I think Nicola Willis may be right when she suggested to us the other day Chris Hipkins might not be very numerate.

He is undoing himself in front of us. As he does, he reminds us why he has basically done as little as possible these past few years, because when he does he is either in office blowing the place up, or putting out policy in Opposition that makes literally no sense.

He has blocked petrol excise increases for three years.

The bill for that is $4.6 billion. He said yesterday he didn’t think that number was right, even though it is. He had an idea what the number was but wouldn’t say.

Cool policy.

By the end of the day, he wasn’t ruling out borrowing it. Now, you can't borrow it because in another policy he told us we were returning to surplus by 2028/29. You can't run a surplus as you borrow more.

Do you think he realises this?

Then we get to the pay equity bit, which they haven't told us how they are paying for. That’s $12 billion.

So $16 billion and counting and all paid for by a capital gains tax that, so far, will produce exactly nothing given housing is flat. And even if it wasn’t, it takes years to fire up.

Oh, and the capitals gains is already paying for free doctors visits we don’t need, or mainly, want.

To try and come to his defence, is there $4.5 billion worth of stuff you can cancel and cover the excise hole? That's a lot of money on something that gets cancelled and given we are already running things tight, because we have no money, you inevitably come back to the borrowing bit he mentioned late yesterday.

I cannot overstate the danger of more debt. In the next couple of years, the world is going to go through another financial crisis, driven by debt and overcapped nonsense around chips and AI.

You do not want to be a small economy at the bottom of the world in a sea of debt reliant on people bailing you out. It is literally the path to ruin.

We already pay $9 billion a year interest on our debt and people like Fitch have warned us our credit rating is on watch.

Yet Hipkins has diametrically opposed policies that get us to surplus and have us borrowing more, all at the same time.

It's all embarrassingly amateurish, short-sighted and dangerous.

I cannot overstate the idiocy if you think any of this is a path forward.

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Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen are back on Politics Wednesday to delve into the biggest stories of the week thus far with Mike Hosking.

They discussed delays to fuel tax hike and state of the Land Transport Fund, where Labour would get the money to fund its policies, and the latest Roy Morgan poll.

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Chinese car brands are winning the hearts and wallets of New Zealanders.

Motor Trade Association August data shows total light vehicle registrations rose 7.6% on the same time last year.

New vehicles represented 58 percent of sales, with hybrids the most popular fuel type.

The data highlights BYD, Chery, Jaecoo, and GWM recorded significant gains, helping Chinese brands increase their share of new vehicle sales to 18.7%.

Motor Trade Association CEO Lee Marshall told Mike Hosking they seem to have the right product at the right price at the right time.

Based on the numbers, he says there's no doubt that's talking to people.

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Relief and satisfaction for Hayden Paddon after a runner-up finish at an attritional World Rally Championship event in Paraguay.

He and co-driver John Kennard have claimed their second podium in their fourth outing of the season, driving the shared third car for Hyundai.

It was his first WRC event on gravel since 2018, and the result puts him in eighth – despite the fact he's only competed in four of the eleven rallies so far.

Paddon told Mike Hosking it was certainly a surprise to be as competitive as they were considering it was their first time on gravel in a number of years.

He says it was one of those rallies where everything clicked and felt easy.

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Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennah Wootton is reiterating the new domestic league will be set-up and run as a partnership.

Investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams will fund a privatised competition, starting next year, where they will hold the licence for the league and teams.

Wootten's insisting the national body will retain plenty of say in how the league is formed and overseen.

She told Mike Hosking that was really important to them, as they want to make sure the new league is set up and operating with the ambition they've all talked about.

The parties are currently working through all the key details, Wootten saying they want to make sure there's absolute clarity in regards to expectations.

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There's a view financial pressure is behind our dwindling alcohol consumption.

Latest figures from Stats NZ show that for the year to June, total alcohol consumption per capita fell to a record 6.98 litres of pure alcohol – among the lowest in the OECD.

Beer accounts for about 60% of the booze consumed, with wine and spirits making up around 20% each.

Brewers Association Executive Director Dylan Firth told Mike Hosking it's a reflection of the economy.

He thinks people are more cash-strapped, with most New Zealanders already drinking moderately.

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The Reserve Bank looks set to turn the screws on interest rates again today.

Most economists expect the OCR to rise from 2.5% when the decision is announced at 2pm.

One or two further hikes are forecast before Christmas.

BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Mike Hosking he expects the Monetary Policy Committee to reach a consensus on the increase, but it’s possible not everyone will agree.

He says the Reserve Bank hinted strongly in July that we would see additional rate increases, and there's been nothing in the numbers since to change that.

However, Jones says a pause will eventually be needed to see how the economy's handling the higher rates.

He says that time isn't now, but probably when the rate reaches 3%.

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