The Mike Hosking Breakfast

It seems remarkable does it not you can have referenda in this country that have, seemingly, so few rules around them. 
The Drug Foundation, who should not be in the business at the best of times of being political operatives, have nevertheless decided to bring the worst aspects of Washington lobbying to New Zealand by raising money to buy spin, to twist your arm to vote yes for cannabis in September.
The question is, who's funding them?
They say for a start that the government money they get isn't being used. But of the money that’s being donated, who is it from? And how much is it? And most importantly, why don't we know? And if we did, would it potentially change your mind?
Here's an irony, I bet you anything you want, that these are just the sort of people who would object to us funding governments and political parties and the way they're funding their campaigns with few rules and little disclosure.
If you have to disclose anything over $15,000 for a political party, why not a referenda?
Here's my guess, at least some of the money will be coming from corporates who see profit in legalising dope. Those who gain most, will be finding the opportunity to profit the most. Show me I am wrong. And do those that stand to profit have our health interests at heart? Or their bottom lines? And if they're so above board and open with their views, ideas, and plans, why on earth aren't they out there telling us who they are, and what they're stumping up?
Nothing wrong with a vote. Democracy is good, ideas are good, and debate is good. But you debate with those you can see. We currently can't see who they are.
The entire campaign is run under the name of the Drug Foundation. We have no idea who's behind him. Why not? And if it was a corporate who had given a small fortune, what would your view be then?
Much is made in America about small donors, the likes of which Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren played on. Much is made of big oil, big gas, big tobacco, and firearms lobbyists who fund others. It's seen as shady and hijacked, where the rich and influential, get richer and more influential.
What you want most of all in these sort of debates is transparency and a level playing field.
Why don’t we have one? What have they got to hide?

New Zealand is focusing on Australia and a transtasman travel bubble ahead of the Pacific Islands, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today.
And she has taken a swipe at Air New Zealand over the way the airline has handled the non-refunding of airfares to customers.
Despite mounting pressure to open the borders to countries such as the Cook Islands and Niue - both Covid-free, like New Zealand - Ardern told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking today that the Government was focusing on a transtasman bubble.
"We are focusing on Australia first."
There were a "huge number" of reasons for this - "not least tourism not going one way for us, but also New Zealand's closer economic relationship with Australia. We put that in a special category".
New Zealand was working on a framework with Australia that would then apply to the Pacific Islands as well.
New Zealand was looking at cases in those countries, as well as any cases of community transmisson and testing levels.
Fiji, for example, did not have any more cases but New Zealand had to be sure its testing regimes were rigorous. "Their testing has been lower."
There was no timeframe on a transtasman bubble "because Covid hasn't had a timeframe".
"Essentially we need to make sure Australia is in a similar position as us. They aren't yet. New South Wales, Victoria... Victoria in particular are still seeing cases coming through.
"It will be a joint decision but we will set some parameters. We need to set up a framework and the Pacific are interested now as well. We need a framework that we can apply more broadly."
The requirements were not necessarily zero cases - the framework needed to accommodate the ongoing management of cases. If New Zealand had five cases at the border, for example, we would not want that counting against us - those cases would need to be quarantined.
"It's not a case of New Zealand sitting here and saying no to Australia. Australia are saying they are not ready yet either."
It was a matter for Australia whether a travel bubble with New Zealand was country-wide or individual states.
On the subject of Air New Zealand airfares not being refunded for cancelled flights, she said: "I do think Air New Zealand could have handled it better."
"We want to make sure customers are looked after and that means communication could most certainly have been vastly improved."
She acknowledged Air New Zealand's comments that they would be in a difficult financial position if they refunded all non-flexible fares. Instead the airline has given credits to many customers.
"They have also apologised for some of the management of the issue as well."
The government would look at whether it needed to bring consumer legislation in line with EU and US regulations, but this would not be retrospective.
She said she had no regrets of the past 10 weeks. "I would like to think the hard work of all New Zealanders apeak for themselves. We have done really well as a nation... we are not done yet."
She said the same amount of rigour that the country had spent on the health response would now be applied to the economy.
Meanwhile, Ardern told Hosking that a KiwiRail electrification project that had gone to offshore companies - to the anger of local firms Fletcher and Downer - would still be putting money in Kiwi workers' pockets.
One of the companies that had won the contract, McConnell Dowell, had been in New Zealand for 50 years. "It's going to be Kiwis on the job."
"Mike, you would be the first to annihilate me... we have an obligation to follow a proper tender process. We also have obligations to make sure we follow international trade obligations."
On the question of whether an ex-Russian spy - who was poisoned along with his daughter in Britain - was now in New Zealand, she said: "Whilst I am not going to confirm nor deny, I am going to say you shouldn't believe everything you read."

There are two drivers behind a rise in the number of people looking to invest during the lockdown.
It's been reported one online investment platform has seen a major uptake in activity.
Commission for Financial Capability managing editor Tom Hartmann told Mike Hosking one reason is people trying to invest their way out of the problem.
He says the second is savvier.
"People have been noticing that as prices on the markets have been very expensive and seeing them plummet like that, they decided to do what many investors do and jump in and try to get things on sale."
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A couple of new policies to dissect. The government's wage subsidy extension and change. And National's tourism funding.
First to National, they're onto something. It's practical stuff that encourages growth.
Their first policy under Simon Bridges allowed you to write off large spends, encouraging you to buy plant and machinery. It was costed, made sense, and was well-received, unlike the government's bank debt plan that went nowhere fast.
Then they came up with Muller's first policy. An incentive to hire, $10,000 per person hired. It's an encouragement, an incentive, leads to expansion and growth, and now tourism grants that are attached to growth, new ideas, and it’s a contestable fund decided upon by tourism experts not wonks in Wellington.
These are the solid, sensible, entrepreneurial ideas that will get National back in the election race. Because what it does is separate them out from the government, who are relying on debt and welfare to make you feel as though we will get through this economic mess in one piece.
That brings us to Friday's change to the wage subsidy scheme. The second tranche was going to require you to prove a 50 percent Covid-19 hit, now it's 40 percent. That brings in 40,000 businesses. This will be of relief, I personally know of several businesses it will directly affect. Those on the scheme already, and grateful for it. It did what it was supposed to do - keep jobs.
But 50 percent was going to be a stretch. Yes, they'd been hit but not that bad, so 40 percent they’ll probably scrape in.
But for how long are we paying wages with printed and borrowed money? And when there is a third tranche, and there will be, what level is it set at? Where is the line drawn? Especially given the economy will be well and truly open by then, where is the line between welfare and subsidy?
How long as a business do you get to rebuild under government help before someone goes, sadly, "you know what? You're not going to make it."  
And when that happens how much have we spent trying to save jobs that weren't saved? And those who had the jobs still get the wage subsidy, it's just called the Jobseeker Benefit.
That is the critical role of government going forward. Less welfare, more incentive to grow and go. Welfare is addictive, and if you want to be Machiavellian, that probably suits Labour perfectly. Their control over us is their utopia, hence the third tranche will take us to election day. But a day of reckoning is always coming, and when it does, it's ugly.
So National's "in” is to remind us we are actually an agile, hard-working, entrepreneurial country with people who like to forge their own path, not rely on welfare masquerading as subsidies.
Writing cheques using borrowed money is easy. And it's been useful and welcome, but it can't last. National recognise that, and now have policy to show it.
The government, though, not so keen to wean us off.

The lockdown protected cancer patients - but test delays are now threatening hundreds of them.
Doctors are racing to clear a backlog of tests after cancer cases dropped 47 per cent, with 1031 fewer registrations in April from a year ago.
Cancer Society medical director Dr Chris Jackson told Mike Hosking the focus has gone from shielding cancer patients from Covid-19 to treating them.
He says delaying cancer treatment over the next three months could result in 400 deaths.
"The thing is how do you recover now and look after people who's diagnoses were missed or delayed, and we have to do that relatively quickly."
Jackson says some cancers can be slowed down, but a six-week delay for other types can have a big impact on mortality.
"If you delay your diagnosis by up to three months for cancer, you do get an increase in deaths. It's different for different cancer types, if you model that out on average, that's about what you'd get, about 400 in the New Zealand population."

Local firms should come first.
This from New Zealand construction firms after missing out on a 371-million dollar government rail contract.
Three sources within the companies have told NZME they were unsuccessful in their joint bid for the Papakura to Pukekohe rail electrification contract in south Auckland.
It's understood the contract was given to Chinese and South African owned companies, costing Kiwi firms hundreds of jobs.
Specialist Trade Contractors Federation President Graham Burke told Mike Hosking the government should look for more than just the cheapest bidder.
"They do have to look at that bottom cost obviously, but as sub contractors, we definitely would prefer to see New Zealand businesses."
The competing New Zealand and overseas tenders were reportedly "very, very close" -- but cost played a determining factor.
One source within Fletchers says the team that worked on the tender is fuming that overseas firms have been awarded the contract.
The source says it would've saved many of the 1000 local jobs slashed late last month, in response to Covid-19 economic losses.

China is advising its citizens not to visit Australia, citing racial discrimination and violence against Asians, in what appears to be Beijing's latest attempt to punish the country for advocating an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic.
A notice issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism late Friday said there has "been an increase in words and deeds of racial discrimination and acts of violence against Chinese and Asians in Australia, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic."
"The ministry advises Chinese tourists to raise their safety awareness and avoid travelling to Australia," the notice said.
As part of its perceived retaliation, China has already effectively ended imports of Australian barley by putting tariffs of more than 80% on the crop, accusing Australia of breaching World Trade Organization rules by subsidizing barley production and selling the crop in China at below production costs. That came a week after China banned beef imports from Australia's four largest abattoirs over labelling issues.
Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham on Tuesday said the country did not want a trade war, but said China "has made errors of both fact and law" in applying WTO rules, adding that there was no evidence that Australia was engaged in dumping of products.
Australian has been among countries pushing for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and responses to it. Beijing has denied its measures against Australian beef and barley were related to those calls.
The World Health Organization has bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the virus, which was first found in China late last year. The evaluation would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the virus.
Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye's has told Australian media that the country might face a Chinese boycott of its tourism and exports of wine, beef and other goods if the government pressed for a coronavirus inquiry.
China is the No. 1 market for Australian beef, accounting for about 30% of exports. It's also the biggest foreign buyer of Australian barley.
Beijing has regularly used access to its huge market to punish governments from Norway to Canada in political disputes. Chinese officials routinely refuse to confirm a trade disruption is related to a political clash but make it clear Beijing wants concessions.
Meanwhile, the death of George Floyd has sparked significant protests across the United States, but it has also struck a chord with minorities protesting discrimination elsewhere, including demonstrators in Sydney and Brisbane who highlighted indigenous Australians who died in custody.
Indigenous Australians make up 2% of the country's adult population, but 27% of the prison population. They are also the most disadvantaged ethnic minority in Australia and have higher-than-average rates of infant mortality and poor health, as well as shorter life expectancies and lower levels of education and employment than other Australians.

Massive demonstrations against racism and police brutality filled some of the nation's most famous cityscapes Saturday, with tens of thousands of people marching peacefully in scenes that were more often festive than tense.
Wearing masks and urging fundamental change, protesters gathered in dozens of places from coast to coast while mourners in North Carolina waited for hours to glimpse the golden coffin carrying the body of native son George Floyd, the black man whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police has galvanized the expanding movement.
Collectively, it was perhaps the largest one-day mobilization since Floyd died 12 days ago and came as many cities began lifting curfews that authorities imposed following initial spasms of arson, assaults and smash-and-grab raids on businesses. Authorities have softened restrictions as the number of arrests plummeted.
Demonstrations also reached four other continents, ending in clashes in two European cities. In the U.S., Seattle police used flash bang devices and pepper spray to disperse protesters hurling rocks, bottles and explosives, just a day after city leaders temporarily banned one kind of tear gas.
The largest U.S. demonstration appeared to be in Washington, where protesters flooded streets closed to traffic. On a hot, humid day, they gathered at the Capitol, on the National Mall and in neighbourhoods. Some turned intersections into dance floors. Tents offered snacks and water.
Pamela Reynolds said she came seeking greater police accountability.
"The laws are protecting them," said the 37-year-old African American teacher. The changes she wants include a federal ban on police chokeholds and a requirement that officers wear body cameras.
At the White House, which was fortified with new fencing and extra security measures, chants and cheers could be heard in waves. President Donald Trump, who has urged authorities to crack down on unrest, downplayed the demonstration, tweeting: "Much smaller crowd in D.C. than anticipated."
Elsewhere, the backdrops included some of the nation's most famous landmarks. Peaceful marchers filed across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, where officers pulled back on enforcing a curfew that has led to confrontations. They walked the boulevards of Hollywood and a Nashville, Tennessee, street famous for country music-themed bars and restaurants.
They also gathered in places as far flung as a St. Louis suburb and cities in the Deep South.
Many wore masks — a reminder of the danger that the protests could exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus.
Roderick Sweeney, who is black, said he was overwhelmed to see the large turnout of white protesters waving signs that said "Black Lives Matter" in San Francisco.
"We've had discussions in our family and among friends that nothing is going to change until our white brothers and sisters voice their opinion," said Sweeney, 49. The large turnout of white protesters "is sending a powerful message."
In Philadelphia and Chicago, marchers chanted, carried signs and occasionally knelt in silence. At a massive showing near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its famous "Rocky" steps, protesters chanted "No justice, no peace!" before heading for City Hall.
Seattle police said on Twitter that several officers were injured by "improvised explosives" thrown by a crowd. Officers responded with pepper spray. Earlier, a large crowd of medical workers, many in lab coats and scrubs, marched to City Hall, holding signs reading, "Police violence and racism are a public health emergency" and "Nurses kneel with you, not on you" — a reference to how a white officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes.
Atop a parking garage in downtown Atlanta, a group of black college band alumni serenaded protesters with a tuba-heavy mix of tunes. Standing within earshot, business owner Leah Aforkor Quaye said it...

Making the most of our Covid-free status could open the way for New Zealand to host sports events such as the Six Nations rugby tournament.
The New Zealand Initiative  - a pro free-market think tank - is urging the Government to let in more athletes, film crews, and university students under a well-managed re-opening of our borders.
Chairman Roger Partridge told Mike Hosking there are many opportunities if we put in place proper quarantine systems.
"Why we don't fill up stadiums in regional New Zealand with the Heineken Cup or the European Championships, or perhaps we could even have Six Nations down under."
Partridge says spending by the new arrivals will help revive the economy.
He says there are limitless opportunities if we put in place proper quarantine systems.
"It's going to take more than Grant Robertson's cheque book to get the economy going. We've got to think strategically about the opportunities we've been presented with our new found Covid-free status."

A leading epidemiologist says shifting to alert level one would be a calculated risk.
Pressure's mounting on the Prime Minister to move us down from alert level two after 16 days with no new COVID-19 cases.
Professor Michael Baker told Mike Hosking it could be dangerous.
"We're going to have more of those high-risk events, social events in doors where we know the virus is transmitted.
"We're also moving into winter and we all face the risk of imported virus."
Baker says to keep the virus out, he'd suggest wider use of face masks, and doing more work on contact tracing technology.