Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancels regular interview schedule with Mike Hosking at Newstalk ZB

Newstalk ZB breakfast host Mike Hosking says the prime minister is “running for the hills” and lacks courage after Jacinda Ardern canceled her regular weekly interview with him.

Instead, Ardern says she and other ministers will now appear on the country’s highest-performing commercial radio show “when problems arise.”

Hosking said Ardern was “running for the hills” and that the government “had finished being held accountable.”

“She doesn’t want to be on this show every week anymore. The somewhat tragic conclusion that is drawn is the questions she receives, the demand for a level of responsibility that is a little harsh,” Hosking told listeners this morning.

“They are coming to an end,” he said.

“Without being too cruel to some of the other players in this market, the reality is that the Prime Minister enjoys a friendlier and more accommodating relationship with them. The questions are more of softball, she favors a more benign pitch where delivery can be dispatched to the border more easily without any obvious possibility of an appeal, “he said.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s office to Newstalk ZB said: “The timing of the Prime Minister’s media appearances has been revised and although it has not been reduced overall, it has changed.”

“The Prime Minister will no longer make a weekly slot specifically on ZB’s morning show.

“However, she and all of her ministers will continue to appear on the show as problems arise.”

Hosking told listeners this morning: “To be honest, I am pleased. Management here not so much, they argue that responsibility is important. And they are right, but what I contend: the prime minister is a light weight to answer tough questions. .

“The number of times she has been in charge of this program without being aware of the questions I am asking is terrifying. The reports that I have read, she had not read them. The time I asked her if they were replacing the Tauranga City Council, she replied ‘they didn’t do those things’, clearly having no idea that in a month or so they were going to do exactly that. Those times are too many to be comfortable. And then your reaction: the two most used lines after Interview are, one: what was the point of that, and two: I don’t know why you bother, “he said.

“The reality is all too often it’s just noise, it’s waffle, it’s stagnant, it’s filling, it’s obfuscating. She should be willing to do it. She talks about the lack of guts that she would like to drop and run. an increasingly evident trait: they don’t handle pressure well. I’m not losing sleep, I’m just a little disappointed that I’m not a more robust operator. “

National leader Judith Collins weighed in on the change, calling the move “shameful.”

“It’s a shame the prime minister doesn’t have time for Newstalk ZB on Monday morning. All those tough questions …” he wrote on Twitter.

The prime minister’s office has been contacted for further comment.