Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Black Ferns are finding a balance between World Cup prep and putting out a winning side for Saturday's Pacific Four game against the United States. Four players are in line to debut - including Sevens duo Jorja Miller and Risi Pouri-Lane. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has been quick to voice his concerns with the 2025 Budget. Hipkins took aim at the pay equity changes - and opposed the new initiatives around oil and gas. "If you think about it - it's saying to women that they're worth less, it's saying to all working New Zealanders that your KiwiSaver, when you reach retirement, will be worth less." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/li...

I don’t want to start on a bum note, but if you share my view that this country is in a hot mess financially, then this Budget is underwhelming, disappointing - you pick your epithet. It’s called the growth Budget, but there's no growth in it. The only growth is a result of a tax incentive scheme which is a good idea - but doesn’t go far enough. It lifts GDP by, get this, 1 percent...

More than 65,000 Airbnb listings in Spain are set to be shut down amid a row over runaway house prices in the country. The Government has come under increasing pressure to tame a surge in house prices and rents, which have doubled in less than a decade in some tourism hotspots. Airbnb listings have been partly blamed for swallowing up the housing stock in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Valen...

Budget 2025 is set to be revealed to the nation tomorrow - and Finance Minister Nicola Willis has promised it will be a “No BS Budget” with “some surprises”. Willis will take a step towards unwinding the expansion of Government that accompanied (and followed) the pandemic - while growing the economy. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny outlines some questions she hopes to see res...

Tonight on The Huddle, Conor English from Government relations firm Silvereye and broadcaster Mark Sainsbury joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Should Tonkin + Taylor sack the staffer who was caught heckling Winston Peters?  Waitakere Hospital ED raised some eyebrows when they started handing out vouchers for patients to go to urgent care clinics...

Mastercard has recently released a survey showing a significant amount of Kiwis want credit card surcharges banned. The data shows 61 percent of respondents would support a ban and 75 percent don't believe surcharges are fair - and 44 percent feel retailers should absorb the costs. Consumer NZ's Acting Head of Research and Advocacy, Jessica Walker, says the surcharge debate is a complicated topic....

A record number of businesses have sought advice about redundancies in the first three months of the year, according to new Employers and Manufacturers Association data. EMA’s AdviceLine received 403 queries from businesses on the topic of restructuring and redundancies last quarter - almost double that in the same period two years ago (204). EMA’s head of advocacy and strategy Alan McDonald says...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 21 May 2025, is international pressure on Israel having an effect? Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall tells Heather so far no aid has got through to starving people in Gaza.  The Revenue Minister explains why the Government will no longer try to make big tech companies like Google and Meta pay more tax.&nb...

Free speech advocates says Tonkin + Taylor doesn't need to apologise for an employee allegedly heckling the Deputy Prime Minister.  A man appearing to be wearing a company lanyard yelled and swore at Winston Peters after an announcement on rail funding at Wellington's train station. The engineering firm has since apologised and says it'll investigate. The Free Speech Union's Nick Hanne s...

A strong primary sector performance has produced a billion-dollar monthly trade surplus - for the first time in five years. Stats NZ data reveals it sat on $1.4 billion dollars in April, compared with a $12 million dollar deficit for the same time last year. Export NZ Executive Director, Joshua Tan, says it's a team effort across the food and fibre sector. He says dairy, red meat, fruit and wood e...

There's a shifting international view of Israel as its war on Gaza shows little sign of relenting.  After global pressure, including from the US, Israel has relented on a months-long blockade and let in limited aid - but none's been distributed so far.  It's also continued firing on Gaza, where more than 53,000 people have died to date.  Sky News' Alistair Bunkall says there's a str...

The Revenue Minister says Donald Trump was a factor in scrapping the incoming Digital Services Tax Bill.   A legacy of the last Government, it would've imposed a three percent tax on revenue from Kiwis - earned by the likes of Facebook and Google. The US President has called such legislation 'overseas extortion', and said he'd act against it. Simon Watts says they considered recent developmen...

Winston Peters is doubling down on criticising a passer-by who heckled him yesterday after an announcement on rail funding. Environmental and engineering firm Tonkin + Taylor says it's looking into a report a man wearing a staff lanyard swore at the minister. The Minister said he doesn't care if he loses his job. Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudi...

Joe Biden's earlier announcement that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer has revived questions about what health issues the former US president was facing while in office. President Donald Trump recently claimed he was 'surprised' the public wasn't notified a long time ago - and this doctor also earlier said Biden was cognitively fine. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says people are curiou...

An admission from Super Rugby officials that the refereeing panel made a mistake disallowing a Moana Pasifika try to Millennium Sanerivi in their victory over the Blues last weekend. A try can only be overturned if there is an infringement in the final attacking passage of play - but they went back for a foot in touch earlier. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See om...

There's a widespread global shortage of ADHD medication - and it's hitting Kiwis hard. A survey by ADHD New Zealand of people prescribed with ADHD medication found that over half were struggling to get what they needed - and one third of respondents were worried they would lose their jobs if they weren't properly medicated. ADHD New Zealand spokesperson Darrin Bull says people in schools and unive...

Was Tonkin + Taylor right to apologise to Winston Peters for the employee heckling him? Of course they were! They don't want to be associated with this kind of behaviour. The guy was wearing their work lanyard, it clearly identified him as a staffer and I had his name and photo land in my inbox at 4:41 yesterday afternoon. Which is to say - people had already figured out who he is and who he works...

The UK is hailing a new era of relations with Europe, as they seek closer ties on trade and defence. The new deal signals a resetting of ties with the European Union post-Brexit, and could mean significant trade benefits for Britain. It'll be easier to trade food across the border, and allow the UK to access EU funds for defence development. UK correspondent Enda Brady says this development puts a...

New reports indicate a critical part of the Government’s plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years appears to have fallen over. A huge chunk of the Government’s climate success rests on a single project, which the owner now says probably won’t happen because it doesn’t stack up commercially. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/liste...

It's less than two days to go until Budget Day 2025, and experts are outlining their predictions. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hinted this won't be a 'lolly scramble' and plenty of cuts will have to take place. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen explains further, LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  The suspension debate for the three Māori Party MPs has been postponed until June 5 in a surprise move. Do we think this is the right call? It's been revealed Auckland Council spent $3 million on communications and advertising...

Well, that ended up being a fizzer, didn't it? I mean, wow, here we were. We were expecting this big debate over the Māori Party punishments to drag on for days, if not weeks, and overshadow the Budget - and the blinking thing didn't even last an hour. It got postponed to next month. What happened was, in retrospect, very simple and very obvious, just a move from the Government. It came to th...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 20 May 2025, Leader of the House Chris Bishop speaks to Heather after his surprise move to delay the much anticipated debate about Maori Party MPs' punishments. Former Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell defends the MPs right to haka in the house without being punished. Auckland Council has spent $3 million dollars on PR and...

After years of delay, Aucklanders can expect to receive their property valuations early next month. Auckland Council says it expected to deliver the new valuations, commonly known as capital values (CVs), in the week of June 9 to June 13. Property commentator Ashley Church says it's unlikely this will make a difference in overall valuations. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...