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.

Red meat: 9/10

It's so good, so record breaking, you honestly start to wonder just where is the ceiling?

Dairy: 9/10

Ditto. Four auctions, four runs batted in. We are rolling.

Warriors: 6/10

Early days, good crowd in the Bay, bad injury already, but the seeds of success are there.

India: 3/10

This is the stuff that ankle taps us. Between Labour and Winston, doofuses and xenophobes, we are a two step forward, one step back country.

F1: 8/10

The fact testing is being covered on New Zealand TV tells you how far that sport has come.

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It was the fish that summed it up for me.

The Infrastructure Commission report was profound in its nature this week.

Chris Bishop was dead right on this programme when he talked of its importance and, yet, its dryness.

Big picture, infrastructure building and planning and funding isn't sexy. It never has been and that in some respects is why we are where we are.

And what a place that place is.

We, in parts, are a broken down, tragic, second-hand little nation that has let ourselves go.

We were fighting fit once. We paid our way, had cash in pocket, did the job properly and had big dreams.

In 2026 we are in hock up to our eyeballs, bitching, moaning and complaining, wanting everyone else to wipe our bums and solve our problems.

But the fish is your real clue.

The fish is in Rakaia and it's the town's mascot. It was in the news this week for being defaced and yet, in another irony, that wasn’t actually the story, or it shouldn’t have been.

The other problem with small-minded, myopic New Zealand is a defaced town mascot is what passes for news these days, when the real story was the fish that was defaced had just had a $200,000 renovation job.

$200,000 thousand dollars to polish up a fish?!

Now, if Rakaia has perfect water and footpaths of gold and record low rates and a spare few hundred grand lying about looking to do luxury jobs, no problem. But guess what? It doesn’t.

It will be like a lot of small-town New Zealand; in the hole with big picture issues that have been ignored for years.

Yet a group of people who clearly aren't up for the real work thought it was appropriate to rejuvenate a fish.

Did they have the dough? No.

Was there a shed load of proper work to be done? Yes.

But all that can wait because doing a fish up is easy, it’s a headline and you can bang on about civic pride.

Until of course it gets defaced, at which point the media can't get hold of it fast enough and you can complain some more about crime and the irony that you now need even more money to fix the fish up again.

When fish are the news the country's real issues don’t stand a chance.

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

They discussed intermittent fasting, after a global review found it might not be the magic bullet it’s said to be, the earlier chat with Angela Strange about Te Huia, and how much you spend when given an unlimited restaurant voucher.

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A big weekend in Central Otago, as Arrowtown hosts the Ayrburn Classic.

Hundreds of vehicles will be on display, from vintage to luxury, plus the new additions of motorbikes and boats.

They’re also hosting New Zealand’s largest live car auction, adding a bit of serious money and competition into the mix.

Director of Sunday Drive, Taylor Campbell told Mike Hosking the event is now in its second year, and has grown about three times the size.

He says it’s almost sold out to capacity, and the stunning setting, the hospitality, and the cars make for a great mix.

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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 20th of February, the Government has watered down it’s housing intensification plan for Auckland, and is halting the requirement that Army leaders know waiata and karakia from memory.

Te Huia is getting another year of funding to prove itself and Angela Strange tries, and fails dismally, to defend it.

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson talk intermittent fasting, the Angela Strange interview, and how much you spend when you get given an unlimited restaurant voucher as they Wrap the Week.

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Supercars season is officially underway this weekend.

Chaz Mostert is defending his title in the Sydney 500, now in the new Toyota GR Supra.

Ryan Wood and Matt Payne are leading the Kiwi charge, with five rookies also entering the fray.

Kiwi motorsport legend Greg Murphy told Mike Hosking that last season was competitive and very, very close, and no doubt it will be the same this year.

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The Te Huia train service is hoping it can prove its critics wrong as its existence is extended for another year.

The service, which connects Auckland and Hamilton will run at least until June next year, with NZTA picking up 60% of the bill.

It's been criticised in the past for low passenger numbers and revenue.

Waikato Regional Council Transport Committee Chair Angela Strange told Mike Hosking that in terms of farebox recovery, the service is actually doing really well when compared to other public transport in New Zealand.

She says they’re sitting at close to 16%, and it’s closer per kilometre than the metro trains and ferries in Auckland.

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A positive outlook for Chinese tourism as a new visa pathway delivers results.

The trial allows Chinese and Pacific travellers with a valid Australian visa to enter New Zealand for up to three months.

Arrivals have nearly tripled since December, with Chinese tourists injecting about $210 million into Kiwi businesses.

Tourism Holdings Limited Chief Executive Grant Webster told Mike Hosking the trial is absolutely working and New Zealand's responding faster to growing demand from Chinese visitors.

He says this just gives more options for these travellers, adding we're fortunate to have this system as it doesn't work the other way around.

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