The Mike Hosking Breakfast

In the end, was this a “to do” about nothing?
The social media ban for under 16s is a global bandwagon that we were already late to.
And by the time it arrived on Monday, it turns out the party that wrote it didn't have the numbers.
Of a three-party Government, two parties wouldn’t back it and so they went to the major party on the other side of the House.
They had 79 questions. No one has 79 questions, and the second one, even if you did have 79 questions, should not be about Te Tiriti.
So, so far, so messy. And you can quite rightly ask the question at this stage whether our Parliament is in fact wildly out of step with the majority of New Zealand.
My gut says a ban is popular. No, it is not effective in its entirety.
Yes, a French court has blocked theirs.
No, Australia has not got it right when they led the world off on the idea.
But socially and morally, big tech is increasingly seen as a pariah and a bottom-line fiend that does whatever is necessary to stoke their engine of commerce.
So the sense of it is we want to be seen to at least give this a good crack. At least be seen to be on the right side of the increasingly alarming stats around kids and harm and online life.
And yet Labour, who should not have been needed, got there in the end and said, 'we've read all 79 answers (yea right) and we will back it to the first committee'.
And then it turns out that didn’t matter because the Government doesn’t have time anyway.
What a gargantuan waste of energy.
No, it's not dead. Yes, it will still be an issue next year. And yes, in some way, shape or form we will probably get it across the line.
But this thing started as an MP's bill, not a party idea. After it spent several years being “thought about”, it finally got revealed to a group of politicians who didn’t want it and wouldn’t vote for it.
And by the time it got the numbers to get underway, time was up!
On an energy-in/energy-out sort of equation, it's right up there in the waste-of-time stakes.
So if you got excited, and this week looked a bit historic, see you next year.
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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.

Social media: 3/10
Between National and their lack of numbers and Meta and the Attorney Generals folding, it was tech – 1 vs the rest of us – 0.

NZ wine: 7/10
Wasn’t that an uplifting story? Australian wine is tanking at a time when our sales continue to rise, and volume and value are on the up. To be fair, yellowtail does remove stains in your sink.

MBIE scandal: 1/10
As bad as it gets and yet with no consequences. Only in the public service...

Dolly Parton: A life of achievement
In some respects, the highlight of the week, ironically. Universally loved, bigger than what made her famous, more clever than you might have imagined, and a story of longevity and continued relevance.
Beyond politics, in a country deeply divided, and a life you could barely fault. 80 was too young, but surely the quality is what counts.

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Doesn’t it feel like the last netballer out can turn out the lights?
By my count, 13 of our best are off.
Eight to Australia, four to the UK, and it could be 16 by the time it's all over.
Like Super Rugby, hockey, and cricket, netball is not, it seems, commercially viable in a national organisation type of way.
TV rights are an issue, and they are an issue because the inescapable truth is a lot of us aren't that gripped by the sports anymore.
The world is full of entertainment and the more accessible it is the more we drift off to new interests.
I read a worthy piece by a bloke called Dr Chris McMillan, who bemoaned private money coming to potentially save these sports.
He argued private money is not good because it put owners before players and, most of all, before the wider community.
The trouble with academics of course is they don’t live in the real world.
What does he want? Netball run as a national organisation going broke (they are millions in the hole), or a millionaire with good intentions saving the sport?
You should read his piece. He tells you everything that's wrong and tells you these are tricky issues but offers no solutions.
The solutions are simple and they are global. Virtually all great, popular, and successful sports are run with private money.
My sport, the NFL, is almost entirely, bar one of the 32 teams, owned by rich folks who are normally old white guys. The sport is booming and the players are wealthy beyond most expectations.
Sport is actually a simple formula: you need eyeballs, TV rights, and a competition that attracts attention.
The NRL is your best local example: a record TV deal, massive fan base, plenty of hype, and an expansion plan.
Sport isn't the problem. I increasingly think not even the running of the sport is a problem.
In NZ the problem is population. If Super Rugby can't make money, nothing locally can. We are too small and the fan is too international.
But if there's a model that can help locally it’s the people with a cheque book. Sport is business.
Arguing it's community-based goodwill is like arguing AI isn't taking your job.
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A major Super Rugby shake up is looming.
New Zealand and Australian officials are discussing letting players cross the Tasman without losing test eligibility.
It comes after revelations only two Kiwi franchises have been profitable without NZ Rugby support since 2019, and the NRL landing a $5.3 billion TV deal.
Bruce Sharrock, Senior Rugby and NRL Agent from 'The Team', told Mike Hosking he applauds the fact that conversations seem to be happening to change the shape of the professional game.
He says New Zealand is the only union he's aware of that hasn't privatised the professional game, and at the end of the day, he thinks that's where it has to head.
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The All Blacks are motivated to claim another win over the Springboks.
The second test of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry is kicking off this weekend, and the Kiwi side will be aiming to back up last weekend's 33-16 victory.
Will Jordan has been named on the right wing for the clash, and told Mike Hosking in professional sport, the mental side of things is a bigger fish to fry.
He says the Springboks will have the edge after their loss, so it's important that they have the same kind of desperation and urgency as they did at Ellis Park.
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