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 Black Ferns: 9/10 "It all came together in that magical way only sport can deliver. Home crowd, underdog, tight finish, and high drama. It was sensational."   Three Waters: 3/10 "The changes from select committee were dumped this time last week in that usual Machiavellian way they do on a Friday. Put as much lipstick as you want on it, it's still oinking."   The RMA Changes: 800/10 "800 as in pages. Can something that has gone from 900 to 800 pages really be an answer?"   Waka Kotahi Reducing Speed Limits: 1/10   "The award for completely missing the memo in the simple truth that when it comes to road speed nothing they have done works. And this latest mad cap venture needs buy in and it doesn’t have any."   Westpac's Prediction for the Economy: 6/10 "Their call that the soft landing is off is spot on. When you print so much money and then back it up with wage rises to make the eyes water, .where else are you heading other than an ugly 2023?"   Tourism: 7/10 "Bright spot of the week. There is proper money. You know money the way we used to make it? Long may it continue and grow."   Donald Trump: 6/10 "Because say whatever you like about him, he is full of energy and aspiration. And just how much shock would permeate through American life if he actually pulled it off again."   COP27: 1/10 "It doesn’t even look like they are pretending there is a deal."   Elon Musk: 2/10 "What an idiot. The blue tick, the rehiring of all the people who knew how to actually run the place, and yesterday's mad you'll have to work hard or quit message. He is a symbol of the times where madness masquerades as acumen."   LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW

Well blow me down if we don’t have a confession from the Commerce Commission. We could, they tell us in a revelation that was plain for all to see well before Megan Woods ever came along, get a better deal on petrol if only, we went to the petrol station across the road. That's right; this is from the Commerce Commission, the group who have under this Government snooped their way through supermarkets, petrol stations, and building supplies and come up with the same report each time. I.e, it's not perfect, we can fiddle a bit, but basically it isn't the end of the world. Not that the Government has seen it that way. They are of the firm belief that the Commission is the answer to all ills in the marketplace and a good combination of jaw boning and regulation will bring us free market nirvana. But as the Commission pointed out this week, the price advertised is not always the best price you can get. But do you know what you have to do? Shop around. What a revelation. It sounds remarkably similar to the advice we've been giving all year. You might have noticed The Warehouse the other day in their results talked of the boost in sales they have seen in groceries. Now, why would that be? Because they provided competition and people shopped around. You never needed the Commerce Commission and one of their sticky beak reports. The same way you never needed them to get Costco here. There has always been competition in petrol, banks, telcos, and supermarkets. You just, as the Commission says, need to do a bit of leg work yourself. There are apps and there is no shortage of information that tells you on any given day that the price of a litre varies wildly between stations, brands, streets, neighbourhoods, and towns. Essentially, we are lazy and we like convenience. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you are prepared to pay for it. It’s sort of ironic that the Commerce Commission, having done all that work, spent all that time, and all that money had the answer all along. And it was never to be found in a report.

The Canterbury Jockey Club are calling on their patrons to have a moral conscious. After heavy flooding on Saturday lead to the postponing of Cup Day, Riccarton racegoers have been offered a full refund on their tickets, but it seems to a bit of an empty gesture after Canterbury Jockey Club asked attendees to consider not claiming their share. Staff spent close to half a million dollars setting up for the event and the club claims racegoers could still make the choice to support the club while it endures a 'challenging financial situation'. CEO of Riccarton Park Racecourse Tim Mills joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE

Few are surprised that many Kiwis want the fuel tax cut to be extended. A new poll states that more than two-thirds of respondents want the current fuel tax cut extended until annual inflation is below 3 per cent. In the 12 months to September 2022 inflation was at 7.2 per cent. On current forecasts that would mean extending the cut until the middle of 2024, costing more than $2 billion. Gull NZ general manager Dave Bodger joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE  

All Blacks coach Ian Foster's lauding Brodie Retallick as the veteran lock brings up his 100th test cap. Retallick returns from suspension to start in the second row for the year-ending test against England at Twickenham on Sunday morning. It'll also be a record 64th test start alongside captain Sam Whitelock. Foster says Retallick is a workhorse. LISTEN ABOVE

A $1.2 billion overhaul of the Special Education system was promised by the Government yesterday. Instead of a bit of buffing around the edges it is said to be a whole new system of doing things, requiring significant ongoing new investment. The overhaul would include teachers getting more specialised training for working with disabled children, along with families, teachers and ministry staff being able to decide what support each child individually needs, instead of leaving it up to a panel. The Ministry of Education had been charged with developing a business case by June next year. Post Primary Teachers' Association president Melanie Webber joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE  

An employers group says it's been forced to play a part in the Government's new Fair Pay Agreements system. The Government had offered the lobby group funding to act on behalf of employers that need representation and play a supporting role in the system more generally. But BusinessNZ says it wanted nothing to do with the scheme, partly due to its compulsory nature. Advocacy Director Catherine Beard told Mike Hosking the organisation has now accepted it will represent some members in some negotiations, on a case-by-base basis. She says the Fair Pay Agreement system is the law, and businesses and industry groups will have to follow it. The system comes into effect next month. LISTEN ABOVE  

The National Party says it's new policy to deal with youth crime, is a result of it listening to the victims. It's promising to set up Young Offender Military Academies for 15 to 17-year-olds, if it's elected next year. The party also wants to put electric monitoring devices on children as young as 10-years-old. Police spokesperson, Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking one shop owner he's spoken to has resorted to building his own bollards and sleeping inside his store, to deter ram-raiders. He says too many people are suffering from ram-raids, and it's coming at a huge human cost. LISTEN ABOVE  

You would be a fool to rule Donald Trump out. Part of the reason Ron DeSantis got so many headlines last week was because he won well on a day the Republicans didn’t do what they thought they would do - and because a lot of people from all over the political spectrum wanted to rub Trump's face in it. DeSantis on any other day for a lot of people would be as big a problem becoming president as Trump would. Is he a better version of Trump? Possibly, but the part most failed to point out or even see was that DeSantis did well in one state, the state he was running in. A President has to be at least partially popular all over America. And don't forget when Trump announced in 2015 he joined a decent list of others. For many he was instantly dismissed the way he is again now. It was full field back then. We had Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and Jim Gilmore. You even remember him? Add to that, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, and Mike Huckerbee. And those were the ones that made it to the primaries. The ones that worked out they didn’t stand a chance and bailed were George Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Scott Walker, and Rick Perry. So a full field of vast experience. And if you remember and followed the race a lot of them were more than acceptable in terms of brainpower, experience, and ideas. And yet, look who won. Working against him his time is his record and the pile of lawsuits. And although there are many who still see him as the answer and untouchable, a decent chunk will have wandered off to other pastures. And given he never won by much in the first place, he has a lot of work to do to convince others to make up the numbers. Ironically, for all the mess, there are things he did that still ring true. He warned us about China. He was right. He told Angela Merkel she was mad to trust Vladimir Putin. He was right. He told NATO members outside America they had to start footing the bill. He was right. This is not to endorse him in any way. He's a mad man who hangs around with crazies and says an astonishing array of insane things. But that didn’t stop him once and it didn’t stop the Democrats being unable to find anyone that wasn’t geriatric and deeply confused on a daily basis to run against him. The American system is broken. But it's that system that will once again choose a person to run in 2024. And there is no reason to believe, for now anyway, that Trump isn't it.

Time to catch up with one of our favourite medical minds. Dr. Michael Mosley has become a household name for his television show Trust Me, I’m a Doctor and his many other specials. He's is a trained doctor, science journalist, television presenter, best-selling author of many health and wellbeing books, gut specialist and the brains behind the hugely popular ‘5:2 Diet’. And he's coming back to the country next year with his speaking tour - A Life Changing Experience. Dr. Michael Mosley joined Mike Hosking. Dr. Michael Mosley’s shows are at the Opera House in Wellington on March 14, 2023 and at Auckland’s Civic Theatre March 15th. General public ticket sales go on sale at 11am Thursday 17 November from Ticketmaster. LISTEN ABOVE