The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The US Government shutdown has reached 32 days, 3 days away from the longest in history.  President Donald Trump seems to be on-track to break his own record after the shutdown in late 2018 which lasted 35 days.  US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that the shutdown is affecting US public services.  'More and more air traffic controllers are staying off work since they're not being paid.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's turning to rapid off-site building, to add 140 extra beds to hospitals around the country. It's announced new wards will be constructed off-site for Middlemore, Waikato, Wellington and Nelson hospitals next year.  They'll open at the same time as an already-announced new ward at Hawke’s Bay Hospital. Health New Zealand's Head of Infrastructure Delivery Blake Lepper, told Mike Hosking that the budget has allowed them to get one extra unit than what they were expecting. He says they're ordering buildings that can be sent to wherever the highest needs are around the country. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tell me how Broadcasting Minister Paul Goldsmith is going to sort the unsortable? The Broadcasting Standards Authority has, deliberately or not, opened a box of whoopee that is playing out all over the world in various forms. In simple terms regulators are trying to work out how to control tech. The problem with regulators is their jurisdiction is limited. The problem with tech is there is no border. The same way a Government isn't going to charge a tech company for nicking news and putting it on their websites, a broadcasting watchdog is not going to control Joe Rogan. The Prime Minister has already worked this out and said so Monday. But then the Broadcasting Minister, in that ponderous sort of surprise-ladened fashion that is unique to Goldsmith, started wondering out loud why the Herald NOW stream wasn’t regulated while breakfast television was. That of course is the simple version of the problem. You are only dealing with the difference in transmission mode - terrestrial vs the internet. Next issue - if you are regulating the internet, what internet? Where does it stop and start? Local streaming? What is local streaming? If you are protecting an audience, surely you have to protect them universally? And yet you can't. Even if Goldsmith argues the line that things that look like radio or look like TV are captured, what if the radio consumed in New Zealand originates in London? Next problem - if you regulate the internet, where does that stop and start? Does a podcast look like radio? What about short form vs long form? What about local content on TikTok and, if so, why not all content on TikTok. Answer: because you can't. And if you can't, how is it fair to regulate my TikTok but not Piers Morgan's? Talk about a horse and bolting. Governments look old world. They look “AM” in an "FM" world. They look like they are trying to save letters from the internet. They look like control freaks who don’t know how to save their powers. Rightly or wrongly making me adhere to rules while every half-baked weirdo on the net gets to say whatever they like is the cold, hard reality of the here and now. Save yourself the time and the headache and give it up. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a group that normally seems to nail ideas and present them well, the New Zealand Initiative this week went off-piste with their "MMP After 30 Years" report.   Smaller cabinet - good idea. Get rid of the overhang - good idea! But more MP's? What on Earth are they thinking? The main point they make is that it has provided a fairer, more representative Parliament and I think, even for those of us that didn’t vote for MMP, we pretty much would all need to conceed that. The question I would have is, is that what we actually want? The base level argument over representation is, do some of the lesser lights represent a sector of lesser lights in the wider community? If the community has got its collection of halfwits and buffoons, do we want a slice of that in the nation's Parliament because that is a version of representation? I would argue no. I would argue that I'd far rather have a selection of highly qualified, dedicated, hard-working professionals. But if a cross section is what we voted for, then a cross section is what we have received. The great fraud of MMP has been the oft-used line by people like the Green's Rod Donald that the tail would not wag the dog. The tail has most certainly wagged the dog, many times over. If the circumstances are right, and they have been more than once, a very small percentage of the vote can wield an astonishing and destructive amount of power. Then of course if we are marking 30 years, we can also relitigate the issue of knowledge at the time. MMP won not because it was better, or the best, but because MMP had the best run anti-FPP campaign and too many New Zealanders couldn’t be bothered educating themselves about the alternatives. So MMP had the biggest headlines and enough people were fed up with Muldoon and Lange and scraps and bulldozing Governments so they threw out the current, in the hope the new was better. We will not change the system again. Those days are gone and I doubt we will ever even tinker with it. But if we do, more MP's will not be top of our wishlist.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Friday, which means Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back with Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week that Was.   They discussed the difficulties of men's white shirts being uncomfortably revealing, and producer Glenn celebrates 30 years with the company. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday the 31st of October, Fonterra Chair Miles Hurrell on the sale of their consumer business. All Black Ethan de Groot joins ahead of the Sunday morning game against Ireland in Chicago. Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson make fun of Mike - and celebrate Technical Producer Glenn Hart's 30th anniversary on Newstalk ZB. Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee 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. Bill Gates: 8/10 When a disciple of the cause hits pause because he has worked out the hysteria outweighs the reality, he is to be congratulated. Chris Hipkins: 2/10 Sell a tax if you want. But the attack on the Prime Minister and houses is what these guys are really all about - they hate success. The All Blacks: 7/10 Ironically the biggest test is the first. I'm saying 4 from 4 and Merry Christmas. Fonterra: 8/10 A great week to be a dairy farmer and a great week to be a country with dairy farmers. Noeline Taurua: 8/10 The right call got made eventually, but... The Noeline saga: 1/10 We still don’t understand what happened, why it's happened and why it got handled the way it did. LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEWSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a big weekend ahead on the motorsport front at Hampton Downs. It's the second edition of the 'Nextgen' NZ championship - designed to reinvent the national racing calendar. The series features race categories that have previously showcased the likes of Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Matt Payne and Liam Lawson. Founder of National Racing Group Promotions Tony Quinn says that this championship is something he is fully engrossed in.  'I don't get to see the impact of the change, because I see the change happening week to week.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New data has been released on 'farm sales' across the country. The real estate institute highlighted confidence in the primary sector - with buyers focusing on 'infrastructure and productivity.' Waikato topped dairy sales for the year ending in September - up 18% to a total of 59% - followed by Southland, up 110% with 40 sales.  REINZ Director and Rural Spokesperson Shane O'Brien told Mike Hosking that although dairy is front-and-centre of kiwi farming, other sectors are benefiting as well. 'we're seeing some good activity and rebound in the market and the horticultural sector.'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The final charter for the Kiwifruit season has set sail.  This is Zespri's 60th vessel for the year to 50 different markets.  This season's crop has broken records, with 215 million trays weighing in at 770,000 tonnes. There's also been a significant growth in US and European markets.  Chief Executive of New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Colin Bond says that, 'those growers are going to receive more value per trade than they ever have before.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.