Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday 11 November, the Government's decision to ban journalist Aaron Smale from Tuesday's Abuse in Care apology - and then reverse the ban - raised a few eyebrows. Newsroom's Mark Jennings joined Heather to discuss. On the subject of Tuesday's apology, Minister-in-charge Erica Stanford unpacked the new measures the Government would be ta...

The Local Government Minister says Wellington Council's new Crown observer will deal with relationship issues and help them get their long term plan over the line.  Former Chief Executive Officer of Tasman Gisborne District Councils, Lindsey McKenzie, has been appointed to the role.  Simeon Brown says he will be in place until July 31st, 2025. He says that will mean he's with them until...

The Finance Minister says she's not jumping to conclusions on whether New Zealand will be affected by potential Donald Trump Administration tariffs.  The president-elect has proposed tariffs of up to 20 percent on imported goods from most trading partners.  Nicola Willis says the current trade settings with US seem to be working.  "It's clear the Americans like what we're selling. E...

There's outrage among taxpayers over the projected cost of downtown Auckland's Christmas tree. The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance has raised concern about the 18 metre Komititanga Square tree, which reportedly costs $1.3 million. The council is stumping up $800,000 for it, with Heart of the City and Precinct Properties covering the rest. Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck says it's not bein...

The hunt is on for ideas for shifting seagulls as a flock causes havoc on Christchurch's New Regent Street.  The protected birds are over-running the tourism hotspot. They're returning to nest after settling in the foundations of a demolished Armagh Street building.  Belle Cafe manager Casey Alderson says the seagulls dive-bomb for people's scraps without fear. "Small children don't frea...

Organisers of a hīkoi making its way down the country to Wellington say it's about more than just opposing the Treaty Principles Bill.  Marchers are still north of Whangarei, and expect to be in the Capital between Monday and Tuesday next week.  Organiser Eru Kapa-Kīngi says the hīkoi's true purpose is to defend Te Tiriti of Waitangi - and he explained the bill was just part of a bigger...

The Government's taking steps towards preventing any more abuse in care going forward. It's introducing a bill tomorrow prompted by the Abuse in Care inquiry, after the Prime Minister's national apology. The bill includes a ban on strip-searching children - and stronger regulations on who can work with children.  Minister-in-Charge Erica Stanford says the Government is looking to utilise full...

The Prime Minister says complexity has slowed the delivery of redress for Abuse in Care survivors, not cost.  Chris Luxon will apologise in Parliament tomorrow, after a Royal Commission report cast light on decades of harm in state and faith-based institutions. Legislation to improve protections for children and disabled adults - and improve Government record keeping - will then have its firs...

Over in Australia, opposition leader Peter Dutton is experiencing a boost in popularity with potential voters. According to a new Newspoll survey, 41 percent of respondents are likely to back Dutton as their preferred Prime Minister over Anthony Albanese. Albanese still leads with 45 percent of the vote, but disapproval for the Prime Minister is growing. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson sa...

The All Blacks are hailing a 'next task' mentality as key to their statement victory over their Irish rivals in Dublin. The 23-13 win included just one try for each side - and was largely a hard fought, back-and-forth test match. Sportstalk host Jason Pine unpacks the victory. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newsroom won't say why an investigative journalist was initially barred from tomorrow's state apology to survivors of Abuse in Care.  Speaker Gerry Brownlee initially declined Aaron Smale's accreditation application, citing undisclosed issues with his conduct on a prior occasion. But after pressure, Brownlee has allowed Smale to attend, if accompanied by a Newsroom journalist. Co-editor Mark...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 8 November 2024, Auckland public transport users are set to be hit with huge disruptions as KiwiRail is shutting the entire train network for almost 100 days over the course of the next year. Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the work has to be done. Will Kiwis care if our Government starts cuddling up to Donald Trump to gain t...

European leaders are meeting in Hungary for the European Political Community Summit – with the US election likely top of the agenda. Among the impacts of the election include Donald Trump’s lack of keenness to Europe, and talks of tariffs. But UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Heather du Plessis-Allan the biggest concern is what he’ll do with donating to Ukraine, and whether Europe will need to ste...

Asia is bracing for tariffs from Donald Trump’s election victory. The President-elect is proposing adding up to 20 percent on import tariffs, but is also vowing to impose 60 percent on Chinese imports. But Asia business correspondent Peter Lewis told Heather du Plessis-Allan Asia has been preparing for this for a couple of years now. He says some economists reckon this could knock 2.5 percentage p...

Questions over how New Zealanders will be feeling when the Government starts getting cosy with US Presidential-elect Donald Trump. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark suggested on the radio this morning that it might want to rethink its moves to get closer to the US. She believes it wouldn’t be a popular thing to do to be seen to be strategically realigning with an administration which is volatile a...

Sports journalists Lavina Good and Nikki Styris joined Heather du Plessis-Allan for the Sports Huddle. The All Blacks are set to take on Ireland in Dublin in a rematch of last year’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal – but will be without Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett due to injury. Formula 1 drivers have lambasted the FIA over its clampdown on swearing, telling president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to tre...

More details are coming to light around the death of ex-One Direction singer, Liam Payne. The 31-year-old died last month in a fall from the balcony of a hotel in Argentina. Three people have been charged in connection with his death – one with abandoning Payne in a vulnerable state before he died – the others with supplying him with drugs. Buenos Aires Herald editor Valen Iricbar told Heather du...

The Transport Minister says KiwiRail will be held accountable for any delays in fixing Auckland's rail network. The rail operator's being given $200 million in government funding to carry out the repairs – needed before the City Rail Link opens. There'll be 96 days of full network closures and 24 days of partial - from Christmas to January 2026. Simeon Brown told Heather du Plessis-Allan KiwiRail'...

The Irish have a chance for revenge against the All Blacks for last year’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. The All Blacks will go to Dublin missing Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor through injury, while Ethan de Groot has been omitted for failing to meet team standards. Ireland will also be looking to get one over Rieko Ioane, after the midfielder got into a social media spat with Irish legend Johnn...

The Prime Minister says he's open to following Australia's lead in looking into banning social media for children. Law-makers across the Tasman will legislate a blanket a ban on social media for children under 16 – including the likes of TikTok, Facebook and X. Christopher Luxon says there's merit to the plan, especially given the incidence of cyber-bullying he's heard about in New Zealand. But Ne...

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed veteran political advisor Susie Wiles as chief of staff for his return to the White House. The 67-year-old becomes the first woman appointed to the role, having been playing an active role behind the scenes in Republican politics. Wiles entered Trump's orbit in 2016 when she ran his campaign operations in Florida, who then used her to help Ron DeSantis...

The All Blacks are getting ready for their biggest test of their end-of-year tour against Ireland. The All Blacks will be without Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor in Dublin, in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal. Meanwhile, Formula 1 drivers have hit out at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem over controversies about swearing in press conferences. Ben Sulaymen has come under fire for calling dri...

NCEA exams have been running for one week and already there have been complaints over being too hard. Teachers at Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls have written to NZQA complaining about the Level 2 maths and biology papers. Its head of maths says the writer of the algebra paper was trying to be creative and was a ‘little too far removed from the classroom’. Diocesan principal Heather McCrae jo...

I reckon we might want to consider doing what Australia's planning to do and banning the kids from using social media until they’re 16. Now at the moment, we don’t have a huge amount of detail on what's being proposed, but we do know that the Australians are planning to put in the highest age limit in the world. And then put the onus on social media companies to make this work, not parents or kids...

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sent his congratulations to Donald Trump - and the pair will be looking to meet soon. After a close race, Trump beat out Harris for the US presidency, and Starmer is hopeful he and Trump can maintain the strong relationship between both regions. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the pair first met in New York in September and seemed to hit it off - but there's...