The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Accusations of abuse, over-training and fat-shaming of athletes as young as 8 have been levelled at one of the country's largest gymnastics programmes.
Multiple parents of children enrolled in competitive gymnastics at Auckland's North Harbour club have told of their concerns at the behaviour of coaches in the nationally acclaimed programme, prompting club management to investigate and promise action.
Meanwhile the sport's national governing body, Gymnastics New Zealand, emailed members this week encouraging potential victims to come forward.
Parents the Weekend Herald spoke to say that girls as young as 8 were told by coaches:
• They were "too fat".
• They were "useless".
• They were "never going to be any good".
• They were only "crying because you are weak".
On one occasion, a gymnast was allegedly seen self-harming in the gym to get out of having to perform, while another athlete was "left sobbing in the foetal position" while her coach allegedly screamed abuse at her.
On that occasion another coach at the gym "rescued" the situation by intervening and removing the girl from the floor and comforting her, the Weekend Herald was told.
Sources claim the following day, at a mock competition, the coach called the athlete over and instructed the gymnast to tell nobody about what had happened the previous day.
North Harbour Gymnastics chief executive Mike Thompson told the Weekend Herald the allegations were "gut-wrenching" as it went against culture changes the club had tried to implement in recent years.
"We put a lot of work into providing a safe environment and educating our gymnasts, our coaches and our parents into being positive in their interactions," he said.
"In 2018 we started a wellness programme which was for gymnasts, parents and the coaching group and it was about the language you use, having a growth mindset and taking that attitude into training and competition.
"To hear of these incidents and the feedback you've been given, is gut-wrenching ... gut-wrenching. It points to the amount of work we still need to do."
Some parents have held concerns about training methods for up to five years.
Those claims include girls being forced to train while injured. One young athlete was allegedly made to continue a routine she was struggling with on the bars — even after the skin on her hands had been torn off.

One young gymnast was allegedly made to continue a routine she was struggling with on the bars - even after the skin on her hands had been torn off. Photo / Supplied
On another occasion, coaches are alleged to have told a young girl to get on with it and "to stop being weak" after she hurt her foot badly on a dismount.
Another gymnast was so concerned by the fact her friend's foot was immediately swollen and blue that she ran to the office to ring the child's mother. The gymnast was taken for X-rays and a metatarsal fracture was revealed.
Joanne* said children had been subjected to fat-shaming and other forms of mostly verbal, "low-level" abuse during their time at the club.
She said while not exclusive to one coach, most of the aggravation stemmed from a coach with a background in Europe.
The coach declined to discuss the allegations when contacted by the Weekend Herald.
According to the parents spoken to, on multiple occasions one coach would tell students as young as 8 that they were "ugly", "too fat", "useless" and "a waste of my time".
On one occasion, Joanne said, the coach physically turned waiting children's heads away so they couldn't see her child's work on a particular apparatus because "it was so ugly".
Some of the allegations are historic and Thompson acknowledged he was aware the coach's interactions with athletes had been problematic in the past.
An email from Thompson to Joanne in 2018, said: "[The coach] will be having a one on one with Cameron [Beeton, manager of...

Spain’s former monarch, Juan Carlos I, is leaving Spain to live in another, unspecified, country amid a financial scandal, according to a letter published on the royal family's website Monday.
The letter from Juan Carlos to his son, King Felipe VI, said: “I am informing you of my considered decision to move, during this period, out of Spain.”
Juan Carlos, in the letter, said he made the decision against the backdrop of “public repercussions of certain episodes of my past private life.”
He said he wanted to ensure he doesn’t make his son’s role difficult, adding that “my legacy, and my own dignity, demand that it should be so.” Juan Carlos' current whereabouts were not known.
Spain’s prime minister recently said he found the developments about Juan Carlos -- including investigations in Spain and Switzerland -- “disturbing.”
Since Spain’s Supreme Court opened its probe earlier this year, Spanish media outlets have published damaging testimony from a separate Swiss investigation into millions of euros (dollars) that were allegedly given to Juan Carlos by Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah.
Juan Carlos allegedly then transferred a large amount to a former companion in what investigators are considering as a possible attempt to hide the money from authorities. The companion, Corinna Larsen, is a Danish-German businesswoman long linked by Spanish media to the former king. Spanish prosecutors have asked her to provide testimony in the case in September in Madrid.
The 82-year-old former king is credited with helping Spain peacefully restore democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
But marred by scandals in the later years of his reign, Juan Carlos in 2014 abdicated in favor of his son Felipe VI, losing the immunity from prosecution Spain’s Constitution grants to the head of state.
After media reports claimed Felipe was a beneficiary of an offshore account holding an alleged 65 million-euro gift ( $76 million) from Saudi Arabia to Juan Carlos, Felipe renounced any future personal inheritance he might receive from the former king. Felipe also stripped his father of his annual stipend of 194,232 euros ($228,000.)
The royal house has denied that Felipe had any knowledge of his father’s alleged financial irregularities.
The royal website said in a statement that Felipe respected his father’s decision.
Felipe acknowledged the historic importance of his father’s reign, the statement said, but also “reaffirmed the principles and values on which it stood, in the framework of our Constitution and the rest of our legal system.”
A statement from Spain’s general prosecutor’s office in June said it was investigating whether Juan Carlos received millions of dollars in kickbacks from Saudi Arabia during the construction of a high-speed railway there by a Spanish consortium.
It called the probe one of “undeniable technical complexity.”
The Supreme Court investigation centers on developments after mid-2014. That covers the second phase of the 2011 contract for the bullet train between the Saudi cities of Medina and Mecca — the so-called “AVE of the desert” in reference to the acronym for high-speed trains in Spain.
The date marks the moment when Juan Carlos, struggling amid several scandals, passed on the throne to his son after holding it for nearly four decades.
Though Juan Carlos’ finances have been questioned in Spanish media for years, there have so far been no legal implications for him. Spanish lawmakers have rejected at least two proposals since the first allegations emerged to open parliamentary investigations.
The decision to leave Spain means Juan Carlos will vacate the 17th-century Zarzuela palace in Madrid, his home for more than 50 years. He moved there after marrying the former queen, Sofia, in 1963.
“I think he didn’t have any other choice than to leave," said Carmen Torras, a 66-year-old Barcelona resident. "I hope...

Airports are raring to go when it comes to a travel bubble with the Pacific.
Auckland Airport's international terminal is being split into two zones in anticipation of a Cook Islands bubble.
Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown airports are all ready to go, pending government approval.
Aviation Coalition chair Kevin Ward told Mike Hosking all they need is the sign-off from health authorities.
“All the discussions with airlines and border agencies are at a stage where they'll be ready to go when the flag goes up.”
Ward says the Government has to make a call on when it's safe, but airports have the more practical end of the stick.
"We can re-organise our terminals and change our processes and get people safely through.
'They’re going to a safe country, they’re not going to run into somebody that is coming back from a country that has Covid-19."
LISTEN ABOVE

She was at it again yesterday. "Say yes to the test."
Highlighting a new testing regime, why is the Prime Minister doing this? Because she wants you to worry, she wants you to remember the dark and troubled days of lockdown, and the uncertainty of what would happen to us all as this previously unknown virus swept the world and towards our small nation.
The fact we haven't had community transmission for three months is unfortunately a poorly timed out working of having a successful lockdown, but not tied to the election. If they'd managed to do that they'd be home free. We'd barely be pulling our teddy out of the window before it was voting day.
You'll note, by the way if you missed the detail, that voting booths will have social distancing and hand sanitiser. What for? The virus that hasn't been for what will be well in excess of four, going on five months by then.
She said we can't be complacent. No, we can't. But that applies to crossing the road, eating too much fat, or drinking too much alcohol. That doesn't mean we test ourselves for it for the sake of it.
It really is the most glaringly audacious ploy to have us believe that a virus that is in a handful of isolation hotel dwellers really needs us lining up by the thousand to find out there isn't an issue. It's a mystery of the New Zealand psyche that was discovered in March when we all basically went home and said nothing.
We did, like a well trained small dog, as we were told. And now they are using it to get another term of government.
The fact the economy is in tatters must not be focused on because as we have heard and you will continue to hear, .we are in the middle of a pandemic. The health freak out worked for them. The economic misery, not so much.    
But here's the truth the truth of today, not March, we are not in the middle of anything other than a recession the likes of which we have never seen. This country is not in a pandemic, we haven't been for months. And even in its worst moments, of the 1000 beds we set aide for the tidal wave of death and ventilators, we hardly filled any.
They’ve had their health curtain call, we've applauded. But they're now milking the standing ovations for naked political advantage.

A new campaign to encourage people to get tested for Covid-19 is being seen as sensible.
The Government's rolled out a new slogan, 'Say Yes to the Test'.
When asked about the new messaging, Ardern said that when New Zealand moved into alert level 1, the intent was for Kiwis to maintain good hygiene, contact tracing and testing but those practices had fallen away.
"We still need people to be on guard."
She urged everyone asked to get a test if they were offered one, as testing would help ensure there wasn't community transmission.
"Please say yes to the test."
Auckland University marketing professor Bodo Lang told Mike Hosking if you're cynical you could see it as political campaigning, and working off the strength of our coronavirus response and result.
"But I do think it's sensible to keep on top of it, because we've seen what can happen around the world very quickly when things aren't being followed through."
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Landlords aren't happy about changes to the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill.
The legislation will end 90 day no-cause evictions, meaning landlords must offer more robust reasons for getting rid of tenants.
Property Investors Federation executive officer Sharon Cullwick told Mike Hosking 20 per cent of landlords could leave the industry.
"If tenants think it's hard finding a house now, it will be just about impossible in a few months if it passes."
Cullwick told Mike Hosking problems will arise if one tenant starts to cause trouble.
"One tenant will be able to stay at the property and all the other good tenants will have to keep moving, because it's so hard to remove the one disruptive and antisocial tenant."
The bill has its second reading in the House today.
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Nearly six months on, a man who attended the Elton John concert in Auckland that was cut short by the singer's illness has received a refund after taking the issue to the Disputes Tribunal.
On February 16, Sir Elton John was forced to call off his first Auckland concert midway through the performance after suffering pneumonia and losing his voice.
Michael Batty, who attended the concert, asked the organisers for a partial refund but says he was ignored right until he took the matter to the Disputes Tribunal.
Last week, Batty receive a 40 per cent refund last week after settlement in the Disputes Tribunal.
"I was awarded the partial refund I was seeking against Chugg Entertainment and Ticketmaster NZ," Batty told the Herald.
He believes "all those who attended the concert should also be entitled to the same partial refund based on this result".
Batty told the Herald he had been chasing the partial refund since the concert.
"We were in touch with Ticketmaster and Chugg Entertainment but they were not very responsive in the beginning," he said.
"It was only when the papers were served that they got in contact."
According to Batty, there were "some offers of settlement" after that, "but I was unhappy with the confidentiality of the agreement".
Batty says he didn't want a confidential agreement as it would not be "fair" on others not to know they too could get a partial refund if they wanted it.
"I went this far to allow everyone to file for themselves," he said.
He believes the 40 per cent refund, which he received last week, is "fair".
Back in February, Consumer NZ's head of research Jessica Wilson told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that as fans only saw about two thirds of the promised set list, they could be in for a partial refund.
"It is a contract. People have bought tickets to an event, the advertiser promised a full Elton John concert, and they only got part of it, they could get a partial refund. People should only pay for what they receive."
There was precedent in that concertgoers received refunds when a headline act pulled out from a multi-artist bill, she said at the time.
Her advice was for disgruntled fans to go back to the ticket agent, and if that was not successful they could take their case to the disputes tribunal.
"If you have forked out several hundred dollars in the expectation this could be the last chance you get to see Elton John, and you did not get that experience, you might likely think it is worth pursuing."
The Herald has contacted both Ticketmaster and Chugg Entertainment for comment.

Honestly, I hate to tell I told you so, but it has been revealed foot traffic in the down town area is down 25 percent.
As a result, you can imagine the cries of worry and concern. Part of it, they claim, is tourist related. There aren’t any in the recent holidays. Most in Auckland left Auckland, and those out of Auckland didn’t go to Auckland.
You might argue that some people have not returned to the city post lock down and have lost their job or are working from home.
Here’s what I’ve said for several years. The place is a mess, it’s a jumbled, shambolic, dug up, poorly planned, hopelessly inefficient dump. The bike lanes that aren’t used, the bus lanes that cause congestion, the parking that’s been ripped up, the trains that get cancelled, the restrictions on speed and access and road closures and construction that has seen any number of business sent to the wall.
What’s to come downtown for the delusional fools who think we are some extension of Europe where we cycle to the café to have Pimms and macchiatos?
The delusional fools who think we are the same as Hong Kong and New York and a train is all that’s needed to speed us home to our car less apartments.
The cold hard simple truth is the city planners have been tripped up by their own theory and seen that what they thought would be cool on a whiteboard doesn’t work in the real world where we love a car and a car park and we like the suburbs with some lawn and a dog.
And so, as they dig the place up, invest a small island nations GDP into road cones and generally just drive the poor saps who have to deal with the place nuts, is it any wonder foot traffic is down?
For foot traffic, you need people to actually want to be in the place, and if you’re in Auckland, look around: it isn’t flash.
Cities only work when they’re beautiful or historic or easy. Auckland whether for a tourist or local is none of those things.
Oh, there are fabulous bits, but they’re not downtown. Go to a North Shore beach or a bay, hit the countryside, its world class.
But stand on Quay Street or Queen Street or K Road and you wonder why you bothered, which is why the stats are what they are: people no longer do.
And so, they are getting what they were always getting and deserved when they didn’t listen, got captured by ideology and bowled ahead despite it all. You can spin theory, harder to spin reality.

The Government is hoping to keep power prices down by stirring up competition in the sector.
About a million New Zealanders are expected to benefit from a $17 million package, which includes setting up an energy advocacy council and energy hardship group to help those struggling to pay their bills.
The funds will go towards developing a network of community services, alongside the previously announced doubling of the winter energy payment.
Electricity Networks Association chief Graeme Peters told Mike Hosking power prices are actually low if you adjust for inflation, but it's about knowing where to look.
"There's plenty of competition, but it's whether people are taking advantage of that competition and getting the best deals.
"And I think that's something the Government is still working on."
He says the initiative is necessary. 
"The bigger companies can advocate for themselves, but households, small businesses, they don't really have a seat at the table at the moment."

Ellen DeGeneres is ready to call it quits on her talk shows after staff slammed the star's apology in response to claims of a toxic work environment, DailyMail.com is reporting.
An insider at Telepictures told DailyMail.com the host is telling executives at Telepictures and Warner Bros that she has had enough and wants to walk away from the show.
"She feels she can't go on and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show," they said.
"The truth is she knew what was going on, it's her show. The buck stops with her. She can blame every executive under the sun – but Ellen is ultimately the one to blame."
Staff slammed the Hollywood star for shifting the blame onto her executive producers in an apology memo released this week.
"Don't think for a minute anything she has said in that apology means anything. She created and then enabled this toxic culture to go on for so long," one staffer told DailyMail.com.
"If anyone had come to her or those three vile EPs [executive producers] to complain, they would've been fired.
"Inside Telepictures we've had enough of her. She is a phony who does not practise what she preaches.
"The behavior of her show executives has been appalling, but [Ellen] is no better. In fact, she is the worst. It's outrageous that she is trying to pretend that this is all a shock to her. The fish rots from the head, and Ellen is the head.
"She has been phoning it in for so long, and only staying for the money and celebrity it affords her.
"We've dealt with her BS for so many years, she's not innocent at all, she's not nice and the show is not filled with happiness."
In her apology, DeGeneres noted that steps would be taken to "correct the issues".
"As we've grown exponentially, I've not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I'd want them done. Clearly some didn't," she wrote in the letter to staff.
"That will now change and I'm committed to ensuring this does not happen again."
The talk show queen said that, had it not been for coronavirus, she would have "done this in person", and said she was "so sorry" to anyone who had not loved working on the show.
DeGeneres acknowledged the irony of the allegations as she herself had called the show "a place of happiness".
"As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am, I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or – worse – disregarded," she wrote.