The Mike Hosking Breakfast

I have a major beef with this mealy-mouthed suggestion from the Chief Science Advisor's panel that it’s still uncertain whether legalising dope increases harm.
We already have an addiction-fueled mental health crisis in this country, much of which can be sheeted home to recreational cannabis abuse and psychosis. Why risk aggravating that problem even more, by normalising and legitimising dope, by surrendering on the law? There are so many unintended consequences, which I don’t believe this panel has fully considered.
Let me give you an example of the elevated threat of real harm to you and me. Drug-driving.
Last week the Road Transport Forum made their views very clear about the higher risks on our roads if recreational cannabis use is legalised. It raises the stakes on risk.
And bear in mind, the number of people being killed by drug impaired drivers on our roads is already higher than those killed by drivers above the legal alcohol limit. Do we want to ratchet that up?
Here's some stats from various North American jurisdictions that legalised dope.
Post-legalisation in Colorado, cannabis-related roads deaths increased 151%. In Washington State, they doubled. A quarter of Canadians aged 18-34 who smoke dope admit to driving after consuming, or have been a passenger with someone who just has. Idiots.
In a 2018 Colorado State study, 27% of cannabis users admitted to driving high almost daily. And a New Zealand health study found that habitual users of cannabis have about 10 times the risk of causing a road injury or death compared to infrequent or non-users.
Ding ding. I hear alarm bells.
If that's not harm and increased harm, you can call me Hamish.
As to the Chief Science Advisor's Panel, and this cop-out conclusion that it’s too early to say whether legalisation leads to increased harm, I have a word of advice. If in doubt, leave it out.
Why subject the nation to this experiment?
It’s just another reason why I believe September’s referendum is destined to crash and burn.

Police Minister Stuart Nash believes an investigation will show other National Party MPs or members were also involved in Covid patient data leak.
Last night, MP Hamish Walker and former National Party president Michelle Boag confessed to being behind the massive privacy breach of Covid-19 patient information.
"I simply can't believe that this is just Michelle Boag and Hamish Walker. They'll be others' fingerprints all over this," Nash told Newstalk ZB this morning.
"Bill English and John Key would have handled this completely differently. This is a National Party problem at this point."
National MP Mark Mitchell told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast his party should deselect Walker as the candidate for Clutha Southland.
"Ultimately it's a decision for our board and the leader, but I think that it's a massive departure from our own set of values and what we stand for in the National Party.
"My own personal expectations would be that Hamish wouldn't be standing. It's sad, because he's done an outstanding job of advancing issues for his electorate, but he's shown a terrible lack of judgment on this one."
Mitchell said should be reflecting on whether he should voluntarily stand down as an electorate candidate.
"It's terrible, difficult situation. He's got a young wife, he's got a new young daughter, but there's no excuse for leaking personal information, so I hope he is reflecting on that today."
Mitchell said it is up to the board to discuss Michelle Boag's future in the party.

Todd Muller says he's lost confidence in Hamish Walker but says it's up to the board to decide whether he loses his job.
The National Party leader has stripped him of his portfolios, after Walker sent personal details of Covid-19 patients to the media. 
Muller says the board will meet today to discuss Walker and they could de-select him as a Member of Parliament.
Muller says there needs to be consequences for the leak and his advice to Walker was to "think deeply about what the honourable next step is".
Muller told Newstalk ZB's Mike Yardley that he was informed Monday lunchtime that Hamish Walker was the leaker and after the inquiry was announced, made it clear Walker had to co-operate.
He then sought legal advice and once receiving that, made it public.
Last night, Walker and former National Party president Michelle Boag confessed to being behind the massive privacy breach of Covid-19 patient information.
Police say they are waiting for a complaint to be laid before looking into the situation.
"If a complaint is received it will be assessed to determine the necessary action, if any, police will take," said a spokesman.
"We will not be making any further comment at this stage."
Muller wrote to the National Party board last night outlining concerns about Walker's judgment and it was meeting today.
"He's displayed some serious lack of judgment," he said.
"I've made it very, very clear how unacceptable his behaviour was and there was an expectation that this information was to be made public and that he co-operates with the inquiry."
Walker hasn't given Muller any indication yet whether he will step aside as National's Clutha-Southland candidate, he told Newstalk ZB.
Muller said he couldn't be precise around when the board would release its decision as it was its process.

Try as I might, the Prime Minister won’t give an inch on her taxation intentions.
If you were listening yesterday, did you notice that Jacinda Ardern sounded somewhat wistful when reconfirming that a CGT remains a non-starter?
But that’s where the specificity fast-ended.
Would she rule out a land tax? A company tax increase? Or an increase to personal income tax? She dodged any lines of enquiry. Nothing ruled in. Nothing out.
So what are we meant to make of it? It’s a political pea-souper.
I can’t tell whether Labour is still testing the waters and taking the pulse. Are they genuinely diffident on what to do, or are they strategically concealing their grand plans on tax until deep August?
Make no mistake, this will be a key narrative in the campaign.
Meanwhile, a ray of hope has emerged for cash-strapped businesses. ACC levies for business and the self-employed are now frozen for the next two years.
ACC has also been holding off sending out their invoices. If you were expecting to receive your levy invoice, like me, this month, ACC has pressed pause on the dispatch until October, to give people more time and flexibility to make their payments.
And ACC will hold the line on its levy rates by changing the organisation’s funding target from 105 per cent solvency for the levied accounts, to 100 per cent solvency. This is welcome, responsive, pragmatic stuff.
I’m self-employed and I find ACC’s annual levy invoice levy demand a considerable cost burden. It’s far bigger than my quarterly rates demand. So the fact that the levy will stay capped for two years provides some relief. It’s not a game-changer, but it will help the cause.
May that provide the vector for Labour’s wider deliberations on tax. Don’t jack up taxes during an economic crisis. Don’t add to the burden. Give us a break.
What’s the better alternative? Blitz the low-quality spending and accelerate economic growth to generate the revenue to deal to the debt.

We're seeing more and more artists returning to the stage post covid.
One of those is L.A.B - who were formed back in 2015 and enlisted Joel Shadbolt as lead vocalist.
They're three albums are still in the charts - plus they're single 'In the air' went nuts this year.
And they're back on stage - they were back at Spark Arena on Friday night, plus their heading out over summer  - with a show coming to New Plymouth in February.
Joel Shadbolt joins Mike Yardley to talk about the return to the stage.
LISTEN ABOVE

Lockdown may be over, but many festivals and events are still feeling the repercussions.
The Doc Edge Festival has gone online for 2020, showcasing dozens of films over the last month entirely online rather in theatres or cinemas.
Festival director Dan Shanan told Mike Yardley that they were very used to a physical festival and weren’t sure how it would work, but they clocked over 50,000 views and have extended the festival.
He says that they attempted to replicate the festval experience at home. 
"We had a scheduled screening and had Q&As, over 42 for us, which is a record.
"So the audience can watch a film together and have the community experience, but at home."

France’s new prime minister said Saturday his government will focus on keeping French manufacturing jobs and bringing others back to France from lower-wage countries as it tries to dig the country out of deep recession.
Prime Minister Jean Castex made the announcement on his first outing in his new job, to a semiconductor factory near Paris that received extensive government aid to withstand the coronavirus lockdown in France.
He didn't lay out how his government would save jobs, but called for investment in training and new production tools. Castex and President Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce the makeup of the new Cabinet in the coming days.
Its goal will be to work out how "to ensure the return of jobs and the sustainable maintenance of industrial jobs exposed to global competition," Castex told reporters at the X-FAB factory in Le Coudray-Montceaux south of Paris.
The government sees the factory, which makes semiconductors used in cars, phones and other equipment, as an example of European cooperation and innovation.
Before being named prime minister Friday, Castex coordinated France’s strategy for gradually easing lockdown measures and reviving economic activity.

Wait-lists for public housing have tripled in the past three years, with wait times in some areas reaching more than a year.
Nearly 18,000 families are waiting for public housing options, and the figure is growing.
Monte Cecelia Housing Trust chief executive Bernie Smith told Mike Yardley the lack of affordable housing is at a crisis point.
‘We are getting enquiries daily from people living in their cars that are struggling to find a home. “
Smith says the Government has failed its promise to deliver on housing.
“The housing crisis is now in chaos and there are still people sleeping in their cars and on the streets today.”
LISTEN ABOVE

A new study may have found out why religious couples tend to have more kids than their secular counterparts.
The University of Otago research used 10 years of data from up to 1700 UK families.
Lead author John Shaver told Mike Yardley it seems to come down to social support.
He says they found couples who have a lot of support from their congregations tend to have more children - and they often perform better in school than kids from other large families.
Shaver says in general, having more siblings is associated with poorer outcomes for kids, but this doesn't seem to be the case for religious communities.
LISTEN ABOVE
 

The Chinese ambassador to Britain accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday of meddling in China's affairs by offering citizenship to 3 million people from Hong Kong following the imposition of a national security law.
Ambassador Liu Xiaoming defended his country’s new national security law against accusations it's aimed at eroding Hong Kong's considerable autonomy and curbing dissent. Liu pointed out that the U.K. handed control of the city that was a British colony for more than a century back to Beijing in 1997.
“This move constitutes a gross interference in China’s internal affairs and openly tramples on the basic norms governing international relations,’’ the ambassador said of the British citizenship offer, adding that the Chinese side has expressed “its great concern and strong opposition.’’
Johnson introduced the new visa and citizenship route for certain Hong Kong residents last week after deciding China had committed a “clear and serious breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration that set out the transition when Hong Kong was returned to China.
Johnson's Downing Street office also urged China not to interfere if Hong Kong residents who are eligible to reside and seek citizenship in the U.K. want to come and said the government was “also reviewing extradition arrangements with Hong Kong.''
The conflict over Britain’s response to developments in Hong Kong has soured relations with China, the world’s second-largest economy, at a time when Johnson’s government wants new trading relationships following the U.K.'s exit from the European Union.
The national security law China imposed last week makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city’s internal affairs. Activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city’s independence are violations of the law regardless of whether violence is used.
China argues the measure was needed to quell lawlessness and rioting. But there are signs the law is chilling free speech in Hong Kong after the city’s public libraries pulled books written by pro-democracy figures from shelves. Authorities said the books were being reviewed in light of the new legislation.
When a reporter asked China's envoy to Britain during a news conference Monday about books being removed, Liu replied that it “depends on what the book is about.″
If a book aims to incite secession or subversion, “you know that will be tantamount to a kind of crime,″ he said.
During his news conference, Liu also needled British officials about reconsidering their decision to grant Chinese tech giant Huawei a limited role supplying new high-speed network equipment to wireless carriers. Britain is reportedly poised to backtrack on the initial approval following U.S. government warnings that it would sever an intelligence-sharing arrangement if the U.K. did not ban Huawei.
Liu said that “Britain can only be great’’ when it has an independent foreign policy and that it sets a bad precedent to “make your policy in the morning and change it in evening.’’ He said that while he believed Huawei would simply do business elsewhere, other Chinese companies might think twice about investment into the U.K.
“It also sends out a very bad message to the China business community,’’ he said. “They are all watching how you handle Huawei.’’
Adding to Sino-British tensions, British regulators are weighing a punishment for China’s state broadcaster. CGTN, after upholding a complaint that it broke broadcasting rules by airing a forced confession from Peter Humphrey, a British corporate investigator imprisoned for two years in China.
The U.K.'s broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom, said Monday that CGTN committed a “serious” breach of broadcasting rules when it aired two programs with the footage and is putting the channel “on notice” that it plans to impose sanctions, which could include a...