The Mike Hosking Breakfast

I am sad to report that Winston Peters is wrong. His thinking that the Pacific favours friendship has been proven naive. As I have always said, chequebooks win and we don’t have a chequebook and even his goodwill gesture in 2017, when he lined up along side Labour and handed out a billion dollars, has proven woefully short. The Chinese have shown over the weekend that the world is changing, and in a dramatic way, and we haven't even mentioned the word Trump yet. The Cooks deal is about mining the seabed. It's about things at great depth in the ocean that are worth a fortune. In the meantime the Chinese navy has arrived locally and we are busy diverting planes while having no idea why they have done what they have done. The best reasoning I have seen so far is from Mick Ryan, who appears on this show periodically. He is ex-military and a great thinker and is deeply worried. If he is, we all should be. His theory is the Chinese are reminding Australia that you might want to stay local instead of wandering off and doing your exercises in places like, oh, I don’t know, Taiwan? If you don’t know what's coming and when, staying local makes sense. They are sending a message.  Is it legal? Yes. It's international waters so it's international law and nothing has been broken, apart from the fact they are rude by not letting anyone know.  But then that's the point. There is also a sense that some sort of picking of sides is coming i.e AUKUS or no AUKUS.  We might like to think about that as well. We might also like to look at our defence forces and wonder, yet again, if we have tried our luck just a little too long and what's left of what we have, might need a bit more dough spent on it. But, as for the Pacific, Mark Brown will say nice things. But money talks and it has talked.  The Pacific generally are being, or have been, bought off by Chinese money, whether its security like the Solomons or mining like the Cooks.  Friendship doesn’t solve any of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Monday 24 February. 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 Pope is in critical condition as he now battles kidney failure.  On Saturday the Vatican announced he was suffering from a prolonged respiratory crisis, and he has since been receiving constant oxygen. Rome Correspondent Jo Mckenna joins the show for an update on the Pope's condition.  LISTEN ABOVE.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The German Conservative party has been elected, securing the largest part in the next German parliament.  The party received nearly 30% of the vote.  The Far-right party has come second.  Co-founder and director of the Global Public Policy Institute Thorsten Benner discusses the details of the election with Mike Hosking.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is welcoming more foreign investment to New Zealand businesses by amending the Overseas Investment Act. The Associate Finance Minister David Seymour talks to Mike Hosking about the announcement, why it took as long as it did, how much money is coming into the country, and the sectors excluded from the reform.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police have a target of answering 70% of non-emergency calls within 90 seconds, but they're at 17%. The average wait time is 6 minutes and 36 seconds.  They now have a new focus: customer satisfaction.   Police director of Service Superintendent Blair Macdonald talks to Mike Hosking.  LISTE ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NATO leaders are on their way to the United States this week.  French President Emmanuel Macron will arrive in Washington tomorrow, followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.  Meanwhile, Elon Musk's "5 Things" deadline is up tomorrow, leaving federal workers jobs on the line.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold joins the show.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three Chinese warships have been docked off the coast of Sydney since last week, and they have since been seen carrying out a live weapons drill.  Commercial flights had to be diverted as a result of the exercise, with pilots being told to avoid the area.  Should New Zealand be worried?  Defence Minister Judith Collins talk to Mike Hosking about China's presence in the Pacific.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spark has lost $1 billion in market value, a result that was greeted with shock by investors. Sky TV also reflected a tough economy, while Fonterra jumped after lifting earnings forecasts.  Crossing the Tasman, an American real estate giant has launched a A$2.6B bid for Australian real estate portal domain.  Greg Smith of Devon Funds Management talks to Mike Hosking about the outcomes.  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.    Super Rugby: 7/10  Good start, good rugby, no one knows who is going to win and the crowds were okay.    Jannik Sinner and tennis: 3/10  For a sport that I assumed didn’t want to look shonky, it's got a very WWE vibe about it these days.    Farmers: 9/10  At over $10 in dairy and regulation driven by reality, not fairy tales, it's no wonder they are feeling good.    Bootcamps: 6/10  The report spoke well of the pilot. Pity the media didn’t cover more of the report, as opposed to the Labour Party pile on.    Debbie from the Māori Party: 1/10  When you are that detached from the world in which you are allegedly serving, and on holiday while you're displaying your ignorance, you've got to wonder. Mind you, as Rawiri Waititi so eloquently, and yet incorrectly, put it, it could be a hatch job.    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.