"We've answered every question": Hipkins defends decision not to front Covid Inquiry 

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says he's already answered the Covid Inquiry Commissioner's questions, negating any need for him to appear publicly. 

Hipkins and former Ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson, and Ayesha Verrall declined open hearings, leading the second part of the inquiry to be called off. 

Hipkins says lawyers raised several issues around them appearing, including setting a precedent and possible abuse.

He told Mike Hosking he doesn't see the point in repeating the process.  

Hipkins says the Commissioners themselves have said former ministers have answered every single question put to them and they are seeking no further information. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

<h2>"We've answered every question": Hipkins defends decision not to front Covid Inquiry&nbsp;</h2>
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says he's already answered the Covid Inquiry Commissioner's questions, negating any need for him to appear publicly.&nbsp;
Hipkins and former Ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson, and Ayesha Verrall declined open hearings, leading the second part of the inquiry to be called off.&nbsp;
Hipkins says lawyers raised several issues around them appearing, including setting a precedent and possible abuse.
He told Mike Hosking he doesn't see the point in repeating the process. &nbsp;
Hipkins says the Commissioners themselves have said former ministers have answered every single question put to them and they are seeking no further information.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

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Open your mind to the world with New Zealand’s number one breakfast radio show. Without question, as New Zealand’s number one talk host, Mike Hosking sets the day’s agenda. The sharpest voice and mind in the business, Mike drives strong opinion, delivers the best talent, and always leaves you wanting more. The Mike Hosking Breakfast always cuts through and delivers the best daily on Newstalk ZB.

Open your mind to the world with New Zealand’s number one breakfast radio show.Without question, as New Zealand’s number one talk host, Mike Hosking sets the day’s agenda.The sharpest voice and mind in the business, Mike drives strong opinion,...

The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Best of 2025: Chris Hipkins defends decision not to front Covid Inquiry on the Mike Hosking Breakfast

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/7b358163-18d7-4d8c-9d95-b3d00141761d/transcript

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 India FTA: 8/10 

Got there at last. Todd McClay is signing and Labour's on board. How hard did it ever have to be? 

 

Labour and the FTA: 3/10 

You knew they would blink. But it was either pathetic games or an inability to make a decision, both of which should give you pause for thought this election. 

 

NZ First and the FTA: 2/10 

"Butter chicken tsunami" is low rent. It's base level muck. We deserve better but that’s what you get, and you get it every three years, and some people never learn. 

 

Christopher Luxon: 8/10 

Thomas Coughlan called it well. It was a "baller move" and it paid off. 

 

The Christchurch stadium: 9/10 

A facility that will be used in anger this weekend and a representation of a city that knows what success looks like. 

 

LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW 

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.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/nathan-guy-nz-special-agricultural-trade-envoy-and-meat-industry-association-chair-on-the-india-free-trade-agreement-getting-labours-support/">The India FTA: 8/10</a>&nbsp;
Got there at last. Todd McClay is signing and Labour's on board. How hard did it ever have to be?&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Labour and the FTA: 3/10&nbsp;
You knew they would blink. But it was either pathetic games or an inability to make a decision, both of which should give you pause for thought this election.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/pollies-nationals-mark-mitchell-and-labours-ginny-andersen-on-the-india-fta-shane-jones-butter-chicken-comment-national-leadership-saga/">NZ First and the FTA: 2/10</a>&nbsp;
"Butter chicken tsunami" is low rent. It's base level muck. We deserve better but that’s what you get, and you get it every three years, and some people never learn.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Christopher Luxon: 8/10&nbsp;
Thomas Coughlan called it well. It was a "baller move" and it paid off.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/caroline-harvie-teare-venues-otautahi-ceo-on-the-one-nz-stadium-at-te-kaha-opening-this-weekend/">The Christchurch stadium: 9/10</a>&nbsp;
A facility that will be used in anger this weekend and a representation of a city that knows what success looks like.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW&nbsp;

Mark the Week: How hard did the India FTA have to be?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/acededdd-8391-44b4-9e74-b435017caeee/transcript

Disappointment of the week for me has been the gargantuan mess Formula 1 has got itself into in the name of climate change. 

They want to be net zero by 2030. The question you can quite rightly ask as of this week, or as of the 2026 rules changes, is, at what cost? 

In looking to save the planet not everything has to be ruined. 

Christmas tinsel is up 40% because of the war and all the plastic bits that go through the Strait of Hormuz. 

I'd rather go without Christmas tinsel than ruin F1. 

Max Verstappen turns out to be 100% right: this isn't racing. And that is the most dagger in the heart-ish thing you can say to a motorsport fan. 

"This isn't racing." 

There's nothing wrong with moving with the times. When cars used to crash, they sometimes blew up and killed people. They decided that needed to change. 

The halo had some pushback with its introduction, but ultimately it was the right call. But if you read the changes made this week to the cars and their power modes, and please don’t because its farcical, you would need a degree and you see just how out of hand and "unracing" all this is. 

From qualifying, to racing, to starts, to tyre blankets, from kilojoules to megawatts, the changes are dizzying and depressing. 

Where once a guy like Verstappen would ring the bejeezus out of an engine and get a car to defy physics, these days it's all batteries and who-knows-what other jiggery-pokery. 

The drivers don’t like it. It's so complicated that some of the cars don’t even work. All in the name of net zero. 

F1 is one of the greatest sports stories of the modern age. It's spectacular, it's massive, it's successful, it's global and it's growing It is everything you could ever want a sport, or business, to be. 

Until it isn't. 

It’s a golden goose and a battery is wrecking it. The more battery, the more wreckage. 

The more questions, the more upset. 

The more unpredictability, the more risk to the brand. 

Speed, skill, risk, and an engine – that’s motorsport. 

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. 

Disappointment of the week for me has been the gargantuan mess Formula 1 has got itself into in the name of climate change.&nbsp;
They want to be net zero by 2030. The question you can quite rightly ask as of this week, or as of the 2026 rules changes, is, at what cost?&nbsp;
In looking to save the planet not everything has to be ruined.&nbsp;
Christmas tinsel is up 40% because of the war and all the plastic bits that go through the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;
I'd rather go without Christmas tinsel than ruin F1.&nbsp;
Max Verstappen turns out to be 100% right: this isn't racing. And that is the most dagger in the heart-ish thing you can say to a motorsport fan.&nbsp;
"This isn't racing."&nbsp;
There's nothing wrong with moving with the times. When cars used to crash, they sometimes blew up and killed people. They decided that needed to change.&nbsp;
The halo had some pushback with its introduction, but ultimately it was the right call. But if you read the changes made this week to the cars and their power modes, and please don’t because its farcical, you would need a degree and you see just how out of hand and "unracing" all this is.&nbsp;
From qualifying, to racing, to starts, to tyre blankets, from kilojoules to megawatts, the changes are dizzying and depressing.&nbsp;
Where once a guy like Verstappen would ring the bejeezus out of an engine and get a car to defy physics, these days it's all batteries and who-knows-what other jiggery-pokery.&nbsp;
The drivers don’t like it. It's so complicated that some of the cars don’t even work. All in the name of net zero.&nbsp;
F1 is one of the greatest sports stories of the modern age. It's spectacular, it's massive, it's successful, it's global and it's growing It is everything you could ever want a sport, or business, to be.&nbsp;
Until it isn't.&nbsp;
It’s a golden goose and a battery is wrecking it. The more battery, the more wreckage.&nbsp;
The more questions, the more upset.&nbsp;
The more unpredictability, the more risk to the brand.&nbsp;
Speed, skill, risk, and an engine – that’s motorsport.&nbsp;
Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.&nbsp;

Mike's Minute: My disappointment of the week

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/35f75f0f-19d7-481e-82f5-b435017b206b/transcript

It’s Friday, which means Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back to Wrap the Week that Was. 

They discussed the state of New Zealand’s politicians, David Seymour’s new financial literacy proposal, and the gift Mike received from what may be his youngest listener.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

It’s Friday, which means Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back to Wrap the Week that Was.&nbsp;
They discussed the state of New Zealand’s politicians, David Seymour’s new financial literacy proposal, and the gift Mike received from what may be his youngest listener. &nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

Wrapping the Week with Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson: The state of politicians, financial literacy, a gift for Mike

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/4ecb782e-5e2d-43d1-a6ca-b43501783d19/transcript

Best of 2025: Chris Hipkins defends decision not to front Covid Inquiry on the Mike Hosking Breakfast

"We've answered every question": Hipkins defends decision not to front Covid Inquiry

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