The Mike Hosking Breakfast

When I spoke to Jeffrey Archer last year, he didn’t look anything other than what he has always looked like – vibrant, well, and full of good vigour.
So his death is a shock.
He looked like a very good 86-year-old. Or 85-year-old, as he was when I talked to him. I also talked to him a couple of years earlier when we were in London for the coronation.
We got on well. He was one of those guests that over the years you lost count of how many times you had talked to them.
One of the great joys of having been around a while is you get to talk to most of them. But the downside of having been around a while, is eventually they will start to pass.
I wasn’t expecting Archer to go at mid 80s. That was a bloke who had a purpose, who was still working daily, who was still in demand in books, who was still revelling in life and had more cricket stories to tell.
I met him in Christchurch when he was on a book tour. Side note, that's perhaps one of the sadder changes in modern communication.
Authors don’t really need to tour any more. They can turn on the WhatsApp or sit on the Zoom.
Ironically, and perhaps a small regret on my part in London in 2023 for the coronation, I was due to go to his famed apartment overlooking the Thames, but had to cancel and do it from the studio because of timing and coronation traffic.
On my first meeting in Christchurch after the interview, I was doing mornings, he said, "let's go to lunch". So down Kilmore we walked, turned into Durham and sat down at a place I can't remember, other than it was well established.
And we had soup. I had soup because he had soup. And because in the early 90s I was about 25-years-old and Archer was a rockstar and I wasn’t sure why I was at lunch with Jeffrey Archer.
But the stories! Lunch went on, not because of more soup or a lot of wine, but because the stories didn’t stop. In terms of regale and laughter, it's a tie between lunch with Archer and dinner with Bob Hawke. Both were world class at stories.
And once you meet the connection for life is made and so it was with Jeffrey Archer. Too many interviews to count, but every one a joy. If you're energised by bright, successful people Archer was your man.
He was brilliant. He will be missed.
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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.

The campaign: 7/10
It feels real at last. The first debate, the volley of policy, the rolling coverage; a country engaged in democracy is a very fine thing.

The first leader's debate: 5/10
These things no longer work. They produce little, if anything. The world has changed, our consumption of news has changed. These need to change too.

Jaguar: 8/10
In a world of design blandness, they will not die wondering. The Type 01 is either exceptional, or the end.

Cocaine: 3/10
Most sobering, if not depressing, news of the week. Our use is third world. We are embarrassing.

Zombie Towns: 7/10
It’s a NZ On Air mini-series made by economist Shamubeel Eaqub. Places like Balclutha and Tokoroa, it's an educational watch and reminded me not everything NZ On Air funds is wasted.

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Trademark law is in the spotlight with a couple of key cases making the news.
British Car Manufacturer McLaren has applied to trademark the Auckland suburbs of Remuera and Muriwai – potentially for their first SUV.
And NZ Rugby has taken legal action to stop Papua New Guinea's new NRL franchise from using the 'Chiefs' name.
Intellectual Property Lawyer Rick Shera told Mike Hosking that while it's unlikely there'd be confusion between New Zealand's Chiefs and Papua New Guinea's, trademark law isn't based on confusion, it's based on distinction.
He says that even if NZR was sympathetic to the PNG club, they have to defend their trademark or they risk losing it later down the line.
With the McLaren case, securing those trademarks within New Zealand would likely be a challenge, Shera told Hosking, but not overseas.
He says trademarks are jurisdictional, so as long as there's no Remuera SUV mark, car mark, or vehicle mark in the UK, they'll probably be fine.
Shera says their bigger issue would be the fact that they're Māori names, which could cause controversy.
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The former Venezuelan President and his wife are facing new charges from the US for conspiracy to commit torture.
Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores, originally facing weapon and drug charges, now face allegations of human rights abuses.
The pair have been in a New York prison since January after US forces seized them from their Caracas home.
US Correspondent Nick Harper told Mike Hosking the US claims the torture was to suppress political opposition and maintain control.
He understands the torture included electrical shocks, prolonged isolation, and starvation, used on both opponents and about a dozen US citizens.
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Week two of this campaign of 2026 – is it close? They say so.
But then one poll had Labour at 23%, and another poll had them at 29%. That's how bad polling has become, so who would know?
It might be as simple as what happens with the Opportunity Party – if they're in, the Government is out. If they aren't, the Government are back.
Or it could be one of those "hold your nose" votes where a lot of the people go, "I'm no Luxon fan but I'm sticking with what I know". My suspicion is that’s how it will play out.
But as for the actual campaign, if it was a contest of campaign performance alone, so far ACT would be winning.
They don’t get the same coverage as National and Labour, but I have watched a lot of it. A lot of it is streamed these days. If you really want to inform yourself there is a tremendous amount of material to be consumed.
It's hard to overstate the Paul Henry factor. Online and in halls he is by any measure a political rockstar.
In a world where politicians would sell their mother for attention, Henry packs halls and entertains the crowd. The fact many are there for a gawk doesn’t matter. For an hour before the selfie, he has your attention.
Online he is a one-man commentary blitzkrieg, and often funny with it.
Seymour, who by the way is still leader, is disciplined and this is why they win the campaign so far. They look the most like you would expect them to look.
Labour look like National. That fiscal plan must have killed them, given it doesn’t add up.
But they were desperate to be seen as not nuts. The income test, for example, for parents of young unemployed; it's a classic Tory policy but Labour won't reverse it. Gang patch policy? They won't reverse it.
They are National-lite.
Which brings us to National. A 47 point small business policy after three years in Government – are you serious?
The leader stumbles over a question about billionaires – are you serious?
They are so afraid of offending anyone that they're frozen stiff in a state of boring.
They don’t look like winners, they look like pleaders.
NZ First need better cut through. I saw Winston in a double-breasted suit in a mall. If he had had Meta glasses, it would have been the full creepathon.
Anyway, two weeks in, four to go.
This week's prediction: the Government return by a whisker. ACT are rolling nicely and the polls are all over the shop.
Shout out to Hipkins who, although starting late, looks to this point, on point. And at last, the whole thing feels like we have woken up and started paying attention.
It's all on.
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