The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Today is the day the country will - once again - find out if it's moving up, down or staying at the same Covid-19 alert level.
Auckland, the epicentre of the second outbreak, has been at level 2.5 for two weeks now while the rest of the country sits down a notch at level 2.
What started as a sub-cluster in an Auckland church widened when it was revealed one member of the congregation had visited a grieving family.
Things were then complicated when it became apparent not all contacts in this sub-cluster had complied with public health requirements.
Infectious disease expert at Otago University David Murdoch told Mike Hosking the Government will likely take a cautious approach.
"I think we're all feeling like there's a lot still happening," he says. "I think it would be unlikely we move [today], but let's see what happens."
Mr Murdoch believes elimination is "still worth chasing".
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health reported one case in managed isolation and another of a health worker in Auckland's Jet Park quarantine facility.
Otago University professor of public health Nick Wilson said Auckland is not ready to slide down the alert level scale, given the new cases.
"I think it would be pretty important to see a run of zero days and I think we're not really making proper use of masks in Auckland."
Wilson said masks were the key to any long term containment of the novel coronavirus in Auckland and beyond.
He said the Government should consider extending the requirement to wear them on public transport to all indoor spaces including supermarkets, workplaces and schools.
"I think that's the way to get very high levels of mask use and that would help speed progress. We're seeing progress with the slow decline in the number of cases but to really accelerate that progress we need to make best use of masks."

Otago University professor of public health Nick Wilson says it's too early for Auckland to move from alert level 2.5. (Photo / RNZ)

Wilson said high mask compliance on public transport around the country proved that if people are required to wear masks, they would do so.


The police are yet to issue any fines for people not wearing masks on public transport and have confirmed they're still taking an "education and encouragement" approach.
Act leader David Seymour said Government messaging around masks has been confusing and must be clarified.
"I think the lack of compliance comes down to the mixed messages about masking. The Government needs to be clear: if masking is a way to avoid further restrictions the public will be on side but they have not had that clear message."
While Seymour said Government messaging must be clearer there are others who want the health messaging to stop altogether.

Billy Te Kahika Jnr speaks to a large crowd at the Anti Lockdown rally held in Aotea Square in Auckland. (Photo / Peter Meecham)
Several thousand people rallied in Auckland's Aotea Square on Saturday in a protest against the Government's use of Covid-19 restrictions. It was organised by Advance Party co-leaders, Jami Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika.
Rally criticised
It's one of several protests to date Auckland mayor Phil Goff said flies in the face of the city's overall response to Covid-19.

"They are letting the side down. They are putting the rest of us at risk. It's a slap in the face for those of us that are doing the right thing to have a small minority of people that think somehow the rules don't apply to them. They're bulletproof and they don't have any part to play in stopping the spread of the virus."

Goff said the city will slide down the alert level scale if Aucklanders can stay the course.
Wilson said he's hopeful the entire country can achieve elimination again.
"We're in a good position as an island nation; we can have good border control and get back to...

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Don't Get Your Hopes Up/Bye-Bye Rugby/The Market's On Fire/Jobs Looking Grim/Gun Logic

Every Friday morning, Mike Hosking is joined by Tim Wilson and Kate Hawkesby to wrap the week in news.
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The NZ Superannuation Fund is the latest to reveal the effects Covid-19 has had on returns.
Market volatility and the pandemic has led to an annual return on investments of 1.73%.
That's a big drop from it's average annual return of 9.63%, which it has achieved every since 2003.
NZ Superannuation Fund CEO Matt Whineray joined Mike Hosking to share his thoughts.
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has hit back amid finger-pointing between the state’s top cop and chief health officer over who suggested the controversial curfew.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr Andrews again dodged questions over exactly who came up with the idea – but said he rejected the notion that “the only decisions the government can ever make about any matter are those that have been advised by the chief health officer”.
“The government reserves the right to make decisions to operationalise advice from the chief health officer,” he said.
“The notion that the government can’t do anything whatsoever unless the chief health officer provides it in detailed advice, that doesn’t make any sense.”
It comes after Police Commissioner Shane Patton told ABC Melbourne radio host Virginia Trioli this morning that it was Brett Sutton’s decision to implement the curfew, despite Prof Sutton saying otherwise on Tuesday.
“Decisions are made by groups of people,” Mr Andrews said.
“And I can’t necessarily pinpoint for you the exact individual and the exact moment that it was suggested that we put a curfew on. What I’m saying to you is, anyone who’s displeased with that or doesn’t think that’s a proportionate measure, well, that’s a decision that I’ve made.”
At one point during the combative press conference, a journalist asked, “Premier, can you see how members of the public, though, would see this? That, hey, Brett Sutton has said this, but you’re now saying this – how can we trust you and follow the rules?”
Mr Andrews replied, “What I’d say is that we’ve got a clear strategy, numbers are falling, the strategy is working, limiting movement is a critically important part of that, and our approach to that will not be changing.”
The Premier appeared dismissive of the impact of the curfew.
He said even if it were removed tonight, “the only change would be potentially that you could jog at 11pm, you could maybe go shopping at 11pm tonight if the supermarket were open”.
“That’s not been the case. Supermarkets, whether there was a curfew or not, have limited their trading hours. That’s a decision for them. But ultimately having the curfew simply makes the difficult and critically important job of Victoria Police ... much easier.”
Mr Andrews said there were only a small number of “lawful” reasons to leave home anyway.
“That can only happen within curfew hours,” he said.
“So that means going to the supermarket at 8.30pm or 10.30pm or 2am, that’s not an option. So that’s a down side. You wouldn’t be able to go for a jog at 8.30pm, 9.30pm, 10.30pm, midnight. OK, that’s also a down side.”
But Mr Andrews said the down side of “not being able to do those two things in the dead of night is far outweighed, in my judgement, by the fact that we are seeing case numbers fall”.
He added, “The term ‘curfew’ is rather loaded but at the end of the day, it is effective.”

Australia will host the Rugby Championship.
Governing body Sanzaar will make an official announcement this afternoon, with the competition to begin in New South Wales on November 7.
Australia's believed to have secured the tournament on the basis of having more flexible quarantine regulations, allowing teams to train while in isolation.
Australian federal and state governments are also thought to have stumped up to lure the tournament from New Zealand.
It's previously been reported if Australia hosts the Rugby Championship, the first two Bledisloe Cup matches will be pushed back a week and staged on October 17 and 24.
Sir John Kirwan joined Mike Hosking this morning to share his thoughts on the decision process.
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President Donald Trump talked in private about the “deadly” coronavirus last February, even as he was declaring to America it was no worse than the flu and insisting it was under control, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward. Trump said Wednesday he was just being a “cheerleader” for the nation and trying to keep everyone calm.
His public rhetoric, Trump told Woodward in March, was part of a strategy to deliberately minimize the danger. “I wanted to always play it down,” the president said. “I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Trump, according to the book, acknowledged being alarmed by the virus, even as he was telling the nation that it would swiftly disappear.
Coming less than eight weeks before Election Day, the revelations in the book — accompanied by recordings Woodward made of his interviews with Trump — provide an unwelcome return of public attention to the president's handling of the pandemic that has so far killed about 190,000 Americans. He is currently pushing hard for a resumption of normal activity and trying to project strength and control to bolster his political position in his campaign against Democrat Joe Biden.
In a Feb. 7 call with Woodward, Trump said of the virus: "You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
“This is deadly stuff,” the president repeated for emphasis.
Just three days later, Trump struck a far rosier tone in an interview with Fox Business: “I think the virus is going to be — it’s going to be fine.”
Biden said Wednesday the book shows Trump “lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months.”
“While a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job — on purpose. It was a life or death betrayal of the American people," Biden said at a campaign event in Michigan.
Biden's campaign pounced, releasing an ad late Wednesday featuring the audiotapes of Trump's remarks. “And Trump knew all along,” the ad's narrator says.
Speaking Wednesday at the White House, Trump acknowledged he downplayed the virus, insisting he was trying to buck up the nation and suggesting he was trying to avoid “gouging” on prices of needed supplies.
“The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say,” Trump told reporters. “Certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence. We want to show strength.”
Yet Trump’s public comments suggested he was steering people to ignore the reality of the coming storm. Woodward’s account details dire warnings from top Trump national security officials to the president in late January that the virus that causes COVID-19 could be as bad as the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918.
On Feb. 25, just weeks before much of the country was forced to shut down because of the pandemic, Trump declared the virus “very well under control in our country.”
Though he restricted travel from China in January, Trump did not begin to devote extensive federal resources to procuring vital personal protective equipment, including face masks, or expand the production of ventilators until March. In fact, U.S. officials recommended against widespread mask wearing until April in part because of a shortage of protective masks required by front-line medical workers.
Trump aides and allies said at the time that he was aiming to prop up the economy with his rosy take on the virus throughout February, even as his administration took few concrete steps to prepare for the coming pandemic.
The Washington Post, where Woodward serves as associate editor, reported excerpts of the book, “Rage” on Wednesday, as did CNN. The book also covers race...

Staggering new numbers out this morning, regarding our lockdown costs.
The research shows New Zealand's lockdown, prevented around 1000 deaths at a cost of $8.5 million for each year of life saved.
It also costed the pandemic in terms of GDP at $87 billion.
Economist Martin Lally fronted the research and joined Mike Hosking to crunch the numbers.
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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.
Matariki Holiday.
6/10.
"Because, mainly, we like days off.
The fact it was Labour's opening so-called policy speaks to their raw political desire."
Tax Policy.
4/10.
"A strange business, no one really wants to go near it.
Except, of course, the Greens because "tax is love."
If I was Grant Robertson, I would have left it completely, because raising parking meter money from high earners only reminds everyone Labour hates success."
Watercare.
3/10.
"In yesterday's interview you see why Auckland is where it's at."
NZ Initiative Survey into Civics.
7/10.
"A great survey.
A reminder of the value of knowing how your country is run, and yet so few of us do."
Student Loans.
8/10.
"The good news is now they're back, we can collect the money.
Can't we?"
The Covid Vaccine.
4/10.
"Tough week with one trial suspended.
But the real concern surely that the politics and market action around its arrival is as much about votes and profit, as it is about actually killing a virus."
Eric Murray.
8/10.
"God bless him.
In a woke old world of whiners and wowsers he's called out the lily-livered and defended high performance sport and its so called issues.
If you haven't, look up his piece and read it."
North v South Rugby Game.
8/10.
"A reminder of the value of sport, and a reminder of the value of crowds both emotionally and financially.
If the border hadn't leaked, we wouldn't be at level 3, then 2, and the stadium would have been full and the cash registers would have rung.
Thank God, the game itself lived up to expectations."
All Blacks.
7/10.
"What a wacky year.
A side named, for what? Will they play? Who would know.
LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW

There are calls for the Labour party to drop its renewable energy policy, with claims it will raise power prices rather than lowering them.
Labour has announced a goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, which will require a $4 million pumped hydro dam to be built in the South Island.
The country currently gets 84 percent of it's energy from renewable sources, such as wind turbines.
Consultant with the right wing think tank, New Zealand Initiative, Matt Burgess told Mike Hosking renewable energy is only feasible up to a point. 
“If you want to push past that, you get blackouts and substantial price rises, we’ve seen that happening overseas."
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