The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Italy's government said Wednesday it scored a victory in a battle stemming from the deadly 2018 collapse of Genoa's main bridge, with the Benetton fashion family agreeing to exit the company that manages and maintains most of Italy's toll roads and bridges.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte announced the agreement nearly two years after 43 people perished in the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, a disaster that has been blamed on poor maintenance.
The deal avoids the possibility that the government would revoke the concession Autostade per l'Italia has to manage a huge swath of Italy's toll roads and bridges.
The 5-Star-led government had threatened to do so in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, but a revocation would have proved financially disastrous for the company and its foreign shareholders, and led to years of costly legal battles to contest the decision.
There was no immediate comment from the Benetton family, Autostrade or its holding company Atlantia SpA.
Conte said that as part of the deal, Autostrade agreed to become a public company and to pay 3.4 billion euros in compensation while also investing more in road maintenance and security.
In a statement on Facebook, Conte claimed a victory in the negotiations and said the government had affirmed a principle throughout: "That public infrastructure is a precious public good that must be managed responsibly and guarantee security and efficient service."
The Morandi Bridge, which opened in the 1960s, was a key artery that linked Genoa to highways to Milan and France, a vital lifeline for both commercial traffic as well as vacationers bound for the mountains and famous Mediterranean beaches.
A large section of the bridge collapsed on Aug. 14, 2018, killing 43 people and forcing the evacuation of nearby residents from the densely built-up area. It was the deadliest in a series of bridge disasters that exposed the horrific state of Italy's aging road infrastructure.
The Italian engineer who designed the span, Riccardo Morandi, warned in 1979 that the bridge would require constant maintenance to remove rust given the effects of corrosion from sea air and pollution on the concrete.
After the collapse, it emerged that authorities were well aware the concrete had corroded and that the bridge was structurally compromised. Criminal investigations were opened to ascertain criminal blame, but the government immediately accused Autostrade of neglecting to maintain the span.
At the time, Autostrade apologized and said it was prepared to take action beyond any criminal charges against any managers who might have been responsible.
The government has granted two dozen private companies the right to manage Italy's highways, bridges and tunnels, but the Benettons' Autostrade is by far the biggest, controlling some 3,020 kilometers (1,876 miles) of highway.
Under the deal reached with the government, the Benetton family will have less than 10% of Autostrade and within a few months will definitively exit the company, known by its acronym ASPI.
"This means the Benettons won't manage our highways. This was our principle objective, and we obtained it," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.
Conte recently was in Genoa to attend a key stage in the construction of a replacement bridge, this one designed by architect and Genoa native Renzo Piano.

The pregnant wife of Warriors star David Fusitu'a has posted an emotional message calling for her husband to return home ahead of the arrival of their first child.
Fusitu'a is one of four Warriors players, including Ken Maumalo, Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa, who will return back to New Zealand on July 27 for family reasons in the middle of the NRL season.
The Warriors winger's pregnant wife Eden Fusitu'a took to Twitter to thank everyone involved in getting the green light for players to return home after months away from their loved ones.
"For my health and the health of our baby, we need David home," she wrote on Twitter. "We've needed him home for a while.
"Ngā mihi (thanks) @NZWarriors, @RLPlayers, (coach) Todd (Payten), the welfare staff and the players for being so understanding and supportive.
"And David, for being the best husband and soon to be dad."
The Warriors yesterday announced they had booked flights back to New Zealand for the four players who expressed desire to reunite with their families.
The Warriors have been forced to leave their families behind in New Zealand since relocating to Australia in May to play in the resumption of the NRL season. Earlier this month, the Warriors warned the NRL that some players would return to New Zealand if their families were not granted an exemption to enter Australia, with this weekend's clash against the Sharks being the final deadline.
However, the New Zealand Government's request to Air New Zealand for a temporary halt of all incoming international flights to ease the stress on the country's isolation facilities has pushed back that deadline for the Warriors, with players now only able to fly back home on July 27.
Warriors CEO Cameron George said Fusitu'a, Maumalo, Paasi and Vuniyayawa had the total support of the players, staff and the club.
"We can't say enough about the sacrifice they have made being away from their families so long," he said.
"We fully understand the predicament they have been in and we're so appreciative of what they have done in committing to the cause for as long as they have.
"When we travelled to Australia we promised the players everything possible in our control would be done to secure travel exemptions for their families to join them there.
"Ultimately the decision lies with government agencies to approve the applications the NRL made on our behalf. There hasn't been any sign of a favourable result, which we accepted was always a possibility. Given those circumstances David, Ken, Agantius and King are free to go home.
"We're hugely disappointed it hasn't worked out as we would have liked but it was out of our control."
George doubts families will get an exemption any time soon, and those who are returning to New Zealand on July 27 are unlikely to participate "at all for the rest of the season".
The quartet will be required to go into isolation for 14 days before they can finally see their families next month. George said consideration was now being given to how best to replace the returning players in the squad.

An early childhood education expert says private providers should be given incentives to up their game.
Child Poverty Action Group has released a research paper showing private operators are providing lower quality services, across a range of indicators.
Early childhood education expert Dr Mike Bedford told Mike Yardley we should do away with the current licensing system, which has no incentives for quality.
"We should shift to a system where the Government takes responsibility by becoming the national provider."
Bedford says that would give a much higher level of accountability.
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As we fleetingly profiled on yesterday’s show, one of New Zealand’s greatest urban legends seems to have been starkly exposed as the hysterical nonsense it always has been.
Tourist drivers are not the monstrous deadly menace they have been made out to be in recent years by an excitable media narrative. With virtually zero tourists in the country, the post-lockdown road toll has not dropped.
Transport Ministry data shows June had the same number of monthly fatal crashes, that the past five years has had, while July is shaping up to be the worst or second worst July for fatalities in the past five years. We are the Kiwi killing machines. We cause the carnage.
And our borders are closed. Admittedly, I have enjoyed tripping through the Mackenzie and Central Otago lately, where many a distracted tourist driver comes a cropper. Without them on the roads, it has made for a more relaxing drive. I’ve become accustomed to driving like a hyper-defensive driver in those parts. I accept that. It goes with the territory in a tourist trap. But a huge amount of work has been invested in enhancing driver safety for the foreign driver in recent years, with centre line rumble strips, keep left signage…you name it.
The bottom line remains that tourist drivers were never the big contributor to our fatality count, that the hysterics and hyperbole made out. They were a convenient scapegoat, while we downplayed our own collective driving defects and glaring imperfections.
The public hysteria was best illustrated by those whipped-up demands for all tourists to be ordered to sit a New Zealand practical driving test before being given the keys to rental. Ridiculous.
Over the past ten years, the Ministry’s crash data shows foreign nationals were involved in three to four per cent of serious or fatal road crashes. And we had four million of them in the country in the past year. When they finally return, post-Covid, hopefully we won’t be so feral or so quick to point the finger of blame.

Two high profile MPs have decided they don't have a future in a Judith Collins-led National Party.
Nikki Kaye and Amy Adams have announced they'll retire at this year's election - having both served their respective electorates for 12 years.
New health spokesperson Shane Reti told Mike Yardley he respects the decision made by Nikki Kaye, and the party values every caucus member.
The National Party says it won't be reducing the number of District Health Boards.
A report by Heather Simpson recommends slashing them from twenty down to around eight to twelve within five years.
Dr Shane Reti says he definitely won't be following that.
“I personally worked through the regional health authorities and observed that all Northland's issued were consumed by the major issues in Auckland.”
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An infectious diseases expert says localised lockdowns are the right approach to managing any future outbreak of Covid 19.
Jacinda Ardern has outlined the framework for the next steps of the coronavirus response.
The Government would move at a local, or regional level if there was a new outbreak.
Police would be the "first port of call" in terms of enforcement.
Ardern said the Covid-19 situation has changed since it first arrived in New Zealand, with "scattered" instances of Covid-19 arriving in the country.
The most likely instance going forward would be seeing much more isolated cases.
Ardern would not rule out going back to level 4, nationwide.
But the focus would be acting locally before a nationwide lockdown was implemented.
Otago University's David Murdoch told Mike Yardley it would be the best way to contain an outbreak, while avoiding the economic and social disruption of a national lockdown.
“We want to avoid if possible going back to a national shutdown. The key is being able to identify it and act early”
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Senior National MPs Nikki Kaye and Amy Adams are quitting politics, creating a massive headache for new leader Judith Collins.
National MPs have been left blindsided for the second time in a week, following Todd Muller's resignation on Tuesday.
Collins is due to announce this morning what was planned to be a "minor" reshuffle - now she has to scramble to replace two experienced MPs who were former ministers in the last National administration.
In a statement, Collins thanked Kaye and Adams. "Nikki and Amy have both made incredible contributions at very senior levels with consistent dedication to their work and to their constituencies. I wish them the very best for the future."
Adams told Newstalk ZB that she decided to quit after Collins offered her a role that she was not keen on.
However Collins had her full support, saying "she has a different approach."
"The party is in good hands," Adams said.
Earlier today in a statement Adams said she would not accept a ranking on the National Party list.
"Last year I made the decision that I would retire at this election and accordingly I did not seek nomination for the seat of Selwyn that I have held for 12 years. In May I was asked to stay on as a list only candidate and take on the role of co-ordinating our Covid-19 Recovery policy framework," she said in a statement.
"As I said at that time I decided to stay because with the scale of challenges the country was facing, I saw being able to contribute in this way as an honour and a role I could not turn down.
"With Todd Muller's decision to resign the leadership the most important issue for our party was to get a strong and effective leadership team in place without delay and I am proud at the way in which the caucus managed this. I am in no doubt that in Judith Collins we have the right leader for the challenges ahead and Judith and the team have my full support.
"My time as an MP for the National Party and as the MP for Selwyn has been an honour and a privilege and I remain humbled and grateful at the opportunity I've had to serve this country."

Another high profile National MP is set to throw in the towel.
Less than 48 hours after being replaced as deputy leader, long standing Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye has announced she'll retire at the election.
The move will leave the party scrambling to find a new candidate for the Auckland Central electorate - a seat that Kaye's held since 2008.
Kaye told Newstalk ZB this morning that her breast cancer fight had taught her that life can change in a moment.
"I have always believed you step up or step out," she told Mike Yardley.
"I couldn't predict the events with Todd [Muller].
"Breast cancer has given me a lens on life that is different from other people. Life is very short, " said Kaye, who added she was "OK" health-wise.
She said she felt the "weight of responsibility" quitting so close to the September 19 election, and would fight to help National win.
"People will always find a reason to ask you to stay but I have given twelve years of my life to public service. I have given it everything. I have worked incredibly long hours and I think I'm allowed to choose a decision that's best for me."
Kaye, National's deputy leader for 53 days, described the pressure of leadership as "intense" but said she was "absolutely up for it".
"While it's been a hard period, you have the Hamish Walker situation and obviously the nature of Todd's circumstances - they're difficult but I think I'm absolutely up for that," she said.
Kaye said there were "some extraordinary events that were out of our control" but it was the right thing to step-up to the leadership.
There were more candidates coming through so Kaye said she didn't believe it when people said her departure would leave a hole in the party.
Kaye said she'd recently had a good poll from her Auckland Central electorate which indicated she would retain the seat - but said "you never take anything for granted".


"I will do everything possible - I will be on the phones - to try and ensure that Auckland Central is retained by the National Party."


Kaye grateful for Kiwis' cancer gratitude
Kaye said earlier today in a statement: "While Judith made it clear to me that I would be part of her senior leadership team and education spokesperson, I am ready to retire. I believe Judith is absolutely the right leader for the party at this time and I will be supporting Judith and the party to win this election.
"While I don't think it was possible to predict the events that have occurred, what I have learned from breast cancer and other life events is you can't always predict what is around the corner.
"I have spent most of my adult life serving the public and the National Party. This is personally the right time for me to leave. Cancer has taught me that life can change in a moment and I am ready for the next chapter."
Kaye said she would "never forget the compassion showed to me by the people of New Zealand when I was diagnosed with breast cancer".
The alternative to not leaving now, said Kaye, was putting herself forward and then halfway realising "oh, God this isn't the right thing".
"I think that would have been a worse situation so I had to make my decision pretty quickly given the timing of where we're at. I understand that it will be difficult for people to work through that."
Kaye said it was an "extraordinary privilege" to be an MP.
She had already been selected for her seat of Auckland Central, which she has held since 2008, and will stay on until the September 19 election.
She stood down as deputy when the caucus held an emergency meeting to elect Collins to replace Todd Muller as leader.
Muller resigned suddenly on Tuesday morning under the strain of the job, saying he realised he was not the right person to lead the Opposition and it was affecting his health.
Kaye said she had "huge respect and admiration for Todd, Michelle and...

Finally see some headway on New Zealand’s challenge to start re-engaging with the world.
On face value, it may strike you as contradictory and confusing to be agitating for air bridges with the world for leisure travel, while at the same time arguing for stringent security at our border and around our MIQ facilities.
But that’s exactly the dual challenge New Zealand has to man up to.
We are in the most invidious position in the world with our Covid status. And we must jealously guard that position with a rigorous security posture to ensure all new Covid cases are contained within our MIQ facilities. But we have to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time and open up to the world, with best-practise confidence.  
Prime Minister Ardern has finally caught up with Prime Minister Puna and the Cook Islands bubble looks closer to becoming a reality. A timeline is now being worked on. The resumption of leisure travel back to the covid-free Cooks will revive their shattered economy.
There are obvious geopolitical reasons why we must reach out to the Cooks as well. Tourism generates 70 per cent of their GDP.
As their deputy Prime Minister told me yesterday, tourism is so valuable to the Cooks, it’s the equivalent of 50 million visitors spending money in New Zealand.  May these baby steps help expedite similar air bridges to Covid-free Aussie states, like South Australia and Tasmania.
Safe, smart quarantine-free travel, separated from the MIQ arrivals flocking home from far-flung places. A reliable instant Covid detection test would certainly help the cause. And I hope that’s not far away. But we’ve got to start re-engaging with the world – and the Cooks is a quick and easy win.

Tourist drivers are not to blame for New Zealand's horror road toll after lockdown, according to Ministry of Transport fatal crash figures.
Since lockdown, the number of tourist drivers on New Zealand roads has dropped to near zero, but there has been little change in the road toll.
Nine fatal crashes for April - the country was in lockdown until April 27 - was well down on previous years, but as soon as drivers got behind the wheel under Level 3, the number of fatal crashes went back to near the level of previous years.



Ministry of Transport figures show the number of fatal crashes in May was not as bad as the past three years, but the same as 2016.
June had the same number of fatal crashes as 2017 and 2018, which were the worst in the past five years, and July is shaping up to be worse than all previous years, apart from 2017.
The weekend just past was tragic, claiming five lives and injuring many more people.
Inspector Peter McKennie, acting national manager road policing, said visiting drivers make up only a very small proportion of serious crashes on New Zealand roads, and visiting drivers crash on our roads for the same reasons as local drivers.
The factors involved in these fatal and serious injury crashes remain the same – failure to properly wear restraints, driving at excess speed, driving while tired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or driving distracted such as using a cellphone, he said.
McKennie said lockdown saw about 75 per cent less road traffic, but unfortunately this period still saw people lose their lives on the road.
Tourist Industry Association chief Executive Chris Roberts said it is a total myth that visiting drivers are to blame for the high road toll.He said since 2013, just 6 per cent of serious and fatal road crashes in New Zealand have involved a driver with an overseas licence.

"The industry and Government agencies have taken our joint responsibility to keep visiting drivers safe on our roads very seriously. It is all too easy to blame others. We should examine our own driving behaviours and the conditions of our roading network," Roberts said.Before Covid-19, there were 3.9 million overseas arrivals in New Zealand in the year to April 2019, of which two million were tourists.There have been many horrific crashes in New Zealand involving foreigners. In March last year, four tourists travelling to one of the mosques involved in the Christchurch shooting died on State Highway 1 at Kaikoura.

In February this year, a Singaporean tourist who was driving on the wrong side of the road when he caused a crash which left a Queenstown woman dead was ordered to pay almost $30,000 in reparation.
The Ministry of Transport's crash date in 2017 showed of the 378 road deaths, 34 people died in 25 crashes that involved a foreign driver. The foreign driver was at fault in 18 of those. Only five of those were deemed to have happened because the driver failed to adjust to New Zealand roads.
Overall, across New Zealand, foreign drivers were involved in under 4 per cent of crashes in 2017.
ACC spent at least $15 million treating injured tourists over the past five years.
All tourists who have been involved in accidents get free treatment in New Zealand through our healthcare and ACC systems, regardless of whether they have travel insurance.