The Mike Hosking Breakfast

I was very sad to hear of the passing of Bob Jones - Sir Robert Jones. The last contact I had with him was last year when he sent me a copy of his latest book. They always came with a personal note. When I say personal, it was a letter that he would have dictated and had typed up and then signed himself. He was from a different era of sorts. I never received an email from him, only letters. The last time I dealt with him in person was in his office in Wellington overlooking the harbour. That too was from an “era”  - beautifully set up, but in a time-and-place kind of way. It was a lot of panelling, a lot of staff, his office was large and on a corner, and he smoked. That became a thing in the Helen Clark days when she was busy making rules around smoking in doors. Bob was having none of it because in his office he was the boss, if not the king. So last time I was in his office we had wine and sat amongst the swirling tobacco smoke coming out of his pipe. The art work was worth the trip alone. He had fantastic taste and a fantastic collection. He also had one of the best brains you will ever encounter. What was often lost by many in the barrage of cantankerous verbiage was the amount of knowledge and wisdom he had gleaned from a lifetime of reading and travel. There wasn’t a place he hadn't been. He had more stories than you ever had time to hear, or he had time to tell. I noted a small irony on Friday night when I watched TV1 and their coverage. They made much of the Rod Vaughn helicopter encounter, the irony being no one these days hires a chopper to go looking for a fisherman. And Three reflected the modern malaise as his passing was the second story behind the weather, even though the weather was the day before's news. It showed a lack of understanding of who Jones was and what he contributed to the country. That’s the problem with modern newsrooms - the institutional knowledge had left the building. From business, to politics, to public discourse, Jones was an invaluable addition to the national psyche. Unafraid, bold, brilliant with the language and fantastically funny because he was fantastically irreverent, even when irreverence was wildly more tolerated than it is these days. It was a great life. And he was a great man.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese's lead the Australian Labor Party to a back-to-back run in Government.  Peter Dutton has lost his seat as well as losing the election, making him the first federal opposition leader to do so.  Australian Correspondent Steve Price talks all things election with Mike Hosking.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday the 5th of May, we're spending $2b on helicopters for the defence force. Is that expensive? Or just the cost of defence these days? The Prime Minister is in to talk whether we have too many portfolios and ministers and if we've gone too skint for the Budget. Andrew Saville and Jason Pine cover the beginning of the latest F1 race, the Warriors and Steven Adams big contribution so far in the NBA playoffs. Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's launching a new tool to give parents greater access to what their children are learning at school.  Education Minister Erica Stanford introduced the 'Parent Portal', yesterday, designed to provide a "clear, easy-to-understand year-by-year guide" to topics in English and maths.  More subjects will be added as the Government continues its curriculum refresh.  Secondary Principals Association president Vaughan Couillault talks to Mike Hosking about the initiative.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Organised crime groups are using mainstream resale platforms like Facebook Marketplace for the sale of tobacco.  Research shows up to 25 percent of all cigarettes in New Zealand are sourced illegally.  Auckland University Public Health Professor Chris Bullen says he doesn't believe the data is that high, but rather sitting somewhere between five and 10 percent.  He says selling online is an issue, however.  "They're using these platforms now to advertise quite brazenly products, but they're tricky because they keep changing what they're calling them."  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government will spend $12 billion on defence spending. Two billion of that will be allocated to helicopters and deployment. Defence Minister Wayne Mapp talks to Mike Hosking about the budget. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a busy week for politics around the world - with elections taking place in Australia, Singapore and the UK.  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's lead the Labor Party to a triumphant win, securing a majority Government.  Sky News Correspondent Laura Jayes talks to Mike Hosking about the election, what went wrong for Peter Dutton and how the Greens performed.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Non-farm payrolls - a monthly statistic released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows concerns over the Trump administrations policy blitz.  In April 177,000 jobs were added to the US economy and unemployment rates are stable at 4.2 percent.  But business and consumer surveys are still sending warning signals. Andrew Kelleher of JMI breaks down the data with Mike Hosking.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A revealing interview has taken place between US President Donald Trump and broadcaster NBC.  He made headlines when talking about contentious issues such as the economy, immigration and the potential of seeing through a third-term.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold talks to Mike Hosking about the interview.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think I'm encouraged by the numbers of submissions into the Covid inquiry.  This is Covid inquiry part two.  The second part is to try and rectify the stitch up that was Covid part one from the previous Government, who were determined to set criteria that would not expose the true damage they wrought upon most of us.  31,000 have had their say this time. It is pointed out they came from all ages, all locations and were both positive as well as negative.  Given Health NZ submitted on whether Wanaka should have a McDonalds, do not underestimate the establishment's ability to spend an indecent amount of time and money in putting a best-case scenario forward in a butt-covering exercise.  This part of the inquiry looks into masks and mandates, vaccines and lockdowns, and 31,000 submissions tells me we are still very much exercised about the historic nature of the event and our keenness to try and come up with something that sees nothing like a repeat of the last exercise.  I note the other day poor, old Chris Hipkins still tries to walk that very fine line between admitting they were in charge of a balls up and pretending it went mostly well.  He is in an unwinnable place. As the last sap left standing, given Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson are long gone, he has the sorry task of defending what really were some astonishingly poor decisions.  But that doesn’t mean the inquiry will come up with answers.  Answers such as will a pandemic be the same, or similar, or not similar at all? What sort of Government will be in? Will that Government be competent or experienced? What roll will the public service play?  Will epidemiologists become household names again?  Will New Zealanders sink into a myopic funk again waiting for a leader to tell them what sort of stuffed animal to put in the window?  What made last time so bad was the control, and out of the control, followed the anger and fear.  I'm not sure an inquiry can dictate answers or solutions around emotion.  But 31,000 submissions tells you the emotion is still very, very real.  At least in putting the second part of the inquiry on, we attempt to recognise how profound those dark and troubled days really were. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.