Marilyn Waring. Remember her?

Once an activist always an activist.

Marilyn took it upon herself to form her own select committee and she and a bunch of other MPs and interested parties opened their doors for submissions on pay equity and the changes the Government made that they didn’t like.

When doors like that get opened, people of like minds tend to wander through, and they sit around all agreeing with each other about how bad things are.

The ensuing report, which has just been released, tells you exactly what you would think it would.

The problem with pay equity is it's an unsolvable problem, unless you take on a North Korea/Cuba type view of the world and simply get the Government to make all the rules.

The simple truth of it is different jobs have different values.

Another truth is some women choose work that doesn’t pay as much as other work. Men do as well, but not as much.

Some of the work that doesn't pay as much is predominantly done by women.

The most famous case involved a woman called Kristine Bartlett and the aged care sector. Rightly or wrongly jobs of compassion and care tend to be done by females. I would argue that’s largely because they tend to be nicer people overall but that would probably lead to a charge of me being sexist, which I'm not.

What I am is a realist and you can see the issue. Should age care workers be paid more? Probably.

But if they were, who would foot the bill? The people paying the age care bills of course.

Could we artificially boost their pay? Well, that is where we got into dreadful trouble. They ended up comparing age care workers with mechanics and got a massive pay rise.

Trouble is it was always false. Mechanics are not age care workers any more than air stewards are. You can look for commonalities, twist logic all you want, but you either artificially mess with it, or you let the market be the market.

Most jobs have a rationale as to why they pay what they do and at all times, all jobs are open to all people, depending on desire and skill.

So essentially Marilyn and her mates have wasted their time.

Logic wins. The market wins. If you want more money, do a job that pays more of it, male or female.

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Australia’s Prime Minister was evacuated from his official Canberra residence on Tuesday.

Anthony Albanese was moved from The Lodge to another location around 6pm, as the police investigated a bomb threat.

He was able to return once a search has been concluded, after 9pm.

Australia Correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking information is currently limited, but he’s never heard of an Australian Prime Minister being evacuated from an official residence.

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A Kiwi start-up's labours are bearing fruit.

‘Forever Harvest’ has raised $1.2 million to grow fruit and nuts in a lab, all year round.

The project uses cellular agriculture, removing the need for orchards or soil and making production climate resistant.

Co-Founder Mick Riley told Mike Hosking they’re not looking to replace things like bulk cherries or bulk nectarines, but rather they’re creating a whole new kind of high value ingredient.

The products would be for commercial use, he says, as they’re not looking to compete in the consumer market.

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Today on Politics Wednesday, it’s a verbal brawl between Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen over the new move on orders for rough sleepers and beggars.

They discussed how effective such measures would be, whether or not they have anywhere else to go, and whether the wider public agrees with the orders.

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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 25th of February, MediMap’s Director explains what’s happening with the hack of their platform, plus we look at what would need to happen for Andrew to be removed from the line of succession.

Warriors CEO Cameron George speaks on co-captain Mitch Barnett’s departure at the end of the year and whether or not the Warriors are just seen as a stepping stone team.

Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen bicker and argue about move on orders on Politics Wednesday.

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

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Legal cases against Lord Mandelson and former Prince Andrew are in the works as officials tread carefully to avoid prejudicing the proceedings.

The UK Government is hoping to release files on why former UK Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were appointed to their high-profile roles despite ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Royal Correspondent Robert Hardman told Mike Hosking because of the ongoing legal case, no one wants to prejudice it.

He says generally the view is, regardless of the outcome of the legal process, Andrew has behaved so appallingly they don't want him anywhere near the throne.

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Another Australian is leaving the Warriors on compassionate grounds.

Co-captain Mitch Barnett is departing after the upcoming NRL season – a year ahead of his contract expiring.

Barnett has a child that requires medical support and he wants to be closer to family.

Warriors CEO Cameron George told Mike Hosking it’s unfortunate because he’s been such a great leader for the club.

He says the situation only come to light in the last month or so, and they’d even had some discussions about possibly extending his contract before this.

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Wellington's Mayor is considering taking the city's bus lanes back to the drawing board.

People driving in bus lanes are Wellington City Council's biggest money grabber, raking in around $6 million in fines.

A new bus lane on Cambridge Terrace caught tens of thousands of people exceeding the 50 metre maximum, worth a penalty fee of $150.

Andrew Little told Mike Hosking he doesn't want bus lane cameras to be seen as a source of revenue for the council.

He says there's a genuine question on whether they need to be designated bus lanes for 12 hours a day seven days a week.

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