Ainslie Allen is another taking advantage of the country music renaissance in this country.

She, like so many, first started getting attention from the Smokefree Rockquest and appearing in the McDonald’s young entertainers show when she was 16.

Allen released her debut EP in 2013 - and has gone on to win NZ Country Music Entertainer of the year and was a seven-time finalist for the Gold Guitar awards.

Now - she has released her debut album, Betty and is about to go on a nationwide tour.

Ainslie Allen joined Mike Hosking.

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Communism has finally arrived and it's lobbed into Countdown.

Or New World or Pak'nSave.

Anyway, your can of beans will now be priced by David Clark.

I am assuming suppliers will be happy. Under the Government's threat yesterday, and that’s all you can call it, supermarkets have to cut a deal with anyone and everyone at commercial rates.

What's a commercial rate? Well, once upon a time in a free and open country that was an arrangement between a person selling something to a person buying something.

Under the Labour regime, if they don’t like that arrangement they will step in and tell you what the commercial rate is.

The irony of this is the Commerce Commission, who was told to step into the supermarket market and have a snoop about, didn’t recommend this step.

Why not? Because they are not communists and saw in their usual way that the market wasn’t perfect but it certainly didn’t need a regulatory sledge hammer.

So the obvious question is - if you were going to regulate or threaten to regulate why ask the Commerce Commission to waste everyone's time?

Unless, of course in the usual Machiavellian way in which this Government operates, they were hoping the Commerce Commission would make the recommendation so they could then blame them for the move they wanted to make all along.

But, and here is the next irony, will that mean we end up with way cheaper groceries?

No.

And that's because a wholesale arrangement isn't a retail price.

If the wholesale arrangement, whether completed by mutual agreement or David Clark sticking his nose in, encourages new players to the market, it doesn’t mean the new player automatically prices their goods a mile below everyone else.

If Countdown prices beans at $3.49 and you want to beat that you might price them at $3.39. You might be able to price them at $2.79 but why would you when you don’t have to?

There is already competition in food and lots of it. The idea this is all a massive rort on the supermarkets part is the commentary of the Government, not the reality of the market.

If you think a Government that can't build houses, build light rail, deliver health services or be open, honest and transparent can sort your grocery bill - and this is the same bloke who cocked up the CCCFA and is now sorting your flour and biscuits - then you need to wake up.

You're being had.

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A big day for rally fans in New Zealand, with the official opening of the Jack’s Ridge Haunui stage in Whitford, Auckland.

It's a significant milestone to have even got this far, as the rally returns to country for the first time in 10 years this September.

Peter Johnston is the chair of Rally NZ and joined Mike Hosking.

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New fears that the Government's cost cutting on recruiting staff for public sector could lead to an already hopeless and unstaffed workforce.

The Government is requiring a further 3,423 staff to fulfil their budget commitments, but now want to charge recruiters the same price for filling a low-skilled position as a high-skilled position.

Jon Ives is the CEO at OneStaff and Chairperson of the RCSA NZ Council and joined Mike Hosking.

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Putting kids in state care appears to be, in many cases, setting them on a pathway to crime.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry report has found a third of children in institutions between 1950 and 1999 served a prison sentence later on in life.

Māori children and young people were even more likely to end up in prison, at 42 percent.

Criminal justice advocate Sir Kim Workman told Mike Hosking if the State wants to change things, it has to start a lot earlier.

He says they need to identify families and bring in support for them, to ensure their kids don't end up in the system.

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Stacks of cash will be required to create competition against the supermarket duopoly.

The Government is requiring Countdown and Foodstuffs to provide competitors with fair access to their products on wholesale terms.

Supie online supermarket founder, Sarah Balle, says meaningful competition will only happen when other supermarket players get bigger.

She told Mike Hosking for this to occur, consumers need to change where they shop, and competitors need huge capital.

Balle says there's yet to be someone with deep enough pockets to take on the billion-dollar supermarkets.

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The Kiwi soldier killed in Ukraine has been described by a fellow soldier as "strong, hardcore and handsome" - but "anything but scenery".

The Herald understands the fallen soldier is Dominic Abelen, who was based at Burnham Military Camp in Christchurch with the Royal NZ Infantry Regiment's 2/1 Battalion.

Abelen, who was on a period of leave without pay at the time, was not on active duty with the NZDF.

"At this early stage, there is still more information to be gathered in order to understand the circumstances fully," the New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement. "The New Zealand Army will work closely with the family of the soldier to offer support at this deeply sad time."

One former NZDF soldier fighting with Ukraine's International Legion has paid tribute to the fallen comrade.

"The bro was anything but scenery. Strong, hardcore, handsome but extremely humble," he wrote online. Best believe he died doing what he loved and was extremely good at.

"We will miss you brother. So much. You have left a hole that we are feeling and we could never hope to ever fill."

The soldier's family, when approached by the Herald last night, declined to comment.

Private Dominic Abelen kneels behind a barricade while engaging targets at Range 218, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton CA United States 2013 during Dawn Blitz. Photo / Cpl. Joseph Scanlan

Defence Minister Peeni Henare expressed his condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the Kiwi soldier.

"I have been advised the New Zealand Army are supporting the soldier's family through this difficult time," he said.

The Herald understands relevant ministers have been briefed but details were scant.

Former New Zealand Defence force commanding officer Tenby Powell, who is in Ukraine undertaking humanitarian work, said he had been asked by the family of the dead soldier to bring him back to New Zealand.

While he was not willing to go into details about the circumstances of the soldier's death he told Today FM the family were distraught.

"It's a very sad day here in Ukraine, not just for New Zealanders but for everyone."

He said he had been asked to bring him home and he felt honoured to do that, breaking down in tears midway through his sentence.

"I've talked to a family member they have asked me and I have agreed to go and get him. We need to do this in a very respectful and expedient manner. I have given the family my assurances that he will be well looked after all the way back.

"The critically-important thing is to ensure that he is recovered and brought back in a way where he is looked after for the entire trip back to New Zealand."

He intended to drape the coffin in a New Zealand flag for the trip home and make sure the soldier had all the care a person serving in the defence force warranted.

The soldier would be taken initially through Warsaw, then Ukraine and back to New Zealand.

"We are determined to bring him out. He will come out and he will be looked after all the way."

August is always a tough month for many serving and former members of the Defence Force.

The "Battle of Baghak", a Taliban ambush near Dahane Baghak in the Shikari Valley of Bamyan Province on August 4, 2012, was New Zealand's bloodiest battle since Vietnam.

Lance Corporals Rory Patrick Malone and Pralli Durrer, both aged 26, were killed in the fierce shoot-out north of their Kiwi base, while six comrades were wounded.

Two weeks later, on August 19, 2012, Crib 20 deployment comrades Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, and Private Richard Harris, 21, died when their Humvee hit a 20kg roadside improvised explosive device.

Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell was first of 10 Kiwis killed in Afghanistan, when on August 3, 2010, while serving as part of New Zealand's provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan province in Afghanistan, he was killed in an attack.

SAS soldier corporal Douglas "Duggy" Grant died in a firefight with Taliban insurgents as he tried to rescue civilians following an attack on the British Council building in Kabul on August 19, 2011.

The war in Ukraine has raged for six months since Russia invaded the Eastern European country.

Most of the Russian and Ukrainian forces are conсentrated in the Donbas, the industrial region of mines and factories in the nation's east. Ukraine has vowed to drive the Russians from the territory they have seized since the start of the invasion.

According to Ukraine's honorary consul in Auckland, more than 500 Kiwis had volunteered to fight in Ukraine despite official warnings not to join the war.

It's believed about 20 Kiwis had remained in Ukraine after Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta's warning in February to "leave immediately".

Kiwi doctor Jenny Beesley, who the Herald interviewed in the war-torn country's capital Kyiv, was one who joined the war effort.

The 39-year-old had trained as a fighter jet pilot with the Royal Air Force and joined the Number One International Company, a combat unit bringing together international volunteers and Ukrainians.

She spoke of her deployment to the Donbas region, firefights with Russian troops and coming under attack from enemy tanks and helicopters.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a further 120 NZDF personnel would be deployed to the United Kingdom to help train Ukraine soldiers to fight against Russian forces.

It adds to the 30 personnel sent over in May to train Ukrainian military personnel in operating artillery and the more than $40 million provided in financial support.

"New Zealand has been clear that we will continue to answer the call of Ukraine for practical support as they defend their homeland and people against Russia's unjustified invasion," Ardern said.

Two NZDF infantry training teams will teach Ukrainian personnel frontline combat, including weapon handling, combat first aid, operational law and other skills.

Henare said at the time of the announcement that no active NZDF member would enter Ukraine.

Across February and March, after the war began, the NZ Government announced several million dollars would be provided to the United Nations' Ukraine Humanitarian Fund and the UN Refugee Agency.

Ukrainian soldiers ride a tank through the town of Trostsyanets in Ukraine. Photo / AP

Later in March, $5m of non-lethal military assistance was sent to Ukrainian forces, which consisted of body armour plates, helmets and camouflage vests/harness webbing.

In April, the Government deployed a Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130H Hercules transport aircraft and 50 support personnel to Europe for two months, along with another $13m of military, humanitarian and legal support.

A separate eight-person NZDF team of logistic specialists were also sent over to support the international donor coordination centre in Germany with the flow of aid and supplies to Ukraine.

In May, up to 30 NZDF personnel were deployed to the United Kingdom to help train Ukrainian military personnel in operating light artillery.

In June, another $4.5m was allocated to provide additional non-lethal equipment and supplies such as medical kits for the Ukrainian Army.

- Kurt Bayer, NZ Herald

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Doubts are being raised over whether Trevor Mallard's past behaviour warrants a diplomatic posting.

National's Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking he's unsure Mallard's record makes him a good representative of the country.

He says there are a lot of people working for MFAT who would make extraordinary ambassadors for New Zealand that have never hit someone or falsely accused an employee of rape.

But Labour's Megan Woods says three of the last five Speakers have gone on to diplomatic positions.

And she told Hosking Mallard's proven himself to have the credentials.

Woods says no one's ever raised any concerns about him having the skillset to host delegations and he's been a Member of Parliament for 35 years, holding 13 ministerial portfolios.

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Further insights into the property market from economist Tony Alexander.

His mortgage adviser survey showed first home buyers are coming back into the market.

In fact, a net 8 percent of advisers surveyed are seeing an uptick in interest from first home buyers.

In another report with Crockers on investors found those looking to increase rents is still dropping, interests in new builds continue to fall away, and concerns over interest rates are abating.

Tony Alexander joined Mike Hosking.

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Actions, as it turns out, do speak louder than words.

Last week's poll around our view of Covid is backed up by; 1) another poll and 2) more importantly, real life.

Last week's poll had 65 percent of us wanting all restrictions gone. That's a fairly large majority.

This week's poll has fewer and fewer of us adhering to the so called rules.

Those willing to use a mask - down 11 points.

Those willing to isolate - down 12.

RAT use down three and reporting a rat result is down 27 percent.

People see this for what it is and are acting accordingly, but in the real world it's even starker.

I went to the mall and I hardly ever go to the mall. No one, and I mean no one, in the mall was wearing a mask and I felt reassured about that.

Polls and stats are one thing but the real world is another. In the shop itself inside the mall, the ratio went up. Now this is a bit of grandmother research but roughly it went up by about a third of people wearing a mask.

But you can easily say the majority weren't wearing one and this was a major department store.

All the staff had them on but very few of the customers which made me even more reassured.

Having started what was clearly a research project into mask wearing, I monitored use on the way home.

It seems we are in camps. Because once outside, hardly anyone was wearing a mask, but those who left the shop and left the mall kept their masks on - i.e. they wore them all the time.

And in wandering down the street you see them; a combination of the full mask wearer and the half mask wearer. You know, the one that still has it on despite the fact it has slipped down and doesn’t work.

Now, I am not anti-mask, if you want to wear a mask wear one.

But I am a realist and Covid is no longer a ‘thing’.

It’s a virus we might catch like a cold or the flu. We have at last, thank God, got to that point. It is clear the rules are no longer being followed; the surveys show it and the real world shows it even more.

The Government of course should have read all of this. We have left them behind and I assume at sometime between now and Christmas they’ll read their own survey and work this out.

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