Mark the Week: The Immigration scandal is as bad as it gets

Author: Mike Hosking ,
Publish Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026, 11:02am

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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.

Fieldays: 8/10

Massive crowds, good mood, lots of money changing hands. Rural NZ is booming.

NZ Inc: 7/10

Actually a pretty good week economically. Spending was up, food inflation wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they thought, and GDP showed we were actually on our way.

Our mood: 3/10

The evidence did not support the misery. We don’t have to be hopped up, but the score of 80 does not dovetail with the hard data. Give yourself an uppercut.

Immigration and MBIE: 1/10

As bad as it gets — a shocking betrayal, horrific damage to the public service rep. And even if jail time isn’t required, you can’t run a country if you are being deceived by crooks.

The Iran Deal: 3/10

Trump has achieved nothing. We are all glad it’s over, and it’ll feel good paying $2-something for petrol. But we were doing that before Trump thought Iraq was easy.

Travel: 7/10

I’ve been around the world in the past fortnight — and it’s an amazing place. Well, the bits I saw are. But it’s also troubled, overcrowded, and expensive. NZ looks pretty damn good to me.

Lewis Hamilton: 8/10

He is the driver of his generation, and a thrill to watch. He lived his dream this week — a victory in a Ferrari. We should all be lucky enough to live our dreams.

LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW