The Mike Hosking Breakfast

A warning the government’s wage subsidy scheme isn’t providing enough job security.Researchers at think tank The New Zealand Initiative say the support scheme’s good in theory, but too many businesses are still having to lay off staff.The initiative’s Chief economist Dr Eric Crampton says the Government could look at Germany’s policy, where workers reduce hours and get a government top-up.He says instead of laying off 80-percent of...

The former frontman of Kiwi band Midnight Youth wants to share the experiences of New Zealanders through music.
Jeremy Redmore's encouraging people to submit their lockdown stories on his website over the next month, for him to write songs about.
He told Mike Hosking people want to hear dark and cheeky stories like those from the world war  and prohibition era.
Redmore says artists play a different role during these times in histo...

Australia will pass 3000 coronavirus cases today, as authorities in hardest-hit NSW warn the growing community transmission without a clear source is a “cause for concern”.

It comes after a horror 24 hours that saw four people die, three in Victoria and one in WA. There are now around 20 in intensive care in NSW alone, with fears ICUs could be overwhelmed within 10 days.
Australia now has just shy of 3000 coronavirus cases after NSW ...

Every Friday morning, Mike Hosking takes you through the big ticket items of the week and lets you know what he makes of it all.
New Zealand's Lockdown.
8/10.
"It's simple and relatively clear.
Let's take it seriously."
The Alert Levels.
4/10.
"Launched Saturday by the the Prime Minister in a kind of Jemima from play-school sort of way.
No sooner was it introduced, it miraculously got upped from level two to four.
Th...

A big data scientist's emphasising the key role the lockdown plays in reducing the spread of coronavirus.
Auckland University professor Shaun Hendy has co-authored a research paper suggesting up to 80,000 Kiwis could die without strict measures, like the lockdown.
He says it's not alarmist - but instead a realistic worst case scenario.
Hendy told Mike Hosking the lockdown gives us a really good chance of stamping coronavirus o...

Boosting our Covid testing regime is top of the priority list for leaders in the pandemic response.
Former Air New Zealand boss Rob Fyfe will work alongside Police Commissioner Mike Bush to liaise with the private sector in response to the pandemic.
Fyfe told Mike Hosking a first priority is increasing our testing capabilities, and having the correct infrastructure.
"It's critical that we have ventilator machines available in ...

New York authorities mobilized to head off a public health disaster Wednesday, with the city's emergence as the nation's biggest coronavirus hot spot a warning flare — and perhaps a cautionary tale — for the rest of the country as U.S. deaths from the pandemic topped 1,000.
A makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital, and the city's police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly em...

COMMENT:
Just because times are tight, unusual, unheard of, or worrying doesn't mean we have to lose our minds.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson is reported to be considering a universal income. In a different time, about two months ago, this would have been laughed out of the room. Universal incomes don't work, they've been proven to not work. Finland tried one, it flopped, and this was only in December last year.
A unive...

An Auckland man is facing charges after being pulled over twice as police start clamping down on people flouting coronavirus lockdown rules.
"The person was stopped last night and he was stopped the night before," Police Commissioner Mike Bush told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking. "He had no reason to be out there. That does show our people [are on to it].
"Unfortunately for him, he wasn't complying with a number o...

One health professional believes the lockdown will not, on its own, be enough to flatten the Covid-19 curve.
New Zealand entered lockdown around midnight last night with only essential services remaining open and people urged to stay home.
Epidemiologist Sir David Skegg told Mike Hosking he's optimistic the lockdown will help, but more needs to be done.
"Lockdowns on their own won't solve the problem. We've got to real...

Rural GPs are under immense pressure to keep up with patient demand.
The Rural General Practice Network is calling for Covid-19 testing stations to be set up immediately, to cater for not only locals, but also an influx of out-of-towners.
Chair Fiona Bolden told Mike Hosking people relocating to baches is just adding to the problem.
She says already the rural workforce is stretched trying to meet demand within their community.
Bolden s...

There are a number of ways businesses can find out if they're essential during the lockdown and whether people can get a wage subsidy.
The country entered a mass quarantine at midnight in a bid to rid the country of Covid-19.
Business New Zealand has had a lot of queries from companies that aren't sure if they can operate or not.
Chief executive Kirk Hope told Mike Hosking the organisation's set up advice lines and a text ...

I am pleased we are doing this the way we are. 
The questions up to this point about rules, exceptions, concepts, things to do, what's allowed, what's essential, what isn't, why not and so on have reached peak idiocy. 
Once again it’s the western way of viewing the world. Why follow simple instructions if you can ask 1000 inane questions, that could fairly easily be answered if you applied a bit of common sense? It's ...

People shouldn't have many issues with their internet or phone lines, as the lockdown period begins.
Telecommunications providers experienced call volumes beyond any level ever seen in New Zealand when the Prime Minister announced the country would move to Alert Level four.
Telecommunications Forum Chief Executive Geoff Thorn told Mike Hosking they can handle extra demand.
He says there was huge investment in the networks around...

Police Commissioner Mike Bush says his staff have encountered people who say "they are not even aware" of New Zealand's lockdown status.
He assured Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning they had made the comments with a straight face.
But he was sure most New Zealanders would obey the rules.
When asked how police would enforce the rules and make sure those out and about were out for a good reason, he said police offi...

The Revenue Minister says workers shouldn’t be forced to take leave without pay – as businesses close for the Covid-19 lockdown.
Only essential services will be open from midnight.
The wage subsidy is being offered to businesses who suffer a 30 percent loss - so they can continue to pay their workers.
But National MP Mark Mitchell says that won’t cover a construction worker at Waikeria Prison who’s deemed essential - but has a wife wi...