collins is in the midst of interviewing her 34 colleagues to see what party positions they want and if there's anything to be disclosed.
She told Mike Hosking it's a chance to let members say what they want, including discussing the party's dramatic election loss.
But Collins says prolonged arguments are unproductive and aren't where the party will grow from.
She says talks will go on into next week, and any decisions, including if Gerry Brownlee stays on as her deputy, will be revealed in a few weeks.
Collins says it's unfair to say the tide's gone out on Brownlee .
"Gerry Brownlee is party loyal, reliable, a great deputy, and excellent MP."
Collins is still interviewing the party's 34 other MPs to see what roles they want, and if there are things to be disclosed.
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THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Thursday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Action Required Now/Why the Greens Never Get Anywhere/Biden Blanks/Lawnmower Weirdness/Rescheduling On-Air

Two of the country's biggest ports are now requiring all international crews to do 14 days in managed isolation - and they want other ports to follow suit.
The ports of Auckland and Tauranga made the move despite Health Minister Chris Hipkins saying today that this would mean a number of ships wouldn't come to New Zealand.
Hipkins told RNZ that every crewmember entering the country could soon be required to be tested for Covid 19 but he's yet to decide whether to put all shipping crews through managed isolation.
The current situation is that crew who are flown into New Zealand are taken straight to the port to join their vessel if it is leaving port that day, after being collected by a vehicle with a driver in PPE gear.
Ports of Auckland's general communications manager Matt Ball said the 14-day managed isolation requirement was introduced last week, after it became clear the likely source of the current port worker cluster was eight Philippine seamen who went through the port untested.
Ball said the port has had a positive response from its shipping companies regarding the requirement.
He said it gave crews and shipping companies reassurance there were no infected people on board.
A Port of Tauranga spokesperson said the company sent an advisory notice to shipping agents last night requiring international crew members joining a vessel in Tauranga to complete 14 days in managed isolation and test negative for Covid-19.
The port understood this created logistical challenges for its shipping line customers, the notice said.
"However, we cannot risk having to close the port due to operational staff being in quarantine."
The Ministry of Health didn't answer specific questions. However, in a statement it said it regularly reviewed the Covid-19 strategy to ensure that it remained fit for purpose for its elimination strategy – this included reviewing what the testing programme for port workers and crew members looked like.
Health officials were working closely with border agencies on how to limit the risk of Covid-19, it said.
Immigration New Zealand said between 10 August and 26 October, 466 individuals were approved a critical purpose visa for the purposes of travelling to New Zealand as 'replacement cargo ship crew'. It said 324 of those individuals have arrived in New Zealand and 142 were yet to arrive.

All international crews arriving in the Port of Tauranga now face a mandatory two-week quarantine. Photo / File
Today marked six straight days of no Covid cases in the community, but health authorities are still questioning how the virus once again slipped through New Zealand's borders.
It's the longest run of no new cases in the community since the marine engineer tested positive for the virus on October 16.
Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday announced all close and casual contacts of the engineer had tested negative for the virus.
Overall there had been nearly 40,000 tests since the case was announced.
This was despite two of the man's colleagues, who also boarded the foreign vessel the Sofrana Surville, testing positive and visiting a range of Auckland venues including Malt Bar in Greenhithe on the Friday evening, along with a gym, bank and several stores.
While the potential for an outbreak would remain until two full incubation cycles after October 16 - 28 days - so far it appears the city may have dodged a bullet that could have potentially plunged it back into lockdown.
Infectious diseases expert Professor David Murdoch said the main takeaway from the rapid containment of the cluster was that the system is working as intended.
"It has been picked up quickly, we've managed to find the source - unlike the previous outbreak, there's been rigorous contact tracing and genome sequencing."
The fact an infected person had been in a crowded bar on a Friday evening, what could have been a...

This time next week, what do you think?
Surely we have learned enough to know if you rule Trump out, you have learned nothing.
Is it possible Trump will win? Yes. Is it likely he will win? Possibly.
Is it likely Biden will win? You would think so.
Polls - I can tell you most of the polls show Biden leading nationally, in most of the states he’s needs to lead, on various issues with various people.
If the polls told the story, the story for Trump would be over.
But polls don’t tell the story, do they? And yet despite knowing that, despite everything we saw in 2016, the media still obsess about the polls and use them as justification for their largely pro-Biden views.
The fake Melania story was back over the weekend. That’s how mad it’s got, stories that he uses a fake wife.
Ask yourself why, why would you use a fake wife? For what end, what does it achieve or solve. If the real Melania doesn’t want to be seen? And yet main stream newspapers run this crap as though it’s normal.
To be fair, Trump doesn’t help. The rise is Covid cases over the weekend; Trump argues is a mainstream media conspiracy. It isn’t, of course: the numbers are real and he knows it.
If the media's job is to serve the public, if Trump wins a lot of them should be sacked. They’ve run an overt, dangerous and often dishonest campaign against him.
Like the Democrats, they couldn’t believe they lost. They hate Trump, they have never got over that or moved on. Lord knows what they will do if he wins this time next week.
Now what might happen is Trump wins but the senate falls. That would make him like Obama, a lame duck president.
The thing is what those who hate have always hated are the madness, the unconventionality the freewheeling lack of normalcy.
You hear it when Obama speaks, his disdain for the lack of regard for the office, but in that they forget why he won in the first place, he’s not a politician. He didn’t have to be there, still doesn’t, so of course he’s crazy.
And yes if you want to, you can mount a case over the nuttiness of the whole episode from the hirings and firings, the arrests of the associates, the probes, the tax, and the debts.
But I look at him this week at those rallies and I remember the same scenes in 2016. He’s relentless, he out energises Biden a thousand to one.
For all the madness, there’s actually a semi decent record of achievement: he has actually, if you can get out of the way of your anger, got stuff done.
This is the beauty of the American system. You get two terms max. The second is won based on the success of the first.
If he wins, the haters are going to have to sober up and suck it up, because if what they say is right, he wouldn’t even be in the race, and yet he is.
 
 

It might still look busy, but New Zealand's feeling the hole left by international tourism..
Although more Kiwis are planning domestic holidays, numbers from Tourism New Zealand show the revenue is only a fraction of what international visitors would bring.
The industry body is predicting that in a best case scenario the industry will lose about $3 billion, but worst case scenario sees that number double.
Chief Executive Stephen England-Hall told Mike Hosking domestic tourism is going well, but it would need to grow by 72 percent to fill the void.
"It takes about 12 times as many domestic, overnight trips to have the same economic impact as an international visitor.
"So at some point you run out of Kiwis, don't you?"
He says weekends and public holidays are the only real chance businesses have to make some cash.
"The industry as a whole is very appreciative of that, but of course, it doesn't fill the whole gap.
It makes things like forecasting for employment and managing your staff and other costs quite challenging."

One of the best things about a Kiwi summer undoubtedly is firing up the barbecue and frying up some sausages.
It doesn't matter what kind of sausage you like - meat-free, or full Angus - New Zealand has a plethora of sausage goodness to offer in 2020.
And now you can add the best banger in the country to your summer menu, as an Auckland butcher has taken out the top spot in The Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.
Grey Lynn Butchers' Swedish-inspired Isterband sausage was announced as the Supreme Award winner last night during a virtual awards ceremony.
Aunt and nephew team Lucia and Eddie Rodrigues, owners of Grey Lynn Butchers, are self-taught and have worked tirelessly to establish their shop in the central city.
Despite lockdowns disrupting their lives and businesses this year, Kiwi butchers still managed to put up their best snags for the judges this year, with over 600 entries from 99 producers in 17 categories.
And organisers had to stick to strict Covid alert level restrictions. Last month a team of butchers, chefs and foodies judged the categories over five days, then awarding gold, silver and bronze medals.
Judge Kathy Paterson said the winning Isterband sausage was a unique entry that was incredibly well made, which made it stand out.
"The standard this year was very high and when you get a beautifully made sausage, with a lovely texture and the flavour of the meat coming through, you know you have a winner.
"This was a really delicious sausage where everything was in harmony."
The Great New Zealand Sausage competition has been going for nearly 25 years, aiming to seek out the best and most delicious sausages in the country.
New Zealand's top sausage has been announced just in time for summer and time to dust off the barbie for a homemade feast or head out to the beach and chuck some snags on the grill.
There's nothing like a banger hot off the barbecue with lashings of tomato sauce, and now Kiwis know where to get their hands on some award winners.

A spike in sheep milk sales will bring in an extra $250 million dollars to the economy over the next four years.
Forecast growth in a New Zealand Food and Innovation report has given the Spring Sheep Milk company the confidence to open an office in China.
CEO Scottie Chapman told Mike Hosking most of the milk powder goes to Asia and more lately China.
He says they have four farms and will have eight suppliers by next year.
'Strong market growth for alternative dairy is exciting for the small industry.
Chapman says milk powder going to Asian countries and increasingly to China.
"A lot of consumers struggle to digest cow's milk,  and sheep milk can give them the goodness of dairy."
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The Wellington Phoenix will be based in Australia for at least the start of the 2020/21 A-League football season.
Due to travel restrictions brought on by Covid-19, the club's players and coaching staff will assemble from Monday in New South Wales (most likely Wollongong), to begin preparations for the new campaign, starting on December 27. That'll give the Phoenix eight weeks to get up to speed ahead of their first game, with the playing schedule to be released next month.
The majority of Wellington's squad are currently based in New Zealand and Australia with attacker Ulises Davila travelling from his home in Mexico and goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic returning from holiday in Germany. Quarantine will be required for Davila, Marinovic and some of the Australians who need to cross state borders, but the New Zealand based players and staff can enter New South Wales without quarantining.
"The logistics of bringing them all back together and flying them from wherever they are into Australia has been challenging," said General Manager David Dome.
"We're right in the middle of that now and hope to be assembled in Australia next week."
The Phoenix spent 80 days away from home to complete the Covid-interrupted 2019/20 season, and with the possibility of another six months in Australia, the club is doing what it can to replicate home surroundings. Most notably, some players will have their families or partners with them and the team won't stay in hotel accommodation.
With just 11 players confirmed on the Phoenix roster, news of signings and re-signings are expected in the coming days with Dome hinting at least two international players will be added to the squad to replace departed imports Gary Hooper, Steven Taylor and midfielder Matti Steinmann. Others to have left include Australian utility Brandon Wilson and Kiwis Libby Cacace, Callan Elliot and Callum McCowatt.
It's believed off-contract Australian defenders Walter Scott and Liam McGing have been released, but there's less clarity over the return of veteran centre-back Luke Devere. All Whites utility Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi has reportedly inked a contract extension while Sam Sutton will almost certainly earn his first professional deal. Fellow Academy graduate, goalkeeper Zac Jones may also be offered a full-time contract.
Others linked with the club include All Whites James McGarry and Clayton Lewis and Australian youth international Joshua Laws.
"It's not as if we haven't been signing players," said Dome.
"We've made a lot of signings; we just had to tidy up a few things. We had to get to a stage where we knew what we were doing and where we were going to be based so everyone knew what was expected of them."
"Now we're getting closer to that we can go back to the players, (tell them) what it's going to be, announce them and get them on a plane," said Dome.
While resigned to starting the season in Australia, the Phoenix will look at the possibility of playing home games in New Zealand if a trans-Tasman bubble opens. That would be dependent on changes being made by the New Zealand government around the two-week quarantine process and the costs of relocating the side back to New Zealand.